I'm wondering which universities all you older folk here went/go to, which courses you take/took, what they're like, etc. Especially English courses. At the moment, Oxford looks like it has the best English department, but Cambridge looks like it has a course that suits me better. Lancaster has a joint English and Creative Writing course that looks like it would be perfect for me, but I'm not sure how useful it'd be for employment, and Oxbridge have a lot of informal creative writing groups, so... :S
(and then Cambridge want A*AA, and I'm planning to do the whole English Lit course in one year, so getting the A* may require me to... work... :0... Oxford want AAA, which should be possible... I hope... But my GCSEs weren't great. And one of my sucky GCSEs was in a subject I'm gonna do for A level... :S)
I go to Sunderland Uni for Automotive Engineering. Love my course, love my Uni, but I dunno what the Uni is like for creative writing, I just know they have the course.
Honestly, from personal experience, you generally know instantly which Uni you want to go to upon seeing it, for me it was always Sunderland, then when I saw the Uni is was futher confirmed for me - just the way I am I guess.
Iaculus is right, the support system in a uni is one of the most important things ever. You need to be able to go to your Uni with any problems that you have, course related or not, so find out something about that as well.
If you're serious about going to a 'big' uni then don't drop any subject in A2, if you're capable of getting 3 As then 4 Bs or better should be in your reach plus it looks good on your application if you haven't dropped anything. I'm not sure if Oxbridge will accept 4 Bs (I think they might specify 400 points from A A A or whatever) but I know someone would did this to get into Bournemouth
@4- Hm, I've heard that the final grades are more important than the number of subjects. I really don't think that 4 Bs would be anywhere near acceptable for Oxbridge. I doubt 2 As and 2 Bs would be, for that matter. The impression I get from Oxbridge is that they're looking for people with a passion for their chosen subject, who will produce top-quality work. There are two grades above a 'B', so it's not a good pass in their eyes. If you love a subject and excel at it, you don't get a B.
Sorry; that was directed at post 5! :P
I'm studying Neuroscience at King's College London- which isn't an English subject but so far the uni is really nice (I'm a first year). Also, there's a really cool Creative Writing Society which I'm part of is really great- it started last year so it's a fledging society but everyone is really friendly and we're doing a society novel together.
I do English Lit as part of Combined Honours (with Japanese) at Newcastle Uni. I wouldn't recommend it at present as they are in the process of changing things round a bit. Though it is a very good course.
Sunderland is good for English, Media, Teaching and Pharmacology as far as I recall from the many open days I attended in my years at school.
As for OxBridge, you will need all A grades to get in as it is extremely competitive. They will tend to favour those with more subjects, will not take what they deem "easy" subjects like Media, Sociology, Drama etc
@9- I've heard that it's a problem if you take more than one 'soft' subject, but one should be okay. As my 'soft' (and, ironically, hardest) subject will be Drama, it shouldn't be as detrimental as it might be were I planning to study a science, as it overlaps with both English lit and English lang. For example, we study both Ancient Greek and Renaissance theatre in detail at A2, including their social, cultural, political and historical context, which will overlap with literature from the same time.
>>10 What subjects are you taking? What course do you want to do at uni? These things need to be taken into account.
To get into Oxbridge you obviously need the grades A/A* but hundreds of people will also be applying for the same course.
You need to make yourself stand out: do extra-curricular activities, do voluntary work, make yourself look enthusiatic about the subject. Academics are all well and good but universities want to see that you're a well rounded individual who will be an asset to them.
I know for medicine it is highly recommended that you do some voluntary work for example at an old people's home or shadow a doctor at a hospital etc.
Drama may be considered an 'easy' subject for certain courses but it may well be exactly right for another course. To know for sure you really should look at each university and what their entry requirements are for whatever course.
Drama may be a hard subject but so called 'harder' subjects like science will always look better I'm afraid to say.
For A2, I want to do Drama, English Language and English Literature. I know that's rather limiting, but I also know that I would HATE a career in maths or science, so I wouldn't pick a uni course in it. As I've said, I'm thinking that an English Lit course, or English Lit + Creative Writing course is what I want to do. I do a fair bit of extracurricular stuff. I've heard that for Oxbridge English, they're more interested in your being well-read than anything else (which makes sense!xD).
Oxford also require an ELAT and a recent essay, which could be problematic, as I'll be starting the whole Lit course in September, and the deadline is in November. Cambridge doesn't have such tough entrance requirements in this sense, but then they want that A-star, so... :S
Well, do you have a piece of AS coursework you can send in? That's what I did when I applied there - it's something that should be at a high standard.
The ELAT can be tricky to do right. Three people from my college took the exam. I was the only one to get to the interview stage (didn't get in, but that's not the point). When you take the exam, what you really need to do is stay calm, consider all the texts carefully, and pick out bits and pieces you feel you can write about. They suggest you do choose 2/3 texts - personally I chose two, because the links weren't so good on the paper I sat, but doing three isn't that much harder. It's just necessary to remember that all the texts need to be given equal precedence.
