<p>I've heard of Imperial College, my brother's professor came from one. My husband used to mention so and so is so brilliant he's graduated from Cambridge. But thanks for clarifying the 2 universities, that is why I prefer my kids to go to school in US, these rankings could be confusing. What measure are you using to say one is better than the other? I heard they are both top colleges. Oxford is better known because of the Rhodes Scholar. May be Cambridge should have a few of those to spread the word.</p>
<p>Why can't you apply to both?</p>
<p>I've heard of Warwick. Great school from what I've heard. Anyway, how prestigious is the University of London?</p>
<p>"I've heard of Imperial College, my brother's professor came from one. My husband used to mention so and so is so brilliant he's graduated from Cambridge. But thanks for clarifying the 2 universities, that is why I prefer my kids to go to school in US, these rankings could be confusing. What measure are you using to say one is better than the other? I heard they are both top colleges. Oxford is better known because of the Rhodes Scholar. May be Cambridge should have a few of those to spread the word."</p>
<p>I was just talking about the prestige levels of both universities, not which ones are academically better. But I think that over the last 15 years, cambridge has come out top in all the TIMES NEWSPAPER league tables except one. But its always been really close.</p>
<p>Actually the traditional image of cambridgevsoxford has always been</p>
<p>Oxford - for arts
Cambridge - for sciences</p>
<p>but its not like that any more - you cant make that comparsion. this is the comparsion which is most correct:</p>
<p>Oxford - for power/fame (more prime ministers, leaders of organizations etc..., but students who get accepted have worse grades at school and get worse grades at uni)
Cambridge - for academia (less "leaders" of politics, media. But more academic, more "genius" students get accepted, harder to get accepted).</p>
<p>What I found when applying for university is that IN GENERAL the people in my year who were the most academic and got the best grades applied for cambridge, whereas the more "aristocratic" applied for oxford. Oxford does have many more "posh" students, as well as princes/prime ministers' sons etc....</p>
<p>Oh University of London isnt really a single entity. There are different universities:</p>
<p>LSE - good for business, economics
UCL - good for everything, third oldest university in england
Imperial - best for science</p>
<p>THese three are quite prestigious, they come after oxbridge</p>
<p>then theres also kings college london - quite good too, and SOAS which has been doing well in league tables recently. And a few medical schools which are also quite good.</p>
<p>yeah, when i was young, first uni i had heard of was oxford....then harvard n since my dad used to talk abt science it was mit.... i only got to knew tt cambridge is another superb uni few yrs ago....
my perception has been , mostly false ofcourse is that cambrisge is bttr for sciences while oxford for law/medicine....</p>
<p>well i tihnk the reasons why americans know oxford more than cambridge is because............ book and movies which have scenes in colleges in britain is usually oxford? like The Da Vinci Code.... i forgot his name but he said harvard was his saftey and he went to oxford. not langdon..the other guy..man..whats his name....shoot. nvm. also..austin powers..the 1st one..vanessa said she went to oxford.</p>
<p>James Bond went to Cambridge though! :) Yeah i see what you mean tho', oxford is mentioned a bit more in films.</p>
<p>Actually U of London is a federal University and includes over 20 different Colleges, Intitutes and Schools. You forgot to mention the London Business School, which is regarded in the industry as one of the best bar none. London U also includes Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music - two of the most prestigious and exclusive music schools in the world. SOAS tends to be underrated IMO, but i suppose that's to do with the nature of the school's specialist area - of Africa and the Orient. Anyway yeah, UCL-IMP-LSE form the London point of the 'Golden Triangle'=Oxford, Cambridge, London.</p>
<p>I really think it's because of the Rhodes Scholarships, which, of course, can only be used at Oxford. Bill Clinton and Bill Bradley were Rhodes Scholars. It's still the most prestigious fellowship for Americans wanting to study in the UK.</p>
