Oxbridge gets a rude awakening

The case concerns a gutsy young lady who applied to go up to Oxford. She decided afterwards that Oxbridge was elitist and wrote to Magdalen College where she was interviewed to reject Oxford altogether. In her letter, she says, “following your interview I am afraid you do not quite meet the standard of the universities I will be considering”. The applicant, who has now become an icon for the anti-establishment, is evidently Oxbridge material, and admissions tutors should immediately give her a scholarship, if not at Oxford, then at Magdalene College, Cambridge.

But here is the irony. Some years ago another girl caught the headlines while I was a Fellow at the university. This time it was a candidate who applied to an excellent university in the southwest of England. She was rejected. The reason was that she had a double-barrelled name, went to a top public school and had four A Levels at A grade, which meant that she must have come from an undemocratic background. 

Sumet Jumsai

Bangkok