From speaking to people that have gone to Oxford and Cambridge, they are definitely not necessarily letting in just the brightest minds. Nor do I think they tru

From speaking to people that have gone to Oxford and Cambridge, they are definitely not necessarily letting in just the brightest minds. Nor do I think they truly are trying to find them - there is a definite "fit" for these places. If I had to characterise it, I'd say "smart, and very academic/scholarly". They all seem to have a deep appreciation of some subject or topic and it seems like their admissions process is very good at uncovering it. The other thing everyone from there talks (whines) about is the sheer volume of work they are expected to complete, and for that, exams seem like a good (albeit imperfect) proxy for gauging this.