Hope that helps a little.
Thanks, that's useful. :) I've had a look at the sample ELAT (and marking criteria), but then that one has very clear links. As for AS coursework, that's my problem- at present, I'm only doing Language. Although they're willing to accept Language analyses, I've only done one coursework analysis piece, and I know that it was pretty weak. I got 85% overall on my coursework, and I'm pretty sure that my other main piece (creative writing) was close to full marks, so my analysis may have only been about 70%. :S
Well, why don't you talk to your teacher. Try to get them to help you out, maybe some afterschool sessions and perhaps you should do some practice essays for both Lang and Lit.
In college I did a combined English Language and Literature course for 1 A-level, and I prefered the Lit aspect, Language analysis is never easy but as they say practice makes perfect. The deadline is November which is still quite a while away, if you put it into your head that you can do it and motivate yourself, anything is possible. If Oxbridge is what you are aiming for, you will need to work really, really hard now since English courses are oversubscribed for but don't let this put you off.
Focus on improving your writing but as I said before also try to utilise this summer, maybe doing some voluntary work, sending pieces to magazines, enter a few contests and start writing your personal statement. I can't tell you how difficult I found writing mine but remember you are selling yourself, alot of universities make their decision based on that one sheet of paper so make it count.
This might be useful for you and anyone else: there is a writing competition going on for young people aged 11-19 yrs old from around the world, here's the link for the facebook page http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=info&ref=mf&gid=323140317170. I would suggest checking it out, the contest ends 25th June.
Sorry about the long rant... /
Heh, no, that's fine. :) And thank you. My coursework was weak due to my putting no effort in- I knew that I'd be getting an A anyway, and I didn't think I'd need it for anything else. And now I do. Poetic justice, I guess. :P Magazines and contests sound like a good idea, and thanks for the link. I appreciate your advice. :)
Bachelor, Criminological Sciences at the Catholic University in Leuven, Belgium.
I'm only in Year 10 but I'm starting to think about what I would like to do in Sixth Form. When I eventually get to University I am currently thinking of either a History or English and was wondering whether or not people would have anyy tips on what subjects to take. History and at least one English are a almost dead certain.
If it effects your advice in anyway, my parents and teachers both think that I should aim for Oxford or Cambridge but I would happily settle for something else.
On the extra-curricular side I attende several school clubs, just starting the Duke of Edingburgh, have done voluntary work at my Church for the last 4 years and have an offer to volunteer at a museum once I turn 16. Is there anything else that you would suggest I do?
What course are you aiming for at university? Because certain courses require that you do certain subjects at A level.
If you want to do History and English it would make a lot of sense to take both of those subjects, it could also be beneficial to try and do something to do with politics and current affairs.
But really you need to look into what specific unis look for.
Thanks for your advice :) I am definitely interested in taking a politics course- I'm the only person I know of my age who watched the election night stuff :D
English Lit high five! I'm actually hoping to do Music, and I severely disappointed my grandmother by not even applying to Oxford or Cambridge, purely because it looked so...stuffy. It doesn't help that I live in Cambridge and go to a school that is really hardcore about getting students in there, and I know quite a few people who left because they hated it. Aiming for Oxford or Cambridge is fine, but there's a lot of options, and it is where you're going to be living for 3 or 4 years of your life. There's foreign universities that are just as prestigious (like Harvard) and some subjects might even be better taught at other universities. I've got a conditional place (ABB) at Leeds, which isn't high on a list, but some of the ones I looked round that were higher had all sorts of things wrong with them for me (one of them had asbestos damaging the pianos :/) You can never start looking round too early either, places get booked really fast.
Cambridge is NOT stuffy at all! People will leave any university for various reasons, but Oxbridge has one of the lowest drop out rates of any UK university.
The real advantage to the Oxbridge system are the supervision/tutorials in which you'll spent time with max. 3 other students and a Professor, giving you the chance to really discuss and challenge the course material.
If you've got the potential to get the grades, I'd seriously recommend applying -I did and haven't looked back. Cambridge has exceeded all of my high expectations, and if you're up for an academic challenge then there's nothing to be lost by applying.
The ethic is work hard, play hard : D
nice
Currently trying to finish my Bachelor (English - literature and linguistics - and History) at the University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Last year I went to Aberdeen Uni and I have to say they have some awesome History classes - I loved my teachers and tutors, really.
I agree with RayRay - History and English go well together... I owe one of my Lit' teacher my current obsession with John of Gaunt, that is, my memoir topic. XD
If I ever get out of high school with an A. I want to go to the VUB (Vrije UNiversiteit Brussel) in Brussels, Belgium.
I want to follow linguistics and literature of the languages Dutch and English.
Since I just have heared I have to double my year (on 100: 93 for English and 80 for Dutch; rest between 70 and 80) because I failed math and French, I still need to do another two years before I get in.