What do I do if I fail to get into Oxbridge?

This week’s problem
If I do not get into an Ivy League university or Oxbridge, what can I do to level up my career playing field? Female, 20s

Jonathan’s answer

There is a traditional view that a degree from Oxford, Cambridge or an Ivy League university can in itself place you on the highest career path. If your career playing field is assessed purely by salary, then the data support this aggregate view: figures for 2016-17 from the UK’s education department reveal that Oxford and Cambridge graduates have the highest median incomes of all employed graduates, five years after leaving university.

Not securing a place is not necessarily a measure of your academic ability or long-term employment potential. In 2018, just one in six of the almost 40,000 people who applied for an undergraduate place at Oxford and Cambridge was successful. The rest probably went on to study at other leading universities.

In any event, it is not just university choice that affects your career outcome. In Lauren Rivera’s 2015 book, Pedigree: How Elite Students Get Elite Jobs , she reported on Wall Street firms’ recruiting practices and showed that, far from being a pure meritocracy, unspoken biases apply to select people with a similar cultural fit. One of Professor Rivera’s findings was that on Wall Street, male applicants from upper-middle-class backgrounds with an interest in team sports did particularly well.

Some employers are levelling the playing field, actively seeking graduates from other prestigious institutions, to increase diversity and perhaps because the undergraduate courses at these institutions offer candidates advantages, including vocational elements.

Other recruiters are trialling “background blind” admissions, removing from applications references to schools or universities.

If your undergraduate degree ignited your academic interest, masters or doctorates can be undertaken at any time after undergraduate study and there is a wealth of opportunities at Oxbridge, Ivy League or other institutions for graduate studies.

While there may be peer or family pressure to study at certain institutions, your long-term career success depends on more than the brand name, including what you can demonstrate in terms of technical and employability skills.

Research all leading universities to decide which course would suit you best, including the content, style and intensity of teaching, and examination methods. You may also consider which institution would provide the best extracurricular opportunities.

Even if the Ivy League and Oxbridge doors close for you, other doors will open: employers will be impressed by what you do with the opportunities you actually had, not what might have been.

Readers’ advice

Seek out a good university where teaching is more of a priority than reputation, and to make use of university clubs, societies, and any other means you can find to make friends and contacts. Learn how to get along with as wide a range of people as you can. Bluedun

Going to a good university is a great asset, but ultimately it is resilience that will shape a career. Fred

Do the same things that you would do if you did get into an Ivy League university or Oxbridge. Work very hard. Build your networks. Believe in yourself. LondonReader

First step: get a grip. I’ve known plenty of idiots who went to Oxbridge and an Ivy League university. What matters is what you do and how well you do it, while not antagonising people in the process. Where you start out doesn’t matter too much. Hari Seldon

Jonathan Black is director of the Careers Service at the University of Oxford. Every fortnight he answers your questions on personal and career development and working life. Do you have a question for Jonathan? Email him at dear.jonathan@ft.com