<p>Cambridge now has Gates Scholars, but they've only been around for about 5 years or so. In time, they may end up making Cambridge more famous, since students from any nation can win one. (Rhodes are limited to Germany and English-speaking nations.) </p>
<p>Cambridge is so much prettier!</p>
<p>Another UK school that's becoming better known in the states is East Anglia, because of its writing programs.</p>
<p>Is Cambridge really much prettier? I've never been there, but Oxford is the most beautiful place I have ever seen, and I travel a lot.</p>
<p>Well ive been to both quite a few times</p>
<p>In terms of "prettyness" Cambridge wins HANDS DOWN, it is more of a beautiful town as opposed to Oxford's city, and the central colleges are all more "grand" than Oxford's ones. Theres also less pollution.</p>
<p>But in terms of fun Oxford THRASHES Cambridge (MUCH better clubs, nightlife, citylife). The clubs in cambridge are awful.</p>
<p>Cambridge is more quiet, serene and beautiful, Oxford is more fun with better options for going out</p>
<p>tho both are quite noisy in summer term with the tourists</p>
<p>I just wanted to add that we have the same thing between some of our schools as you have with Oxford and Cambridge. Harvard for some reason is thought of as being more impressive than Yale or Princeton. There is really no reason for it, but whenever an average person thinks of the most prestigious name for a school, they come up with Harvard. I agree that in the American public, Oxford sounds cooler than Cambridge. I'm not sure why.</p>
<p>oxford just sounds impressive... </p>
<p>similarly i believe that if Washington Univ in St. Louis changed it's name to something shorter and less confusing ("oh, in DC?") it would be better recognized..</p>
<p>"I just wanted to add that we have the same thing between some of our schools as you have with Oxford and Cambridge. Harvard for some reason is thought of as being more impressive than Yale or Princeton. There is really no reason for it, but whenever an average person thinks of the most prestigious name for a school, they come up with Harvard. I agree that in the American public, Oxford sounds cooler than Cambridge. I'm not sure why"</p>
<p>yeh but the difference is harvard regularly beats the others in rankings tables and alumni (in general) etc.., whereas oxford has been below cambridge in rankings for 10-15 years,</p>
<p>and the reputation of harvard being more "prestigious" than the others is a world wide reputation, whereas oxford being more prestigious than cambridge CERTAINLY is not the reputation in uk, which should know about its own universities!</p>
<p>I always considered Cambridge to be slightly more prestigious than Oxford, but then I'm in science, and Cambridge is definitely stronger in Science. LSE is a step behind Oxbridge in the US but still widely known. I've heard of Warwick too.</p>
<p>What I think of when I hear the name:</p>
<p>Cambridge = Isaac Newton, Watson & Crick, and lots of other Nobel laureates.</p>
<p>Oxford = Rhodes scholars, Roger Bannister crossing the finish line on the Iffley Road track. Inspector Morse.</p>
<p>LSE = Mick Jagger.</p>
<p>Please spell out the abrv, like what's SOAS and UCL-IMP-LSE . I have hard enough time understanding what's the "O" level and the "A" level.(lol)</p>
<p>Quoting someone from before...</p>
<p>"Why can't you apply to both?"</p>
<p>My friends going to british schools tell me that you cannot apply to both because Oxbridge are competeing schools. British applicants have to picks one firm choice and one safety before their exams and if they do well enough, they go to their firm choice. If not, they go to their safety. Neither Oxford nor Cambridge wants to be the safety.</p>
<p>I don't think it's so much that as both schools would give you offers conditional on your A-level results that you get in the summer. Both Oxford and Cambridge would give AAA offers. This means that if you get AAB in the summer for example, your insurance offer would need to have a requirement of AAB or lower. The point of an insurance is one to have a lower grade requirement, so that if you miss your grades for your first choice, you are not left with no options in August, and could go to your insurance offer. I think the main reason you can't apply to both is because both universities would be essentially doubling their applications, causing major problems because both of them interview all of their candidates. Basically they don't want to compromise the interviewing system. The scheudule is tight enough anyway without doubling the number of people applying!</p>