Jack Edwards

The truth is having studied and worked at a few, all universities tend to be much of a muchness. Many issues are universal. Each university has its pros and cons. When you speak to staff and students at different unis there are a lot of similarities in how they run, the issues staff and students face and the types of staff and students each one has.

Also when you speak to students, it's often the smallest things that made them choose one uni over another such as the feeling they had on the day, the mood they were in or the weather the day they visited, how they bonded with an academic etc.

Also as has been mentioned, there are many who switch unis from a more prestigious one to where they are happier.

cheesecakes said:

These StudyTubers do nothing to help cancel out the honestly harmful and dangerous perception that Oxford/Cambridge (and maybe Durham and Exeter) are the only UK universities worth going to.

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This is spot on, thank you. I always found Eve Cornwell so refreshing in that aspect, because when she was asked whether she would have liked to study at Oxbridge she straight up said no. Or Ruby - when she talked about MA programmes she said she had looked into Cambridge, but it's not at the top of her list. And that's how you're supposed to choose your postgrad course. What reason for wanting to attend Oxford can Jack give in his application besides the fact that it's Oxford?

bublifuk said:

This is spot on, thank you. I always found Eve Cornwell so refreshing in that aspect, because when she was asked whether she would have liked to study at Oxbridge she straight up said no. Or Ruby - when she talked about MA programmes she said she had looked into Cambridge, but it's not at the top of her list. And that's how you're supposed to choose your postgrad course. What reason for wanting to attend Oxford can Jack give in his application besides the fact that it's Oxford?

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Which is something Oxford will be incredibly attuned to now. I'm sure their applications department can get a good sense of who genuinely wants to study there and who is chasing the prestige.

bublifuk said:

This is spot on, thank you. I always found Eve Cornwell so refreshing in that aspect, because when she was asked whether she would have liked to study at Oxbridge she straight up said no. Or Ruby - when she talked about MA programmes she said she had looked into Cambridge, but it's not at the top of her list. And that's how you're supposed to choose your postgrad course. What reason for wanting to attend Oxford can Jack give in his application besides the fact that it's Oxford?

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I love Eve, she's the only StudyTuber I don't dislike - maybe because she's actually honest. I think she went through a period of being very unsure of herself but I admire her so much for coming out (the amount of hate on her thread saying she was 'queerbaiting'? like honey it's not queerbaiting if you're actually queer) and I genuinely think she will go on to do amazing things. She's driven, focused, and has an actual plan. I don't see Jack/Ruby/Eve Bennett/Jade having such success, I wouldn't be surprised if most of them go on to do YouTube full time.

Not that that's an issue, what works for them, but Eve Cornwell is about to become an actual lawyer. That's who I want to look up to, not Jack 'I haven't matured enough to realise that Oxford is not for me despite being almost 22' Edwards.

cheesecakes said:

I love Eve, she's the only StudyTuber I don't dislike - maybe because she's actually honest. I think she went through a period of being very unsure of herself but I admire her so much for coming out (the amount of hate on her thread saying she was 'queerbaiting'? like honey it's not queerbaiting if you're actually queer) and I genuinely think she will go on to do amazing things. She's driven, focused, and has an actual plan. I don't see Jack/Ruby/Eve Bennett/Jade having such success, I wouldn't be surprised if most of them go on to do YouTube full time.

Not that that's an issue, what works for them, but Eve Cornwell is about to become an actual lawyer. That's who I want to look up to, not Jack 'I haven't matured enough to realise that Oxford is not for me despite being almost 22' Edwards.

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I said she was queerbaiting before she came out because it did feel that way at the time.

Jack is one of those students who got to the end of his degree and went "oh wait, I forgot to think about what comes next". I was one myself, and I know how quickly it comes around and how weird it is to watch everyone else get their adult jobs around you. Eve went into uni with a plan and knew exactly where she wanted to be when she left.

DietGossip said:

I said she was queerbaiting before she came out because it did feel that way at the time.

Jack is one of those students who got to the end of his degree and went "oh wait, I forgot to think about what comes next". I was one myself, and I know how quickly it comes around and how weird it is to watch everyone else get their adult jobs around you. Eve went into uni with a plan and knew exactly where she wanted to be when she left.

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That's fair - I only read through her thread the other day so since she came out so I've got a different perspective on it.

