how do you live off student loans if it all goes on rent

durhampoker99

They changed the topic when I started making too much sense about the inequity of giving those from lower incomes more funding.

A Teeside graduate would go through the same procedure as me even if he wanted to apply for the city...he'd just have less chance of getting the job. Oh, and this whole "the city is different" is rubbish. Speaking for law firms at least I've been told by two decent places in the north-east that I have a training contract with them so long as I achieve a 2.1 or better. Admittedly that's a combination of Oxbridge and being a local lad, but they don't do that lightly.

The city is populated with Oxbridge grads because the highest paying jobs are based there. It's that simple. Some Oxbridge grads prefer to go to their city of origin to work and I'm quite sure they'd receive the same benefits that derive from their degree.

I also wonder what you put the fact that Oxbridge grads dominate politics down to? Nowadays constituent authorities elect their own candidates.

melancholly

we started trying to tell you to please stop talking........... so i'll ask again, please stop making oxbridge look less and less attractive. i'm sure you think you're right, and in many ways, oxbridge will help get a job in certain sectors. but the way you are making your point is not helping anyone see it as a place they would want to go. you sound like you're a committee member of the union.... (and anyone whose been to the oxford or cambridge union will know exactly what i mean by that!)

The_One_Who

durhampoker99 wrote: »

A Teeside graduate would go through the same procedure as me even if he wanted to apply for the city...he'd just have less chance of getting the job. Oh, and this whole "the city is different" is rubbish. Speaking for law firms at least I've been told by two decent places in the north-east that I have a training contract with them so long as I achieve a 2.1 or better. Admittedly that's a combination of Oxbridge and being a local lad, but they don't do that lightly.

Sigh. Please, just stop. As Melancholly says you really are not coming across well.

It is not only Oxbridge graduates who will be offered training contracts, you know. People from all over the country will be getting offered contracts at many, many different firms as long as they achieve a 2:1 or better.

digsby202

I'm sorry but I'm going to stick up for Durhampoker99. I come into this from two angles, the wife of someone in 'the city' and the mother of an Oxbridge undergraduate.

Before my daughter left sixth form, and once she had secured her place at Oxbridge she was offered positions, after University at a city based audit company and 2 law firms ( she does English , by the way ). Oxbridge does and always has opened doors. She worked her socks off to get there, from a state school , and one of the advantages of going through that system is the favourable way its looked on by employers when you graduate. I've said before , on this thread that most of her friends are state school educated and extremely intelligent. In her year , so many public school students failed to get in, most of them are now at Exeter and Durham. She works very hard , as part of the access scheme , promoting Oxbridge to state school pupils.
As for my husband, he is , and was a city high flyer with no qualifications, and when he is employing anyone, they aren't important.
As far as I'm concerned, my daughter, beoing the first member of either family to go to University, derserves every opportunity and advantage an education at Oxbridge has given her.

Love d

The_One_Who

digsby202 wrote: »

Before my daughter left sixth form, and once she had secured her place at Oxbridge she was offered positions, after University at a city based audit company and 2 law firms ( she does English , by the way ). Oxbridge does and always has opened doors.

My point is that you can get there by not going to Oxbridge too. There will be non-Oxbridge graduates being offered the same things. Just because someone goes to another university does not mean they will not get the same opportunities.

As for my husband, he is , and was a city high flyer with no qualifications, and when he is employing anyone, they aren't important.

This is what I mean. There is more to a person than simply having the Oxbridge name on your CV.

Bennifred

Durhampoker has also stated that he believes Oxbridge undergrads are more intelligent than any others - possibly he means more academic You can be extremely intelligent without being academic imho. And if one WAS extremely intelligent but wanted to study a subject not offered by Oxbridge, then one would study elsewhere- that does not make one any less intelligent!

bestpud

digsby202 wrote: »

I'm sorry but I'm going to stick up for Durhampoker99. I come into this from two angles, the wife of someone in 'the city' and the mother of an Oxbridge undergraduate.

