#85

Cock cleaning and dipping has done me :joy:

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#86

Nice bit of nominative determinism there

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#88

To be honest I think that is why the person bought me the experience day to ask me how my cock dipping went

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#89

got my thesis defence on tuesday.
i’ve made 66 slides but my supervisor told me to cut it down to more like 20

#90

I think they just automatically assume that intelligent automatically means socialised in exactly the same way as them, and that surface gloss that gets put on public school kids (that sometimes hides not being intelligent at all) is a marker of it, and if you don’t have it, you’re probably not that clever or something.

#91

I think one of the problems is that, partly because of the way that the college system works, there is no consistency in approach. It all comes down to the tutor you meet on the day. When I applied (to Cambridge - Oxford doesn’t do architecture) I had two one-on-one interviews with two different professors and they were actually totally lovely, encouraging me to talk through my portfolio and trying to get me to talk about my interest in and motivation about the subject, while making it clear that they weren’t looking for knowledge or experience at all. I guess architecture is a bit odd in that it’s not a subject taught at schools, so it requires a more conversational approach to gauge potential, but other people I met at university had Oxbridge interviews that were more like initiation rites or obscure logic puzzles.

Obviously, as a petrified 17 year-old who could barely speak to another adult without clamming up, and who had never had any coaching or prep at all, I didn’t do very well in the interview. Looking back I applied to the wrong college as well, but I had no way of knowing or finding out the differences between them - it was a completely alien system and world. I also don’t think it helps when you have to apply to Oxbridge early and it’s one of the first - if not the first - interview a student will do.

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Let's find out if any of us where unknowingly in the same year at the same University/college/whatever you want
#92

Really stressed about some sly cunt at uni not sending documents I need to include in my work despite him manufacuring a split from the rest of the group on the premise that they weren’t sharing their work. He’s asked me for my stuff whilst sending me none of his.

#93

Yeah I had an interview with some philosophy guy who asked me:

Look at that red chair? How do we define what red is?

I replied:
A scientist would say red is a certain frequency of light, and that chair absorbs the other frequencies, and reflects the red back to us.

And he looked at me in actual disgust, like how dare I mention science to him, and I’d felt like I’d somehow done something really bad and wrong.

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Let's find out if any of us where unknowingly in the same year at the same University/college/whatever you want
#94

I know exactly how it feels to be awarded that badge!

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#95

Oh and the other one:

The guy who came out of the room before me gave me a heads up that they were going to ask you who your favourite roman writer was, and one interviewer would back you up, and the other one would make out that writer was really crap, and I guess you were meant to defend your choice of writer.

Thing is, expecting a 17 year old to have a broad overview of Roman literature that they can passionately back up is a bit much, and unfairly advantages or disadvantages you based on what material you covered at school or books you had access to, not on your thinking skills or interest. This was in 2001/2002 so it wasn’t like everything was available on the internet for you either.

#96

Surely someone can’t be this conniving? We produce an individual report but some parts of it require bits of work from everyone in the group. He decided after a week of it commencing that it was only me and him doing the work and emailed the lecturer to complain, who advised us to split off into a group of two. This is despite him not having shared any of his work either. Since doing that, he’s made me go in on one of our days off and sit there doing a wireframe which I then scanned and emailed to him. He said he’d send his stuff, he didn’t. Messaged me at midnight last night asking if I could send him all the stuff I’ve done so he can start his report today and he’ll send his stuff. Still had nothing from him. So he’s free to start his report that’s due in in two weeks with the required stuff and I’m left here with nothing.

#97

Do (state) schools teach students how to debate these days? I’d never had to defend my own opinion in front of others until my first crit at university. An interview like that would have destroyed me.

#100

No, I was never explicitly taught.

I can’t say I felt destroyed, but I had this feeling more of WTF am I doing here? Why did I bother to do this and put so much effort into applying? I don’t want to be here with these people.

Like one of my teachers had lowered one of my predicted grades from an A to a B, and I’d been really upset and talked her into putting it back up so it wouldn’t ruin my application, and I felt like why did I even bother? I actually put less work into my a-levels after the whole Oxford interview experience because I wasn’t sure if the whole effort of straight As was even worth it in life.

You get sold this idea that Oxbridge is the best and is a prize you should reach for, and I just got majorly disillusioned with the reality when I saw it. I then stupidly took a job there as my first job after uni, because it meant i would be employed as soon as I graduated, and I hated it even more.

Like, I hated it so much I got a stomach ulcer from stress and started puking up blood every day, and then quit.

#101

Sadly from my recent experiences in UK schools, numbers on spreadsheets have become the most important thing, and the teachers and students have to devote themselves to creating the right data to keep ofsted happy :tired_face:

#102

It’s cool that you’re doing this! I work in University admissions and there are far too many kids in certain socio-economic situations which need more support with the whole thing.

Not sure if you’re familiar with “Widening Participation” but its a government initiative to increase the rates of these kids going to University. In theory (and this is potentially my incorrect understanding) if a University doesn’t meet their WP quota targets the Government can lower the maximum tuition fee rate of a University i.e not allow them to charge the full £9000. Seems like that isn’t enforced at all though! In part because of the backlash this would create form Universities, and also because this was a Labour policy taken over by the Conservatives… Wish the government were stricter on this!

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#103

I share an office with two people. One of them is WFH today and the other is giving me the silent treatment. Do I:

  • Ask my colleague what’s up and try to resolve things
  • Stay quiet and enjoy the brinkmanship

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#104

Oh man, it’s Friday, keep your head down I’d say. Obvs if they bring it up with you then talk it out.

#105

Oxford would be charging nil for some of their courses if they enforced that.

#107

ash them what’s up and then let all of us know

#108