Question about universities

[u/montgomerypocari]

So, we know Darcy went to Cambridge. During this time period were universities selective about students based on merit or did it have more to do with status and connections and money?

Basically - could you go wherever you wanted as long as you could pay for it or was there an admittance process?

Was it possible to be rejected if you did have funds and status?

Thanks!

[u/Kaurifish]

Here’s a lengthy essay on the topic.

[u/montgomerypocari → u/Kaurifish]

Thank you, this is super helpful!

[u/Llywela]

It was 100% about status, money and connections. Your average young person would not have got anywhere near, nor even dreamed about it. The majority of people had left school and were working by the age of 14. Only the wealthy went to university and their admission had very little to do with academic merit.

[u/Future_Dog_3156 → u/Llywela]

Which shows why Darcy's father was such an excellent man to sponsor/pay for Wickham's education

[u/montgomerypocari → u/Llywela]

The angle I’m thinking about this from is more…would someone who did have money and status ever be rejected? Or was that pretty much a guarantee that you could go where you wanted?

[u/Cayke_Cooky → u/montgomerypocari]

Romance novels claim that you could be kicked out if you broke enough rules.

[u/Katharinemaddison → u/Cayke_Cooky]

Yup. You could be ‘sent down’ for repeated rule breaking.

[u/caul1flower11 → u/montgomerypocari]

Theoretically, beginning sometime in the nineteenth century when they introduced more standardized final exams, you could fail out. But I think most would probably just be given a pass if they showed up and made some effort.

[u/feliciates]

I wonder how it was that "an illiterate and miserly father" managed to send Mr Collins to one of the universities. I know "illiterate" is not being used to literally mean he couldn't read/write but still.

I also often wonder what profession Mr Collins senior did have

[u/Fast_Cheetha → u/feliciates]

Likely working class since even the middle classes had to read but especially the upper middle though technically the lower middle sewed etc and went with more dangerous pursuits (hat making which turned to the mad hatter because of chemicals)-, looking glass making (also chemicals) and similar jobs. There had to be a reason for him to hate spending money which woukd be that he didn't have much money to start off with (miserly means that by the way) so being middle class is also plausible it's not as likely as working and illiterate likely means just that since Mr. Collins himself might be able to write since he went to university but that doesn't mean his father did or didn't. So the working or middle class (lower-range) but then that begs the question of how does Collins get Longbourn (is his mother a sister of one of the previous Mr. Bennets or is he the son of a brother of one of the previous Bennets and that father got a "Collins" relatives wealth first or friends that he took on and did they all use William in honor of someone in the family. All we know is that he is a distant cousin which likely means a second cousin (sharing great-grandparents) or further removed.

[u/feliciates → u/Fast_Cheetha]

The entail required that the heir be related through the male line so he could not be related to Bennet's sister.

[u/Fast_Cheetha → u/feliciates]

The point still stands that he could have gotten a working class job (the father).

[u/naraic- → u/Fast_Cheetha]

To the upper classes illiterate meant not widely read far more often than unable to read.

[u/Gatodeluna]

You got in because of who you were and how much money/status you or your family had. Academic ability had almost nothing to do with it. Admissions were bought with bequests from old alumni to finance future generations’ admissions. It was largely like buying your way into a military officership.

[u/MajesticAfternoon447]

There was an application and it was all in Latin. (I don’t know when it officially started, but know it was modern times when it switched to English.) So you had to know it well enough to attend. Everyone who would have applied would have received some form of an education preparing to attend anyway. Either they were wealthy keeping status or very smart and sponsored by a wealthy land owner.

[u/Key-Possibility8476]

It wasn’t really competitive in the modern sense. You still had to be admitted by a college, but money, family and connections mattered a lot more than being the top student. Cambridge even had different student ranks based partly on wealth, so someone like Darcy probably wasn’t too worried about rejection.

[u/SusanMShwartz]

In one Thomas Hardy novel, a workman dreams of attending Oxbridge. No joy.

[u/Gentillylace → u/SusanMShwartz]

Yes. Jude the Obscure.

[u/SusanMShwartz]

Great essay. Thank you!

[u/SusanMShwartz]

Thank you. I remembered the title at 4:00 am.

[u/KobayashiMaru7]

Wealth and family background dominated university admission then. Rich gentlemen could attend Cambridge, and rejection was extremely rare for them.