How are third and pass degrees regarded these days?

talksalot81

Rosie75 wrote:

My friend is a barrister and tells me that her colleagues refuse to entertain any applications that arrive at her set for pupilages / mini-pupilages from candidates who are non-Oxbridge. She has huge arguments with them about this but they just can't see the problem with this method of whittling down applications for shortlists.

I just love talking to these sort of people. I do physics and these sorts of people will almost immediately stop talking when they hear that... they are scared rotten that they will be shown up!

melancholly

talksalot81 wrote:

I just love talking to these sort of people. I do physics and these sorts of people will almost immediately stop talking when they hear that... they are scared rotten that they will be shown up!

the best quote from that type of person i've ever heard was made to a friend of mine who came to visit cambridge (she did history at york which is argueably a better course anyway). someone asked her what college she was at, she explained she was at york and the reply was: 'well not everyone can be academic, can you cook, dear?'. (this was someone else's mother and unfortunately wasn't joking!) I nearly spat my food out and was mortified. my friend just grabbed her wine glass and the night deteriorated rapidly!

the other side is that a lot of people have a very negative image of oxbridge students and judge you on it in an unfavourable way. i've been on the end of that quite a few times, and there are employers who discriminate against people for it too. i guess i see it from both sides - i'm defensive of the place because i went there and loved it, but i can see how the attitudes of some graduates towards the place must really wind other people up!

talksalot81

Actually the 'parent' syndrome is a bad one... it doesnt seem uncommon for the parent of an Oxbridge student to have these views... it is almost 'chav'... average joe has his child go to oxbridge and all of a sudden he rules the world!

melancholly

talksalot81 wrote:

Actually the 'parent' syndrome is a bad one... it doesnt seem uncommon for the parent of an Oxbridge student to have these views... it is almost 'chav'... average joe has his child go to oxbridge and all of a sudden he rules the world!

although thankfully my parents don't fit that category! or i would have to disown them!

si1503

missk_ensington wrote:

I'd say a top degree from any medicocre uni, or a mediocre degree from a very leading red brick university have equal worth. Its time to worry when you have a mediocre degree, from a mediocre university!

Agreed,

I'm aiming for a 2:1 from nottingham trent uni, i got Bs and Cs at uni and just missed out on getting into one of the russell group, i'm one of these kids that has ability but am lazy when it comes to studies, i feel like i perhaps have underachieved but for me there is more to life than studying.

Its also important to note that the subject you take will affect the worth of the degree, law and business/economics graduates typically earn far more in subsequent earnings than graduates from subjects like media and art.

Barcode

Oh dear, York consistently ranks in the top ten. I encounter quite a lot of people who are of Oxbridge standard (academically speaking), but for whatever reason, preferred to come to York. I do think we're a bit more laid-back here, and some like the village-type atmosphere. You cannot go anywhere without running into somebody you know (which can be a good or bad thing).

Quite a lot of courses demand AAB/AAA to be accepted. A strong 2:1 or 1:1 from York should stand you in good stead when it comes to employment time or graduate school.

I don't quite get the mystique surrounding Oxford/Cambridge. Yes, they are two of the best universities in the world, and yes, almost everybody that goes there is academically very smart. But it is not for everybody. Some people don't function very well in that sort of environment.

I'm debating it for PhD (assuming I am accepted), but realistically, I think I have a better chance of funding at York where I might stand out a bit more as opposed to being in the middle-of-the-pack at Cambridge. We'll see.

talksalot81

There is also the fact that some people cannot afford to go to Oxbridge. Coming from NI it is tougher for us than mainland people. The fees may well start to impact Oxbridge... less people will be able to afford to go so they may at some point have to start being less picky (because some of the top people wont be able to go so they have to pick from the remainder).

BigBouncyBall

They'll never have to be less picky while they are getting 8 or 9 applications for every place on offer

talksalot81

Yeah but if 20% of students now have to stay at home because of the cost, that means that 20% of the best students will be removed from their system. Of course the places will be filled, but by less able students. Hence either you consider them having to be less picky or that the standard is going down. If a blanket drop in 'away from home' students were to occur then this is a hard conclusion ot disprove.

melancholly

sadly most people at cambridge come from the south east........... when we had north versus south stuff the cut off point was watford!!!
i think it would be a disaster if people didn't apply to anywhere because of the cost - i didn't realise that there were different fees rules for students from NI?! sounds like a stupid idea to me (which means it's undoubtably going to be true!)