Oxbridge Elite Or Intelligent

[Mick F]

IQ?
Common Sense?

Goodness knows!

[Cyril Haearn]

I got into Oxford via the entrance exam despite a very impoverished background - still not quite sure how

The work was hard but the social contrast was even harder to cope with - seen from within it is a truly elitist establishment. I survived, got my degree, and it certainly kick started my career, however I rarely tell anyone I went to Oxford because it causes so many people to rapidly back off - which probably says it all
..

I worked at Blackwells, I like to tell people I am from Oxford
Of course there is Oxford Brookes now too of course

Apart from privilege and politics, Camford produces an awful lot of clever scientists, nobel prize winners &c

[cycleruk]

Say no more:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tXBC-71aZs

[661-Pete]

And can the OP please spell intelligent properly. Otherwise the question is answered before we even start.

I'm glad that I wasn't the one to point it out! Sometimes accusations of "pedant" get a bit wearisome. Besides, I thought it was a typo, which anyone might commit...

Anyway, corrected now.

[661-Pete]

I'm also glad that I'm not the first to admit to a spell at Oxford - though I set right my credentials by moving to Bradford for my postgrad (which I never completed).

Yes, Oxford was very class-ridden in my time (late 1960s) - especially considering all the colleges were single-sex. The place was riddled with the 'hooray-henry' types (I'd never heard of the Bullingdon club in those days, but I recognised the type) who spent most of their time getting drunk in dinner-jackets.

But the breed was dying out even then. There was a very active far-left contingent emerging. Bear in mind, this was the days of the Vietnam War and Powellite racism - and spiralling student rents. There was much for the Left to get busy about!

Elite? Don't know how to apply that word.

[Tangled Metal]

And can the OP please spell intelligent properly. Otherwise the question is answered before we even start.

Spelling correctly is not a indicator of intelligence. I was invited to join Mensa some years ago, but my spelling and grammar, let alone numeracy aren't good at all.

Mensa membership isn't an indicator of intelligence either.

[Intended as a comment on Mensa, not on your good self]

When I was a kid Mensa used to advertise for members in the daily mail. It had a fairly easy puzzle you had to complete on 5 minutes (answer upside down underneath). You then sent off for an iq test. Paid £10 for the privilege.

I guess that was the equivalent of those text competitions for holidays on TV programmes. Enough people text they make a profit. £10 for a 40p postage and pennies for a photocopy of the quiz.

My point being Mensa believe the DM readers are their level of intelligence. Hardly a good endorsement for Mensa.

[peetee]

Hi,
We all knew that but the stats tell the truth.-

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-46470838

"Oxford and Cambridge are being accused of being so socially exclusive that they recruit more students from eight top schools than almost 3,000 other English state schools put together."

.

I had to laugh out loud at that list - I attended Peter Symonds!
I can still here my parents words ringing in my ears
"Your problem, my lad, is you do the bare minimum"

[landsurfer]

I've been to Oxford and Cambridge ..... the're overrated !
Silly Punts .. all of them ....

[Tangled Metal]

My old school used to send at least 30 a year to oxbridge. Although I do believe our year it was less.

Mind you some very, very clever kids didn't even try for oxbridge because there were better universities for the courses they wanted. That was my excuse for not trying for oxbridge, honest!

[Mick F]

I'm also glad that I'm not the first to admit to a spell at Oxford .......

I had a spell there as well.

Oxford Backpackers.
Terrible place, and I wouldn't ever consider going back.
http://www.hostels.co.uk

[Oldjohnw]

I often go to Oxford. When I visit my daughter I try to fit in choral evensong at Christ College chapel. Possibly the finest anywhere in the world.

[NUKe]

My daughter is currently reading Maths at Oxford. She got there on her own merits, she was educated at the local comprehensive. I am of course very proud of her. Her friends are all from very different backgrounds, as she says she is two steps away from Boris Johnson, one of her friends mother was chatted up once by Boris and turned him down. Yes there is still wealth and privilege at Oxford, but they are changing. Its not surprising though that many are from Public schools, those school set out from day 1 to train their pupils for this path in life. its not the Public schools that should be stopped but the state ones that need to up there game. Both Oxford and Cambridge do outreach but often its too little too late. A friend of mine who had taught in both systems when asked why she thought the public schools did better she would say " confidence" they are brought up to think it is there right to succeed.

[Cyril Haearn]

I often go to Oxford. When I visit my daughter I try to fit in choral evensong at Christ College chapel. Possibly the finest anywhere in the world.

Except Kings College Chapel, Cambridge perhaps (I have an egg in both camps )
Is Oxford Prison still open? It is/was by the road from Carfax/Quatre Foix to the station

[thelawnet]

Hi,
We all knew that but the stats tell the truth.-

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-46470838

"Oxford and Cambridge are being accused of being so socially exclusive that they recruit more students from eight top schools than almost 3,000 other English state schools put together."

The issue is if you have been poorly educated beforehand then you don't stand much chance afterwards.

The big trick is not so much that the very rich from the eight top schools are going to succeed - that's a bit of a sideshow given that money gets you what you want - rather it's more to do with the lack of social mobility from the bottom 3000.

You get middle class children with pushy parents like this https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-46950952 from state grammar schools which have tiny numbers of poor pupils, and they have replaced the dimmer hooray Henry types. But it still doesn't change the fact that the 'state school' pupils at these institutions aren't so different from the elite private ones - they've also got money, exotic holidays, and so on - the only difference is they haven't got a 'Lord Snooty' target on their backs.

My parents went through the grammar school system, and it worked quite well then, in that my grandparents were working class left school at 11, but had three children university educated including one at Oxford. But now it's just another game for the middle class to play.

[Cyril Haearn]

Might be worth a poll

I was a very smart kid, got a scholarship to a minor public school to be 'groomed' to join the elite, but there I was a small fish in a big pool, put me off learning for many years. But now I have so many interests and experience, wisdom of age, I could almost impersonate a history professor
Just need coaching to brush up my Oxford accent

It is one thing to be a smart kid and pass exams, and quite another to collect experience and wisdom, that takes many years