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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Is there a particular reason your child wants to go to Oxford or Cambridge? I did a junior year at one of them, and for the humanities, it's significantly different from (or different to, if you want to be British about it) the approach at American colleges & universities. [/quote]

How so?[/quote]

At least when I was there, there were lectures (you chose which you wanted to go to, and some of them were excellent) and tutorials, generally one or two students and a don. You'd be given an assignment and spend a week researching existing criticism, write what was basically a summary of what other people had said, then go to your tutorial, read your essay/rehash, and discuss it (meaning answer questions about what other people had said). There wasn't a lot of discussion or original thought. Also, there was a set curriculum for the first two years; if that wasn't what you were interested in, too bad. Romantics are it.

I'm not sorry I went; I loved being there, and the volume of literature I covered was nice in a "here are the facts" way. But in terms of improving my writing and critical thinking, it didn't do that.

My friends doing other courses seemed happy, and although I think someone mentioned not being able to change, I know one student who changed from engineering to physics and some who started in medicine but ended up doing something else (they changed after I left and I don't remember what). And in other ways, it's like getting a liberal arts degree here: One friend studying modern languages ended up as an investment banker. [/quote]

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