Which university is more prestigious/well known Oxford or Cambridge?

[indexvol]

Or are they equal/same.

Edited April 26, 2017 by indexvol

[mdivgirl]

As per my husband, a Brit who has a BA in history from Cambridge: "The honest answer is that traditionally, Cambridge in better at sciences and Oxford at arts, but every year the ranking change and both are excellent."  I get the impression that they are pretty equally prestigious over all.  You may want to ask people in your individual field which is better known/ has the top scholars in your particular area of study.  You can also figure out a lot of that with Google, I'm guessing.

[Concordia]

Having left Cambridge with one degree, I will be heading to Oxford this fall. 

So, obviously, Cambridge now has the edge.  You heard it here first.  

Actually, the "well-known" part will probably vary depending on where you are and what circles you travel in.  Oxford has a bit more visibility to the man on the street in the US, perhaps because of Rhodes Scholarships, or maybe going back further.  In The Great Gatsby, for example, the gangster Meyer Wolfsheim was terribly impressed that Gatsby had been to "Oggsford College."  He might not have been so blown over if it had been Cambridge-- it's hard to say.  (Fitzgerald might have developed his own point of view while attending Princeton.)

On the other hand, there is a very famous poem by Xu Zhimo written in Chinese about Cambridge.  Add to that Cambridge's visibility in the sciences and its overall fabulousness as a tourist destination, and you might find it better known in Asia.  That will also, I'm sure, vary by country and region.

 

 

Edited May 25, 2017 by Concordia