That's true, I just feel like Jack has done nothing to actually make career plans past 'I'm going to go to Oxford, do a postgrad and write a book'. There's nothing wrong with not having a plan, but I feel like there is something wrong with burying your head in the sand after your degree and letting your stans hype you up for reading some books.

cheesecakes said:

I love Eve, she's the only StudyTuber I don't dislike - maybe because she's actually honest. I think she went through a period of being very unsure of herself but I admire her so much for coming out (the amount of hate on her thread saying she was 'queerbaiting'? like honey it's not queerbaiting if you're actually queer) and I genuinely think she will go on to do amazing things. She's driven, focused, and has an actual plan. I don't see Jack/Ruby/Eve Bennett/Jade having such success, I wouldn't be surprised if most of them go on to do YouTube full time.

Not that that's an issue, what works for them, but Eve Cornwell is about to become an actual lawyer. That's who I want to look up to, not Jack 'I haven't matured enough to realise that Oxford is not for me despite being almost 22' Edwards.

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I’ve lost respect for her when she came back and the video was an AD and she has clearly broken lockdown rules so she can get in the to go pile as well

ECH said:

Ok forgive my ignorance, but why is it Oxford that all of these studytubers seem obsessed with? Just find it interesting that far more of them seem to apply and go there over Cambridge.

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I would guess it is because Oxford are traditionally seen as stronger in literature/humanities whereas Cambridge are known for their STEM/maths in particular. Jade probably opted for Oxford because of the natural sciences course at Cambridge not suiting her, but it explains why Eve Bennett, Ruby and Jack would opt for Oxford if they were looking for the highest prestige factor

marmalade1 said:

I would guess it is because Oxford are traditionally seen as stronger in literature/humanities whereas Cambridge are known for their STEM/maths in particular. Jade probably opted for Oxford because of the natural sciences course at Cambridge not suiting her, but it explains why Eve Bennett, Ruby and Jack would opt for Oxford if they were looking for the highest prestige factor

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Thanks! My big sister went to Cambridge so naturally I'm a bit more knowledgeable about Cambridge, and the Oxford obsession seemed strange. This definitely helps to explain it a bit more!

Holding my hands up and saying I haven’t watched every recent video, but I just stayed his bookshelf tour and was taken aback that he’s at his parents house - could someone just fill me in on when that happened?

LitNerd said:

Holding my hands up and saying I haven’t watched every recent video, but I just stayed his bookshelf tour and was taken aback that he’s at his parents house - could someone just fill me in on when that happened?

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He lived in his own for the second lockdown as his flat mate went back to Scotland (I can’t remember why) and then never seemed to come back, he went back home just before Christmas, and then where he lives got put into tier 4 and he’s not been back to London since
I think it’s been a massive waste of money living in London during a pandemic
The student flat okay they gifted it to him but paying like £1k per month when you could be at home for a lot less, fair enough change your room around if it’s not what you want but seems silly

Lola123 said:

He lived in his own for the second lockdown as his flat mate went back to Scotland (I can’t remember why) and then never seemed to come back, he went back home just before Christmas, and then where he lives got put into tier 4 and he’s not been back to London since
I think it’s been a massive waste of money living in London during a pandemic
The student flat okay they gifted it to him but paying like £1k per month when you could be at home for a lot less, fair enough change your room around if it’s not what you want but seems silly

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Ultimate definition of privilege

Lola123 said:

He lived in his own for the second lockdown as his flat mate went back to Scotland (I can’t remember why) and then never seemed to come back, he went back home just before Christmas, and then where he lives got put into tier 4 and he’s not been back to London since
I think it’s been a massive waste of money living in London during a pandemic
The student flat okay they gifted it to him but paying like £1k per month when you could be at home for a lot less, fair enough change your room around if it’s not what you want but seems silly

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I think his flatmate went back home because they consistently didn't have wifi in their flat and he works from home, so it became a big problem for him. Seems crazy to be paying rent (and London rent at that) for a place where you aren't living, and where you only actually lived for a few months.

Lola123 said:

He lived in his own for the second lockdown as his flat mate went back to Scotland (I can’t remember why) and then never seemed to come back, he went back home just before Christmas, and then where he lives got put into tier 4 and he’s not been back to London since
I think it’s been a massive waste of money living in London during a pandemic
The student flat okay they gifted it to him but paying like £1k per month when you could be at home for a lot less, fair enough change your room around if it’s not what you want but seems silly

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I think moving to London was the worst decision he could make. Fair enough if we were in normal times, but living in London is essentially useless right now if you really don't need to be there. I know a lot of people who have moved back into family homes outside of London for lockdown just because it's so much better for mental health for a start (house in an area with green space and a garden vs a tiny studio flat surrounded by concrete).

