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This shit is why if you're not from the US you should completely disregard Ivy league etc. universities and just go to Oxbridge instead, at least for your undergrad degree. While now there are some "boosts" given to disadvantaged British citizens if you're not one of them the only thing you'll be measured on and against your fellow applicants will be your aptitude for your chosen subject.
To use a London member's club analogy: going to the Ivy League is like being a member of Annabel's and all the new money connotations that gives while going to Oxbridge is like being a member of The Athenaeum (even being a member of White's is more respectable than being a member of Annabel's); for those of us who know, we know...
I for one would much rather go to Bumfuck University, USA than have the misfortune of setting foot in the UK. Even if the school might be "better" an Oxford graduate is looking at a far lower salary than a graduate from a completely mediocre US school. And good luck networking, because the snooty aristocrats certainly won't let you in the club.
Sounds like a bunch of stuck up people starting a cool kids club to cope with the fact that they make less money than a Taco Bell store manager in the United States. Literally the only people who care are the people who got in.
Personally, I'm partial to Sam's.
Edit: Apparently I can get reciprocal membership to the Athenaeum. Maybe I should show up just to ruin all those elites days for having to deal with being in the presence of a schlub like me.
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Well, London’s clubland is an amalgamation of places that all look the same and which cater to a clientele that sounds the same (to the outsider, at least) but which are all subtly different. Dispossessed landed gentry va dispossessed bona fide aristocracy vs the hereditary longstanding upper middle class vs various pretenders. People of the same class who live in the country or in the city primarily. People who don’t have to work who choose not to and people who don’t have to who choose to. That is why there are all those subtle distinctions between White’s, Boodle’s, The Carlton, Brook’s, The Guards (and now Cavalry), and so on. Then you have those for Scots, gentleman farmers/landowners who take an interest in farming, etc.
Still, I have to disagree with you and @MadMonzer. Annabels has always had plenty of real aristocrat members, you’re more likely to find the remaining young, moneyed members of the real British upper class there than anywhere else, including the ghastly Five Hertford.
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A "member" of Annabel's? It is no more of a membership than my "membership" of American Express. They are subscribers with ideas above their station, and Annabel's is a commercial discotheque with ideas above its station.
Very well put, if you go to Wikipedia and scroll down to their grouping of London clubs on any page you won't even see Annabel's listed as one of the major clubs of note. The parvenus who frequent the place (I've never been) would be well advised to join a real club, that is, if they can find one which will admit them.
Your link currently goes directly to the Athenaeum wiki page. If you meant this link Annabel's is there listed second under Extant clubs.
I meant the bit about member's clubs at the bottom of the Athenaeum wiki page. All the big famous ones are listed there (and this list is reproduced on other London member's club pages). The list you've linked to is alphabetical (hence why Annabel's is second) and a lot more comprehensive and lists even small tiny clubs.
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