Speaking of the British

> The largest empire the world has ever seen whittled down to its homeland, a naval base in the med, and some godforsaken islands in the south atlantic. I'd call that pretty disastrous.

Actually, I would count the graceful degradation of the British empire (i.e without the entire country going to hell) as quite an achievement - particularly considering it happened with a surprisingly low level of long-term resentment incurred from the former colonies. Further, the claim that it was due to poor management more than, for example, two ludicrously expensive wars, is more than a touch disingenuous.

I suppose one could argue that the first of those wars was rather a waste, but Britain was hardly the only country to be affected by that particular insanity.

"I prefer to keep my mouth shut and let people think I'm a fool rather than open my mouth and prove it."

Top advice.

Indeed. Well, I'm not going to be able to create a good argument because mine is also based on the people at Oxford (and Cambridge) that I've met and how they've acted, too. (It could just be that I only meet certain kinds of people?) However, I suspect the author of this articles is speaking falsely because it doesn't match with the reality I've seen/heard. You have some of the brainiest people in the UK there and you expect me to believe that it always comes down to talk?

For instance, my brother comes back from Oxford and I see the amount of work he brings back with him. He reads and writes more in one term than many other University's expect from their students in a few years... There are folders and folders of notes proving the workload. The reading lists that he has been provided have not been finished. This is because they're pages long and it is impossible to finish them in the time they are given. He often spends full days revising or reading, and especially now that is exam time he gives himself very few hours to relax. Of course there is a mix of people: some that literally work from 8AM till midnight and others that somehow seem to mix this with being a socialite (perhaps those people don't do any work and just buddy up to the professors by telling them that they do no work!? To me, that sounds bizarre.) Despite the different kinds of people that are there I think it is disingenuous for somebody with a relative that goes there to argue that workaholic study is not encouraged. I have seen the opposite; I have seen people under way too much stress and pressure to succeed and work hard.

Okay, not very nuanced but maybe you see why I call it bullshit.

I think the effect is more significant at Oxbridge though. At Oxbridge you have "supervisions" or "tutorials" as an undergrad. These consist of a 1-on-1 lesson with a fellow or grad student where you are questioned mercilessly on every section of your essay or problem set for an hour. They ask you about every single sentence or step in your solutions. You have to prepare carefully, and even then you have to learn to wing it, because they're going to find flaws you didn't know existed. Given that there is no-one else to back you up or interject with an answer, if you don't learn to wing it quickly, you're screwed.

Oh, and most of this article about Oxbridge is complete crap. I'm working 10 hours a day for 6 days a week in order to prepare for my exams this term at Cambridge, and I'm one of the lighter workers (including English/Classics students). I've never been offered sherry (though I did get some wine at the end of last term), and the interview process is nothing like he described. It's bloody intense. I had 2 interviews and 2 tests in a day and felt like I didn't answer a single question correctly.

As someone else mentioned, if prospective applicants take this article at face value they're in for a nasty shock.

As a current Cambridge undergraduate studying computer science, I find this absolutely outrageous.

The article seems to imply that the scientific fields simply aren't studied here.

The particular example of Lord Cherwell is particularly misleading, as his results were mistrusted by other scientists of the day.

Also, the application process is completely misrepresented. I had two interviews, with the people who would be supervising me. I didn't get offered sherry, they were sat respectably in chairs, and they asked me maths and logic questions.

My director of studies informs me that he then runs all our results (interview, A levels, personal statement) through a number of statistical tests to work out who are going to be the best candidates.

Also, it's strange, I didn't think that Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg had any effect on the legislative direction of America...

And the point about "workaholic study is not encouraged" is absolutely untrue. The full reading list probably consisted of about 3 pages of literature. The workload here is high: it's certainly not unknown to have a fifty hour working week here.