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Oxbridge

G

Oxbridge is recognised as the best places for undergraduate courses. Is it also true for PhDs/DPhils?

G

No, far from it in fact. It all depends on the department, the supervisors, publications, level of funding etc etc. Its not as clear cut as the undergraduate situation.

G

I see. But would a doctorate from Oxbridge be as highly regarded as an Oxbridge undergraduate degree?

It all depends on the lab or the department that you do your PhD in. Look out for departments rated 5 or 5* in the Research Assessment Exercise. If you want to move away from research after finishing your PhD, then your potential employers will probably know very little about what is involved. They may think an Oxbridge PhD is superior, but most employers haven't been to Oxbridge and are just as likely to be prejudiced against it as for it.

G

In what way would employers prejudice against Oxbridge doctorates? A side question: those companies which sponsor a doctoral student via CASE awards, do they normally employ the student they sponsored after the student has completed the doctorate?

G

Somebody who thinks that they have been to a 'better' university than their employer could be difficult to work with.

G

I am considering a PhD at Cambridge simply because they are offering a very appealing selection of topics. I must say though that I'm slightly put off by the intimidatingly elitist image of the whole place!

"No sorry, I didn't enjoy playing classical music with my friends at Eton"

Haha! (No offence by the way)

G

Almost every Oxbridge dept. is a 5/5*. Pretty much every department is staffed by leading experts. In response to the question, the answer is with considerable ease. Also, there's the consideration that Oxbridge Dphil/PhD`s are by far and away the most difficult to get into (LSE being the only possible exception).If most of the people on your course have a first class honours, it's likely to be a highly regarded course. As for not, well, why would you do a doctorate if youre not able to get a first?

J

I'd say Oxbridge certainly is a good enviroment for working in. Whether or not it's good for studying certain subjects, obviously depends on the subjects in question and also on what areas of those subjects one wishes to specialise in. Oxbridge can sometimes, be less at allowing specialisation in paticular areas. It is defintly good at providing supervision, though.

J

To be honest, my experiance of Cambridge is that really isn't at all as elitist as people think. I'd say it depends a lot on which college one goes to.
King's certainly isn't at all elitist. To be honest while I was there I fealt a little bit the odd one out coming from a public school there, but I wouldn't say that was a bad thing.
Colleges like Trinty, Perterhouse and Saint John's perhaps are much more elitist, but no one has to apply there.
I'd say that bassically life in Cambridge is a great chance to meet a wide variety people from differant social back grounds, parts of the world and differant intrests.
My time in Cambridge was the best time of my life
I recomend it as an experiance to anyone.
Don't be put off by the myth.

S

You sure you went there JSabre? Your spelling is terrible, its 'Trinity College' for a start.

J

Look I'm dyslexic, alright, do you mind not picking on someone's disabilities.
Why don't you just f**k off Stu.

J

And yes I did go to Cambridge, if you must know

S

boring

J

Alright, I'll calm down. I'll admit that when I'm in a bad mood I don't find it easy to construct a good arguament, but that's more because I am tempremental rather than anything else.
Yes I went to Cambridge and I have the degree certificate to prove it.
I'm sorry about the explietive, but can I have a little more respect, please.
I am not being cool, calm, rational, I'll admit that.
I just feel like, all I've said is bassically, I have not enjoyed my time in Warwick and I don't feel that life is as intresting or enjoyable there in comparison to Cambridge.
Other people are free to disagree with me of course on this, but well at the moment I just feel a little like I am being bullied and told it obviously must be my fault.

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