Oxbridge

There are plenty of reasons not to apply to Oxford or Cambridge. The odds aren't good, for a start - only around one in four applicants get in, and there you can see the richly unfair advantage enjoyed by applicants whose parents have paid for private education or special coaching. The teaching might not suit: you might be the kind of person who loathes being put on the spot and interrogated about your opinions - in which case, you'd be better off elsewhere. Perhaps neither university offers the subject you really want to read. The rugby clubs are a menace. And rowing is, quite frankly, perverse (though you will never quite be able to hide your satisfaction when the Light/Dark Blues - delete as appropriate - are defeated in the Boat Race).

But don't, for God's sake, decide not to apply because of elitism. If Oxbridge is elitist, in class terms at least, shouldn't you be trying to change that? True, a few Oxbridge undergraduates seem to epitomise everything that is most unpleasant about the British upper classes: the braying and vomiting that goes on during May Week repels many, though the same behaviour goes on in the least pretentious of universities.

But the colleges really do want to recruit the best people, regardless of back-ground, and are actively encouraging students from all backgrounds to apply, even changing the offers they make, in some cases, to encourage students who haven't had the benefit of specialised coaching.

The notion that Oxford and Cambridge are rarefied, hushed establishments is a myth; most undergraduates spend the eight-week terms in a furious whirl of activity. These are beautiful, terrifying and exhilarating places to pass three years, and the tutorial system of teaching, where you are in tiny groups with your tutor, is a fantastically intense and productive way to learn. Of course, you'll make it if you go elsewhere. But nothing will goad you into action in quite the same way as three years at Oxbridge. Let the place provoke you - but let it do that once you're there, rather than allow yourself to be irritated by it from a distance.

On the other hand, remember that Oxbridge doesn't necessarily guarantee the best education in a given subject. There are plenty of superb courses and excellent institutions that can offer a better learning opportunity. Check out the subject tables in this book and you'll find that there are any number of other institutions that offer a top-class education. Aim for excellence by all means, but don't assume that always starts and ends with Oxford or Cambridge.