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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The "scandal" at Oxbridge isn't lesser qualified students getting in through connections or hooks or parents' wealth or legacies. That's not the issue because it's not an issue, those who get admissions are very well qualified. The "scandal" is the heavy concentration of Oxbridge students coming from private schools and a particular handful of private schools, but that is more a reflection of the sheer dominance of private education among upper middle and upper class Britons. Far more entrenched than in the United States. Even among state school students, the same handful of prestigious selective entry state schools also dominate. So it's the chicken and egg problem, and something that's really not comparable to the American admissions scandals.

Just to use as a case point: no one from the current generation of the royal family has gone to Oxbridge. You think they would be denied at the Ivies? Fat chance. Same with kids of prime ministers. Blair only had one child go to Oxbridge, I believe. The others went to other (albeit still quite good) universities. You don't get admitted just because your father's a duke or a billionaire or a famous BBC star. You gotta have the qualifications first. [/quote]

You don’t think Prince William would have been admitted?  I sincerely doubt they would not have made a space for him at any of the premier Oxbridge colleges.  I think he chose a different path.

Of course, Brideshead Revisited is my guide! [/quote]

He didn't even bother to apply. Because it was known he wouldn't have met the qualification expectations. Same with the other royal grandkids. Oxbridge admissions works on the basis that the schools themselves encourage certain students to apply and discourage others. In theory anyone can apply but the schools will actively discourage lesser qualified students from applying, so the schools do a lot of weeding out the applicants before they even apply to Oxbridge. It's not like in the US with many applying to the Ivies on the off chance. The downside, insofar as there is one, is that it means the system is set up so the schools with the greatest familiarity with Oxbridge, both state and private, have an inbuilt advantage through knowing how to coach their preferred students to get into Oxbridge. Plenty of ambitious students will switch schools for sixth form to go to specialist sixth form colleges that have a strong track record of Oxbridge admissions specifically to increase their chances of Oxbridge admissions. Or sixth form at other private schools. And so forth.

Brideshead Revisited is utterly irrelevant to Oxbridge, just as the 1920s Harvard/Yale world is to today's campuses. [/quote]

NP here. Lived in UK, studied at Oxford.  I would not hold this up as a "better system." I'm not sure it's really all theta different.  Candidates are funneled by status and money to lower/upper schools. Yes, they become qualified through the process, but the privilege often puts them in the right place to start the journey. They like US grad/2nd BA students because they pay more than UK students.  Most of my friends were poshies, or US grad students. Then there was Kate Beckinsale who was already a successful actress when she applied. Not to say there weren't other people -- had a brilliant fried who grew up dirt poor, but he was ID'd early and given a scholarship to a great school. I had a few friends from state schools but many from Eton & Harrow. My SIL, who is younger than I, went to Cambridge, & she is out of state school. Maybe they are trying to open things up a bit? But, like here, there are many qualified applicants for few places.[/quote]

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