Oxbridge

See also Wikipedia's article about "Oxbridge".

Oxbridge refers to the two best universities in the United Kingdom - Cambridge and Oxford. It is rather like their equivalent of the Ivy League, although the disgustingly Princeton-like St. Andrews might have something to say about that.

Students at Oxbridge, like their counterparts at Harvard and Yale, belong to one or another residential college within the greater university, and often maintain fierce loyalty to these mini-institutions throughout their lives (wearing the trademark college scarf, for instance). Unlike Harvard and Yale, however, graduate students are residents of residential colleges as well, allowing Columbia graduates to get a taste of intimate, non-highrise life if they choose to head overseas for study abroad or grad school.

How does a Columbian do so? He or she could participate in the Oxbridge Scholars Program in his or her junior year, or hold off until after graduation. Marshall and Kellett Fellows have their pick of the universities, while Rhodes or Gates Scholars must stay at Oxford or Cambridge, respectively. Some lucky Fulbright scholars attend Oxbridge as well, although the UK is one of the toughest destinations to get a Fulbright for.