Dreams of hallowed halls
I AM at a university open day, one of a group of hopeful students in a book-lined study listening to the director of modern languages talking about his course.
I AM at a university open day, one of a group of hopeful students in a book-lined study listening to the director of modern languages talking about his course.
I shoot up my hand and ask about a third-year program that involves working in a foreign-language country as an assistant.
"I don't know if you count as a native English speaker," he says.
I raise my eyebrows quizzically. "You're from Australia," he says.
With such a statement, where else could I be but at England's famed Oxford University.
On a scholarship at Geelong Grammar and one of 1200 Victorian students who have elected to undertake the International Baccalaureate program for years 11 and 12, I aspire to an overseas university education. Only a small percentage plan to study overseas but IB numbers are growing fast.
So, with only 18 months until I finish school and hopes of studying overseas, Dad and I leave Australia to attend the Oxford and Cambridge open days.
Because of family finances, the trip is on the cheap, using frequent-flier points and youth hostels.
Dad's the struggling writer. He says he's writing the great Australian novel. I know he can do it but I'm in search of information on scholarships - my only hope of getting there.
In these days of aggressive worldwide university recruitment, Oxford and Cambridge maintain almost mythic reputations. They are the oldest universities in the English-speaking world, the breeding grounds of kings and presidents, business titans and Nobel prize winners.
Their halls echo with the ghosts of countless films and dramas. Brideshead Revisited and Chariots of Fire come to mind.
Oxford is a beautiful and historic city, dominated by the university's 39 colleges. All academic life, including admissions and accommodation, is based on the college system.
Arriving at University College (built 1265), I am shown to my room by Kevin, a first-year law student who never dreamed of an Oxford education: "It was my school that pushed me to apply."
My room (typical for first years) has a large study with half a dozen comfortable chairs, lots of bookshelves, a good-sized desk, a phone, heating, internet access and a fridge.
Why is Oxford so special?
"It's the tutorial system," Kevin says, "the chance to be one on one with some of the greatest minds in their fields."
Entering the college dining hall for dinner (reminiscent of Hogwarts with its wood panelling, long dining tables and low-slung lamps), I am met by dozens of grand portraits on the walls: former students.
I spot paintings of two familiar faces. Former US president Bill Clinton and former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke were both University College luminaries.
Selection to Oxford and Cambridge is based on school references, personal statements, achieved results, predicted results, written work, written tests and the interviews, which are held between applicants and faculty members.
In recent years, Oxford has made greater efforts to attract pupils from state schools, and admission to Oxford and Cambridge remains on academic merit and potential.
There is an extraordinary number of generous bursaries and supplements if you are a British or EU student. This is just as well because the annual cost of tuition including living expenses and college fees could be pound stg. 15,000 ($37,860) to pound stg. 30,000, depending on your course. No one seems to know much about scholarships and bursaries for Aussies. Then on our last day at Oxford, I learn why. There are none.
A New Zealand girl in the International Admissions office suggests I search on the web for commonwealth grants.
"Funding is available for candidates applying from underdeveloped countries but that's about it," she says.
My heart sinks.
We grapple our suitcases on to the train platform. Next stop: Cambridge.
Law has been studied at Cambridge since the 13th century but the faculty building is housed in a state-of-the-art multistorey steel and glass structure that includes one of the largest legal collections of documents and papers in Britain.
Faculty chair is former University of Sydney law dean James Crawford. (I look up his CV on the internet and it's 15 pages long.)
He tells visiting students that 10,000 people apply to do law at Sydney but only 2000 apply to Cambridge, apparently deterred by its aura of elitism, although 80 per cent of applicants get interviews at Cambridge.
Geoff Parks, director of college admissions, makes time to meet us. If there's a standout difference between Oxford and Cambridge it's this: many more of Cambridge's undergraduates from overseas enjoy some level of financial support. Both universities have about 1000 students from overseas and fees are similar.
While Cambridge embraces the arts, its leading role in engineering and the sciences has created a more multicultural university that encourages applications from overseas. Some of its colleges offer awards and there's the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and the Cambridge Overseas Trust which assist foreign students who are financially troubled.
There are also awards specifically for Australian students, according to Parks. Colleges will guide international applicants through a veritable maze of possible funding sources once they have been accepted.
Acceptance is entirely on merit. No student has been asked to leave on financial grounds.
This is inspiring. I leave for home with a clear vision.
Come October 15, 2007, I will have sent off my Cambridge application forms.
Until then, time to knuckle down.
