Oxford Loses Prestige; Are American Universities NEXT?

Published on December 15, 2005 By Gideon MacLeish In Current Events

Oxford, one of the most prestigious universities in the world, is losing its right to select its own students. In what appears to be nothing more than a glorified lottery, students will be chosen for the university randomly so as to include more lower class students.

Sadly, the world of political correctness and socialism has so infected England that no longer will Oxford be ALLOWED to be the best of the best, or to ACCEPT the best of the best, but may, rather, within ten years, be known as the best "Party school" in England by students who do not respect its sacred tradition and the academic excellence that has defined it for so many years.

I wouldn't regard that as a problem if it were confined to "the other side of the pond". But as a parent who is preparing my children in the hopes that one of them can gain admission to Stanford (would have been my first choice had I had the means), and that all of them can go to a school with a reputation for academic excellence, I am concerned that this PC madness will spread, that my children's hard work will be for naught, and that all that separates them from Podunk U. is a lottery drawing. I want them to have a REWARD for their hard work, and knowing that they have no better chance of attending a more prestigious university than their friend who skated by with a "C-" average is, put simply, an atrocity.

Comments

on Dec 15, 2005

"political correctness and socialism has so infected England"

You have been completely misinformed, a student still has to have the grades but the government is encouraging these top ranking universities to have a wider pool of selection.

This is an attempt to have more children from working class backgrounds going to Oxford and Cambridge, if a working class student has the grades then why shouldn't they go to Oxford... because they haven't been to Eton?

on Dec 15, 2005

Gideon MacLeish

on Dec 16, 2005

This is an attempt to have more children from working class backgrounds going to Oxford and Cambridge, if a working class student has the grades then why shouldn't they go to Oxford... because they haven't been to Eton?

This is SOCIALISM, plain and simple. A student with grades CAN go to Oxford, as it stands. Remember, our ex-American President went to Oxford, and he was not from a privileged background.

See, the problem with the whole deal is this: perfect grades are perfect grades. Some students with perfect grades WILL be left out of prestigious universities. It happens. But to leave the selection up to a lottery, as it were, denies students with the intangibles that can't be measured by random selection the opportunity to attend a university they've worked hard to attend.

shadesofgrey

on Dec 16, 2005

Gid, I think you are confused here. No one is taking away Oxford's right to choose students. Oxford University however, is taking away the rights of its colleges to choose their own students. So, St.John's College at Oxford will not longer decide who it will enroll, Oxford University will. Basically Oxford University has centralized its admission process.

How in the world is this socialism?

shadesofgrey

on Dec 16, 2005

But to leave the selection up to a lottery, as it were, denies students with the intangibles that can't be measured by random selection the opportunity to attend a university they've worked hard to attend.

I just want to doubly clarify. There is no random lottery to get into Oxford. Yet, once you are admitted to Oxford, students will be assigned to its various colleges at random. They will still receive a degree from Oxford, and they will still have busted their butt to get in.

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