I get that when he first moved there everything was a little bit different, but I still think it was a pointless move after this unite students deal ran out. He lives in Sussex like me, if he had really needed to go to London for anything a train there takes little more than an hour if that (given he was getting a train back to Sussex every weekend to see his family, that wouldn't have been a problem and arguably he'd have been on a train a lot less.)

Lurker1997 said:

I think moving to London was the worst decision he could make. Fair enough if we were in normal times, but living in London is essentially useless right now if you really don't need to be there. I know a lot of people who have moved back into family homes outside of London for lockdown just because it's so much better for mental health for a start (house in an area with green space and a garden vs a tiny studio flat surrounded by concrete).

I get that when he first moved there everything was a little bit different, but I still think it was a pointless move after this unite students deal ran out. He lives in Sussex like me, if he had really needed to go to London for anything a train there takes little more than an hour if that (given he was getting a train back to Sussex every weekend to see his family, that wouldn't have been a problem and arguably he'd have been on a train a lot less.)

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I think he moved for the sake of it tbh - probably didn't have a clue what to do when he could no longer do study videos, so had to have some 'purpose'. Probably thought it would increase his chances of landing a job in publishing too.

I really enjoyed his BTS video. Honestly, I wish he'd stick to this book content because I think he does it really well.

marmalade1 said:

I would guess it is because Oxford are traditionally seen as stronger in literature/humanities whereas Cambridge are known for their STEM/maths in particular. Jade probably opted for Oxford because of the natural sciences course at Cambridge not suiting her, but it explains why Eve Bennett, Ruby and Jack would opt for Oxford if they were looking for the highest prestige factor

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It's his choice, but I always found the fixation with Oxford rather sad when there are so many great postgrad programs out there.

I am not sure what literary era he's going for, but Oxford is not great if you want to study more contemporary literature, which he seems interested in. I did an MPhil in American Literature at Cambridge and now I'm doing a PhD in the same area, and I didn't even bother with Oxford, considering contemporary and American are not their strongest areas. It just seems like he can't let that dream go, when I think he could thrive in a more modern environment.

kateps said:

It's his choice, but I always found the fixation with Oxford rather sad when there are so many great postgrad programs out there.

I am not sure what literary era he's going for, but Oxford is not great if you want to study more contemporary literature, which he seems interested in. I did an MPhil in American Literature at Cambridge and now I'm doing a PhD in the same area, and I didn't even bother with Oxford, considering contemporary and American are not their strongest areas. It just seems like he can't let that dream go, when I think he could thrive in a more modern environment.

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Random slightly off topic but I love seeing posts like this. This forum is often labelled as trolls, haters , losers etc. But there are people from so many different backgrounds on here, often sharing similar opinions who have successes in various aspects of life

nrs264 said:

Random slightly off topic but I love seeing posts like this. This forum is often labelled as trolls, haters , losers etc. But there are people from so many different backgrounds on here, often sharing similar opinions who have successes in various aspects of life

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I agree with that! I feel like if someone is willingly making themselves a public figure then the public has a right to criticize, but I do try to stay clear of anything malicious or unnecessarily nasty. I'm all here for criticizing the content and aspects of the creator, but not in an unconstructive way. Tbh, at least on the threads I read, I haven't seen anything too overtly mean which is great!

With Jack, for example, I genuinely enjoy his content, but I don't agree with the overt pressure he's putting on himself to get into Oxford. It's become like his sole mission in life. I even commented on his latest Oxford rejection, back in the day, asking why he hasn't considered Cambridge, or other unis and he just didn't reply.

Despite having been through undergrad and presumably having matured considerably, he still allows that first rejection to hang over his life, which also sets a pretty bad example for his viewers, especially those soon to apply to uni. I genuinely think he is better suited for a more modern, more vibrant environment, like UCL or KCL, or even Bristol. Anyway, I do hope, if he has been rejected, that he finally decides to move past this and find a uni or a job that actually suits his wants and personality.

Slightly off topic as well, but I am currently watching Eve Bennett's new life update and the way Oxford has handled the required year abroad for language students is appalling.
For anyone not interested in the whole video, the gist is that Oxford pushed students into going to Spain via France -a loophole- even though Spain had basically closed its borders for non-citizens. It's absolutely ridiculous. I hope Jack sees this and maybe questions how great Oxford is, especially under the current situation.

Has he been reading here? Well well well