Ivy League is public?!?!

Going to Oxford was not at all as I expected. Back in America when we hear or think about Oxford University, intelligence and prestige comes to mind. But it is much much more impressive then that, although it is still much different then schools in America. Learning about how schooling is different here versus how school is done in America is weird to think about but only because we are so used to how things are done in one place. Like how education is specialized for each person after the age of 16, at 16 I was more worried about getting my drivers license. However I like the fact that it is specifically general education until 16, so that you get it all out of the way instead of going through the same courses over and over again like in high school then college. In America we don't have A levels but it seems like the same basic concept as taking main general education courses in High School. Going to College over here seems more of an option too. However only being able to study one subject then if you decide to change you have to go all the way back to the beginning seems like a total waste of time and a bummer. I mean who is ever really sure of what they want to do in life. Unless you are one of the lucky ones who knows exactly what you want to study you get to study what you want and not have to go through useless class like here in America. Its weird that here public schools are often pretty good schools, even Oxford University is seen as Ivy League but is still a public university. This is definitely different, seems more a choice, in America going to college almost seems required, to get a job one must go through half their life sitting behind a desk. Even in public and private school differences seem more elitist then in UK, where schooling is based on grades and how much your willing to work for it. Seems there is more of a choice to do what you want rather then what is required of you. At Oxford you do have to be smart just like at any other Ivy League school in America, but it seems more simple. Schools like Harvard and Stanford are usually more known for lawyers and doctors. Where as in Oxford it is mostly single subjects at different colleges in the Oxford community. Very different then SDSU because we have all kinds of majors and all types of classes, and unlike at SDSU, Oxford has classes that are more personal and smaller numbers of students. Which offers a more exclusive education, British school culture seems more interested in learning because going to a school like Oxford versus SDSU is a personal choice where you get a better education because school is geared towards you instead of your money.

Oxford is way more respected and exclusive then SDSU, just the fact of how the learning environment is almost sacred at Oxford. At SDSU you can just walk onto campus and do as you please where as in Oxford you have to pay and have a certain time to go check it out, even have to be super quiet.