Hello from the UK! I am currently at the University of Cambridge, pretending to be a Cambridge local, sniffing at all the tourists, as if I’m not one myself. If you don’t know, I’m a student at Stanford University, currently working at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England, as a biochemistry researcher. And this has been such an educational experience. I’ve completely transformed my view on life, learning about vastly different cultures and ways of life in Europe compared to my world at Stanford. As I’ve personally fallen in love with Cambridge and my brother now says that he wants to go to the UK for university, I wanted to share my thoughts about the differences between universities in the United States compared to universities abroad, and particularly the Oxbridge schools, Cambridge and Oxford University!
Classes
Oxbridge is known for the famed tutorial system, where students attend lectures by professors, then go to small-group tutorial sessions with their tutors within their respective colleges, which are often graduate students. This is to make for a more individualised educational experience for students, as the tutorial groups are often around 3-4 people in size. Within the tutorial groups, students are expected to develop their writing and critical thinking skills with the direct mentorship from their supervisor. From my friends at Cambridge, they say that your experience really depends a lot on your supervisor – your supervisor can completely make or break your experience, but in general, they are pretty accessible. Cambridge also focuses on a broader set of knowledge that students within a subject are required to take, and gradually specialize over the years.
In comparison, Stanford is more varied in terms of classes. Most introductory classes consist of a large lecture by a professor, followed by smaller “sections” led by a teaching assistant (TA) around once per week. There are also often office hours available for students to get more one-on-one help. However, there are also some classes that have smaller class sizes and no sections, so the types of classes that are offered have a large variety. There are also some classes that involve a hands-on lab section. Stanford also doesn’t really have too many general education requirements or major requirements, so as long as you finish your major requirements and the basic general education requirements, you’re free to take whatever you want, which is quite different from Cambridge. You also don’t have to declare your major until the end of your second year.
Oxbridge is very well-known for their quality of education, as many people come to Oxbridge mostly for the tutorial system. Which, by the way, the college and tutorial system is an approach most uniquely known within the Oxbridge schools, not much other UK universities.
Winner: It depends. I personally like the freedom of Stanford’s classes better, but Oxbridge heavily focuses on one-on-one undergraduate education, which lots of people might enjoy.
Exams
The exam system at Cambridge is one of the things that surprised me most at Cambridge. At Stanford, we have three quarters, and one or two midterms plus a final for each class. This is unlike Cambridge, where they essentially have their whole year’s grades riding on one exam period at the end of the year. This means that finals season is even more high stakes there as they have their whole grade determined by one exam. Their exams are much more writing and knowledge-based than Stanford’s exams, and there are no multiple choice exams. At Oxford, students have to wear robes called subfusc for their exams, but this is no longer a tradition at Cambridge. At Stanford, people wear pretty much anything. I’ve showed up to my finals in sweats and a man-bun, and I’ve seen people wear anything from pajamas to swimmer’s robes.
After the final exams at Oxbridge, students have a tradition called “trashing,” where other students will throw confetti and paint as the students leave their exam rooms after finishing their final exams. I feel like this would be such a cool tradition to have at Stanford, but unfortunately, we usually have another exam lined up the next day after a final.
Winner: Stanford. I really would not like my whole year’s worth of work riding on one exam.
College System and Community
Another aspect that Oxbridge is most well-known for – the college system. At Cambridge, there are 31 distinct colleges under the university, and each of the colleges operate quite separately from each other. All of the classes are offered under the department, while the tutorials are taught by the colleges, as well as social activities and student accommodations. The most well-known colleges at Cambridge are Trinity, St. John’s, and King’s. Each college has their own endowment, so the most well-funded colleges can often afford to provide scholarships and lavish events.
Lots of universities in the US have tried to imitate the college system, to varying success. At Stanford, they attempted this with the neighborhood system, but failed miserably. However, at Yale and Rice, they have created some form of a college system, where students live in their residential colleges and make friends through their colleges. However, it’s not as independent and extensive as the college system in Oxbridge, as each college is essentially their own separate entity, and you are offered admission based on the college, not just the university.
Most students enjoy the college system. You get to be quite tight-knit with your community, as these are people you live and do your tutorials with. However, we did have a joke in my lab that we realized colleges are essentially just like fraternities, where you live and party with your college. I think the sense of community that you get with colleges isn’t impossible to find in a dorm community. At Stanford, our loyalty tends to be with our dorm, not with the neighorhood (honestly, I even forgot what neighborhood I’m in and I just go to whichever neighborhood’s event is offering free food). I like it just fine, and I also feel that it feels a bit more equitable to have all of us have access to similar resources and events, whereas at Cambridge you might look at the Trinity kids with envy as they have their decked out May Balls and Formal Halls.
Winner: Oxbridge. I like the Stanford dorm community just fine, but the Oxbridge college system is famed for finding a tight-knit sense of community that many US universities attempt to imitate.
Accommodations
There’s no competition – UK wins. Most UK universities, even with housing crises, still provide single rooms for students, and very rarely are students crammed into doubles, triples, quads, whatever. In comparison, at Stanford, you get a double if you’re lucky, but triples and even quads are possible. My friend at Cambridge showed me his room, which was apparently the worst room in his college. At Stanford, people would love to have his room, as this year we had a housing crisis that left the juniors basically homeless (until R&DE figures their sh*t out).
As for food, the dining halls are also just absolutely beautiful at Cambridge. All of the architecture and buildings are just amazing to see, and the dining halls are no exception. However, in terms of the food, it depends on the college. Some colleges have pretty decent food, while others aren’t great. I found the food at Stanford to be better than Trinity. There are definitely more restaurants near Cambridge at a variety of price points than Stanford in all different cuisines, as our only dining option on campus is pretty much just the dining halls and a few cafes. In fact, my favorite broke student tip in Cambridge was using Too Good To Go. Too Good To Go is an app that allows you to save leftovers from restaurants and grocery stores, so I’ve gotten to have a solid four meals worth of delicious Indian food from my favorite Indian place nearby, all for £2.99.
