Criticism from The Crimson

SteveUK
Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:10:39 +0000

I’m so glad I can agree with someone on this forum. Sorry for wandering a little off-topic, but like you say, it may be helpful to some people. I think I should also mention that the workload for Medical Sciences is one of the highest at Oxbridge, so if anyone who reads this is thinking of applying for something else, do keep that in mind and don’t be put off just because it sounds nightmarish. If you’re studying Socio-Political Sciences at Cambridge, for instance, this has one of the lowest workloads and only entails one essay per week, no practicals and fewer lectures! Obviously, students enrolled on this course are expected to do a lot more reading, though, and their essays are expected to be better researched. On the other hand, a similar course at Oxford called Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) is seen as one of the toughest there. The workload depends very much on the course.

I totally agree that in the end these things tend to even out between US and UK students, although your earlier point about US grad schools retaining breadth was an interesting point I hadn’t considered before - none of this really applies to me, but I think if I wanted to do a grad program I would choose the States over the UK, not just for the better course/funding, but also to make more contacts. Unfortunately, since I’ll be engaged in medical training in the National Health Service, I can’t see that being a possibility, either geographically or in terms of taking the necessary time out!