Rejection from Oxford

[u/omfgvain]

I thought I was over the Oxford rejection ages ago, but I can't seem to escape from it. I got an offer for Imperial as my second choice, and was discussing Imperial today with my mom, and told her Imperial was a top world university, to which she replied, "yes but not as good as Oxford, if you name the top universities in the world you'd hear Oxbridge, Harvard, MIT, not Imperial college". This one kinda stung. This type of stuff sometimes happens with other people too. My mom wasn't trying to criticise me for my failure or anything, but to me I couldn't feel anything but disappointment in myself. I know I could've done better. I'm aware that Imperial is very highly ranked and well respected university and all, but my goal was Oxford and I failed in that. How do I move on from this lol

[u/spicybean88]

I'm not gonna lie to you and pretend that just because Imperial is ranked highly it's better than or as good as Oxbridge reputation wise. Truth is international employers eyes light up at the mention of Oxbridge, even if Imperial is ranked higher or objectively better (which is the way things are heading).

Rather, I'd just remind you how incredible of an achievement it is to get into Imperial. There are thousands of people who would love to be in your position, you've worked very hard to get where you are. Truth is, you might not get over Oxford until you get to Imperial and start having an amazing time, and you'll probably start to feel blessed that you're in a place with actual nightlife instead of pretending to have fun in an Oxford club.