Winner: Oxbridge. Unlike you like communal bathrooms and sharing dorm rooms.
Location
Okay, this is the elephant in the room here, the universities are across the world from each other. While they’re both strong, English-speaking nations, I have noticed very significant differences between the two in terms of culture and location. As location differs drastically depending on where in the US you’re in, I’ll mostly be speaking in terms of places I’ve lived and Palo Alto, California.
The US is way, way more fast-paced than the UK. It’s very, very noticeable, especially coming from a place like the Bay Area. In the UK, I felt like people acknowledged your being as a person outside of work, and that you have your own friends, family, and hobbies outside of the office. This is also shown in the holiday (or vacation, in US terms) time that workers get in the UK. In the UK, workers get six weeks of paid leave, minimum, which is pretty much unheard of in the US. There’s a saying that in the US, you live to work, while in Europe, you work to live. I’ve found this to be very true. At Stanford, the biggest goal in life often seems to be success and money. At Cambridge, people have a more well-rounded perspective on life, and also understand the importance of holiday and family time.
However, my colleagues joked that they could see why the US was ahead. I’ll be honest, yeah, I can tell that the US is moving at a much faster and more advanced trajectory, which I don’t see the UK catching up anytime soon. In terms of technology, the US is just way more advanced. We’re dominating the new trends in technology, being more adventurous and innovative with these tools and making new developments. I think my biggest consideration with moving to Europe in the future is because I believe the US still stands as the largest job market and center for innovation, which is quite critical to my career, even though everything else about Europe is far superior for quality of life.
Finally, the public transportation in Cambridge is way better, compared to nearly all American cities, maybe except cities like Boston and New York. And here’s why. Cambridge is extremely accessible by bike. I pretty much biked everywhere the entire time I was there, and they have bicycle lanes in most areas of the city. For places you can’t get to by bike, there are trains into major cities like London, as well as buses that run pretty frequently. It’s also quite walkable. In comparison, Palo Alto public transit is essentially non-existent, and most American cities are so car-dependent anyway that getting anywhere by public transit is usually pretty difficult.
Winner: In my opinion, definitely Oxbridge, but that’s just because I love rainy weather and English architecture.
Extracurriculars
This is where the big deciding factor was for me – extracurriculars. You all know I was a huge extracurriculars person in high school, where I honestly learned most of my skills and knowledge through extracurriculars rather than my classes. This has carried with me to uni, where I still think my extracurriculars are one of the most important parts of my uni experience. At Cambridge, most students are involved in basic student extracurriculars like rowing, cricket, rugby, and maybe a couple clubs. At Stanford, people do all sorts of things, from startups to conducting research. Many students in the UK have expressed to me that it’s quite difficult to do research at UK universities, and they don’t actually have much support for it. In comparison, Stanford funded me to go abroad to Cambridge, and they also have programs to fund my other research. You have the world at your fingertips at Stanford, and people have much higher expectations and support for undergraduates doing big things at Stanford.
Winner: Stanford. There’s a huge extracurricular culture at Stanford, so there’s more support and opportunities for students to do anything at Stanford.
Alumni Connections and Job Opportunities
Prestige is a bit difficult to gauge in this context. Both are hands-down extremely prestigious schools. UK rankings always put Oxbridge first, while US rankings always put the T5 (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT) first. I think this really depends on where you end up working in the future. A degree from either is going to be strong wherever you go. If you want to be in Europe, Oxbridge probably has the stronger connections there, while Stanford has more connections in the US.
However, my professor did make a comment once that more students want to go from Oxbridge to US T5’s, than the US T5’s to Oxbridge, which was why he was surprised that I wanted to go to Oxbridge from Stanford.
Winner: Depends on where you want to work in the future.
So… Which university would I prefer?
I absolutely fell in love with Cambridge. Pretty much everything about my experience there, from the gorgeous architecture, my lab there, to the British culture and even the weather. Cambridge, England is hands-down my favorite city right now, as it’s the perfect, quaint little town that’s a beautiful and safe place to live, while being an hour’s train ride from the bustling, big city life of London, England. Cambridge as a city blows Palo Alto way out of the water. Palo Alto is not exactly the most exciting place to live, unless you really love American suburbia.
However, in terms of the universities themselves… The verdict is that I’m actually really glad that I’m doing my undergraduate in the United States at Stanford. Stanford, to me, is a place where students aren’t here just for the classes and the strict sense of the word “education.” Instead, many people are here for the opportunities and connections to do cool things, such as building a startup, making an impact in the world, doing research with top-notch professors, all while being in undergrad. This isn’t as much the case at Cambridge. In Cambridge, students are expected to be students. Students go to classes, take exams, and occasionally participate in school clubs and after-school activities. There’s not as much of random startups or student research at Cambridge amongst the undergraduates. To me, extracurriculars are absolutely critical to my undergraduate experience. I absolutely love the research experiences and opportunities to build projects that I’ve gotten at Stanford, and that is a core part of my values for what I look for in university. Because of this, as much as I adore Cambridge, I have to say that Stanford is still the better fit for me as an undergraduate university.
Still, I definitely love Cambridge a way too much to say that this summer will be the end of my adventures in the UK. Cambridge truly became a place like home for me, and I felt like I could be incredibly happy in this place. I’m actually actively planning on trying to move to the UK for graduate school now, and now I genuinely am considering a Ph.D. at Cambridge in the future. I love Stanford and I think it truly was the best fit for me as an undergraduate institution, but I definitely wake up every morning missing Cambridge a lot 🙂