Before my daughter left sixth form, and once she had secured her place at Oxbridge she was offered positions, after University at a city based audit company and 2 law firms ( she does English , by the way ). Oxbridge does and always has opened doors. She worked her socks off to get there, from a state school , and one of the advantages of going through that system is the favourable way its looked on by employers when you graduate. I've said before , on this thread that most of her friends are state school educated and extremely intelligent. In her year , so many public school students failed to get in, most of them are now at Exeter and Durham. She works very hard , as part of the access scheme , promoting Oxbridge to state school pupils.
As for my husband, he is , and was a city high flyer with no qualifications, and when he is employing anyone, they aren't important.
As far as I'm concerned, my daughter, beoing the first member of either family to go to University, derserves every opportunity and advantage an education at Oxbridge has given her.

Love d

You are missing the point digsby!

People like your dd can and do go to Oxbridge and that is something to be encouraged. Nobody has argued it does not open doors and nobody has argued it does not offer a good standard of education.

What people have argued is that it is not full of privileged individuals who consider themselves to be superior to the rest of the human race and who believe Oxbridge is only for this type of student.

Not enough state educated children are encouraged to even apply for Oxbridge and this is a shame - the last thing they need is pompous !!!!!holes making it seem they won't fit in and are not worthy of being there!

Oxbridge is but one accomplishment in life - there are far more to be had and it is wrong to assume it is the be all and end all. Oxbridge grads are not necessarily the most intelligent or most hard working - doors are opened for reasons other than that, as I am sure you will know! And, Oxbridge grads are not the only ones who will get the best jobs or do very well in life either.

But, it should be open to all and the sad fact is, many are put off by the elitist attitude displayed in durhampokers posts.

Please read back through the threads and you will see what I mean.

melancholly

exactly bespud - i'm trying to 'stick up' for oxbridge itself!!

pinkshoes

University is over-rated anyway, and the degree has been very much de-valued.

According to The Sunday Times, a third of graduates now receive no financial benefit from their degree, with graduates going on to do jobs that they could have done with just A Levels.

A Levels have also been dumbed down (ask any A Level teachers who have been doing the job for over 20 years!), leaving vast quantities of graduates getting straight A grades, and no way of distinguishing between those who are "brilliant", and those who are just mediocre A grade students. This makes it so hard for universities when giving offers to students, particularly Oxbridge.

Personally I would have thought state school pupils getting three A grades should be at an advantage nowadays of getting into Oxbridge, as it's harder getting straight As when you're in a class of 30 pupils, rather than the luxury of private schools where classes are much smaller.

durhampoker99

pinkshoes wrote: »

University is over-rated anyway, and the degree has been very much de-valued.

According to The Sunday Times, a third of graduates now receive no financial benefit from their degree, with graduates going on to do jobs that they could have done with just A Levels.

Actually supports my contention...when a third of graduates are receiving no financial benefit you'd better make sure you're at least in that top two-thirds of them who are. I imagine the % of students receiving no financial benefit from Teeside is much higher than it is from Oxbridge.

A Levels have also been dumbed down (ask any A Level teachers who have been doing the job for over 20 years!), leaving vast quantities of graduates getting straight A grades, and no way of distinguishing between those who are "brilliant", and those who are just mediocre A grade students. This makes it so hard for universities when giving offers to students, particularly Oxbridge.

Incorrect, that last bit should read EXCEPT Oxbridge. Oxbridge has an interview procedure for exactly that reason, everyone who applies has 3 As at A-level at least. Nearly all other top unis have no such system and so rely on grades as well as personal statements and references (both of which, IMO, are shocking things to consider). Since everyone has top marks grades are virtually irrelevant when it comes to an Oxbridge application (so long as you got top...)

Personally I would have thought state school pupils getting three A grades should be at an advantage nowadays of getting into Oxbridge, as it's harder getting straight As when you're in a class of 30 pupils, rather than the luxury of private schools where classes are much smaller.

Well...there aren't many graduate programs that don't require a degree, so you'll need to go somewhere (rightly or wrongly). And universities know as well as anyone 3 As from a sink school is a greater accomplishment than getting them from a top public school. Most unis nowadays actually turn results into a points-based system which ranks you against the rest of your year from your school. So somebody with 8A* and 3A at GCSE from a high flying school can come up worse than somebody with 10 Bs at a school where half don't even pass 5 GCSEs.

The unis want the best people they can get, as simple as that. They will come up with a method of working out who they are...this is one of their solutions.

Durham Poker99