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Just be aware that, while the overall degree may be a 2:1, that individual courses within the degree will be marked individually and that these are shown in the transcript every student gets. So, a discerning employer may look beyond the overall classification depending on what they are looking for.
How is someone with a 2:2 or a third from Oxford / Cambridge viewed vs. someone who has a first from a "lesser known" university?
A slacker that graduates from a world class top university will still get quite a bit of credit with employers even if they didn't do so well. "lesser known" isn't that specific as there are some horrible universities in the UK where graduating at the top of your class isn't considered as special since the university is so bad. (Luton, greenwich university etc.)
In real life grades aren't that important in all subjects, some fields give you an advantage just for going to good school and some fields gives you an advantage if you actually did well at whatever school you went. It all comes down to the employer and what's important to him/her.. If you're employer is an oxbridge graduate he/she might give special treatment to students who went the same route as him/her. if an employer was a member of some fraternity/sorority he/she might give special treatment to brothers/sisters of that house.
College is complicated and you can't really put a finger on who has the better advantage than others. But whatever school you're going to you should apply yourself 100% and do well so that it doesn't bite you in the a-ss later.
A slacker that graduates from a world class top university will still get quite a bit of credit with employers even if they didn't do so well. "lesser known" isn't that specific as there are some horrible universities in the UK where graduating at the top of your class isn't considered as special since the university is so bad.
In real life grades aren't that important in all subjects, some fields give you an advantage just for going to good school and some fields gives you an advantage if you actually did well at whatever school you went.
Yes, the University you get into also reflects how well you did at school (High School) as the better universities demand higher grades in A Levels (or Highers).
How is someone with a 2:2 or a third from Oxford / Cambridge viewed vs. someone who has a first from a "lesser known" university?
Well, some might assume your family was rich enough or connected enough to get you into a top level university even tho you're as thick as a brick (Prince Edward anyone ?). Others might assume that getting a 2:2 from Oxbridge is so much more difficult that you might've worked really hard just to get that. I don't know how true this still is, but it used to be that it didn't matter what grade you got: if you'd graduated from Oxbridge you were set for life.
The nicknames are just for fun, I cant imagine you would ever discuss them with a potential employer.
Having studied in both the US and the UK, I would say a '2.1' is similar to having a B-average. Most (not all) of the larger graduate employers would request a 2.1 and some also stipulate A-Level grades- which in turn influence which university you got into. You could therefore have a first class degree but due to A -Level grades still not be accepted onto the programme of your choice (this isnt true for everyone, my roommate got a 2.2 and was accepted by one of the most well thought-of employers, because she has the gift of the gab!).
I know when I was at univerity studying law, only about 3% of our year got 1sts. Then it was something like 40% 2.1, 40% 2.2, 10% 3rd and the rest failed!
Another thing to bear in mind is how the class is calculated...if you take say 10 courses and get 6 As, you got a 1st at my uni. A lot of people got 5 As and so got stuck with 2:1s, and they missed that 6th A by about 2%...just a little thing like that can make a big difference. That's one reason I prefer the American GPA system; it's more transparent who got what.
And yes, I was one of those people who got only 5 As instead of 6 The difference between my class and the class of a couple of my friends looks artificially large.
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?). Others might assume that getting a 2:2 from Oxbridge is so much more difficult that you might've worked really hard just to get that. I don't know how true this still is, but it used to be that it didn't matter what grade you got: if you'd graduated from Oxbridge you were set for life.
The difference between my class and the class of a couple of my friends looks artificially large.
