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Original post by SixteenHundred
I would've loved to do some Eliot - struggling through The Waste Land on my own with very little experience of poetry...is pretty hard-going at the moment!


Try Prufrock, and the other poems from Prufrock and Other Observations. I still can't understand much of The Waste Land, but I love the early poems.
Cambridge econ is always a possibility I suppose :tongue:, academia in sig
Hey :biggrin:

Course: Maths
AS Levels: Maths, Further Maths, Physics & Economics.
Academics: 8A,* 1A, 1B. Predicted 4 As at AS.
Colleges being considered: St Johns.
Reply 23
Original post by SixteenHundred
Indeed, they'll never know what hit 'em. :ninja:

That must be very competitive then! I'm the first of my generation in the family to be thinking about applying for Oxbridge, so I suppose less pressure but you have a great resource for advice on applying!

Oh, now I have to struggle to remember the module numbers... hmm, 1C (European Reformation) and 2B, I think (Struggle for Supremacy, or in ordinary terms, English Reformation 1529-1547). So that means lots of people getting beheaded and so on, which is always rather fun. I'll miss History a lot, but I feel like English and History aren't mutually exclusive so if I naturally gravitate towards one I won't necessarily abandon the other forever! Strangely enough, your modules are very similar to the two periods I studied for GCSE. Loved Tsarist Russia in particular, although the politics of Vietnam were very interesting.

Hmm, I only know The World's Wife well of those. We've done literature of the Great War, which my teacher likes so he can show off his historical knowledge as well as anything else! And then Yeats and The Picture of Dorian Gray, so a deluge of Irish literature. I was already into fin-de-siecle and the Gothic novels so I lucked out with Wilde in particular. I think it's sad that it really depends with English Literature at A-level on your teacher's whim as to what you get to study in depth. I would've loved to do some Eliot - struggling through The Waste Land on my own with very little experience of poetry, although Yeats is a good starting point because he dabbles in lots of areas, is pretty hard-going at the moment!

How are you preparing for Law? Do you have anyone (other than your cousin, in the near future I suppose!) in your family who's a lawyer, or are you pursuing it on your own?


Haha it is a bit, although she's really cool and down-to-earth about it all (not rah-y at all :tongue:) so I think even if I don't get in she won't tease me too much :wink: It is really helpful to have somebody to talk to who's been through the system recently, specifically for Law too. Oh, and in answer to your later question - yes, my grandfather's a District Judge, although that said, the idea of being a lawyer has never been forced upon me at all. I know somebody whose father, uncle, grandfather and great grandfather are/were all lawyers, and it means that him studying law was pretty much decided for him before he was even born!

Ah cool - there's a medieval class in my year whose modules sound similar to yours. Also, you're right about English and History not being mutually exclusive - context is such a huge part of any writer's influence that if you end up studying English, there will be a wealth of History to study along with it :smile:

Agreed - it really does frustrate me that a teacher's preference can have such a huge influence on one's entire AS level, but c'est la vie. I'm not doing too badly considering I despise almost all the texts, bar Death of a Salesman.

As for preparation, I'm trying to do as much as is possible, what with the looming summer exams and a semi-hectic social life. Reading the recommended books, as well as bits of texts from further afield (e.g. Kant & Bentham); getting work experience (1 week in a combined court, 1 week at a chambers and more to come after exams); doing 'relevant' extracurriculars (debating); doing a law-related EPQ (to also be begun after exams); and keeping up to date with current affairs. Hopefully if I can fulfil the above to a good enough standard, it'll hold me in good stead for my application :smile: How about you, apart from obviously just reading a lot? :lol:
Reply 24
Hey, I currently have an offer for MML (French & German ab initio) at King's, so if any of you have questions about applying to MML/King's, feel free to quote me in a post & I'll reply :smile: x

Haha I can't believe it's been a full year since our thread sprung up!
Reply 25
Ooh exciting! :biggrin:

Course: MML (French & German)
GCSEs: 2A* 8A (my referee is going to do the thing that's replaced the CSAS to explain why they are so low :cry2:)
AS subjects: French, German, Italian, English literature, maths
AS predictions: AAAAA :eek:
Colleges I'm considering: Emma, King's, Caius, Selwyn and Pembroke

Are there any other linguists? :puppyeyes: I'm all alone at my school too!

Original post by -raisa
Hey, I currently have an offer for MML (French & German ab initio) at King's, so if any of you have questions about applying to MML/King's, feel free to quote me in a post & I'll reply :smile: x

Haha I can't believe it's been a full year since our thread sprung up!


Oh hello. :colone: What made you choose King's? And what kind of reading did you do? :ahee:
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 26
Original post by Kidioteque
Ah great, hopefully you two will become friends aha :smile:

Cheers - I'd like to think that I am currently doing all those things anyway, but I will make sure to remain consistent with it :smile:

On the topic of interviewers: I don't suppose one of yours happened to be dressed as a wizard, or something similar? Something my cousin mentioned. :lol:


Yeah I hope so too! Gotta meet the damn offer first :redface:.

Ha! She's joking, she must be lol. No wizards at my interviews :tongue:
Reply 27
Original post by AK0001
Yeah I hope so too! Gotta meet the damn offer first :redface:.

Ha! She's joking, she must be lol. No wizards at my interviews :tongue:


I'm sure you will!

Haha, what was strange about yours then? :lol:
Reply 28
Original post by Kidioteque
I'm sure you will!

Haha, what was strange about yours then? :lol:


Thank you!

One of my interviewers(who was taking the lead whilst the other one made notes), had his eyes closed whilst thinking of what question to ask. So he told me to read a passage, so I read it and told him that I've finished reading it.

He had is eyes closed. So I looked at the other interviewer, she just looked back at me. Silence. Awkward silence. He then began to move his hands(his eyes were still closed), and then exclaimed "Mr Khan"(silence again). Then he jumped out of his seat(not a big jump), and pointed at me asking me the significance of line one.

The whole damn interview was weird tbh lol.
Reply 29
Original post by AK0001
Thank you!

One of my interviewers(who was taking the lead whilst the other one made notes), had his eyes closed whilst thinking of what question to ask. So he told me to read a passage, so I read it and told him that I've finished reading it.

He had is eyes closed. So I looked at the other interviewer, she just looked back at me. Silence. Awkward silence. He then began to move his hands(his eyes were still closed), and then exclaimed "Mr Khan"(silence again). Then he jumped out of his seat(not a big jump), and pointed at me asking me the significance of line one.

The whole damn interview was weird tbh lol.



HAHAHAHA! Brilliant. No idea how I'd react though, I'd probably laugh. Is "Mr Khan" you? Or was it something to do with the passage? :lol:

Edit: Oh and may I ask firstly what the passage was about, and secondly what the significance of line one was?
Reply 30
Reply 31


Haha! Aw, bless them. :wink:
Reply 32
Original post by Kidioteque
HAHAHAHA! Brilliant. No idea how I'd react though, I'd probably laugh. Is "Mr Khan" you? Or was it something to do with the passage? :lol:

Edit: Oh and may I ask firstly what the passage was about, and secondly what the significance of line one was?


I was so shocked. At the time I just thought to myself that he's not trying to put me off, it's just the way he thinks and does things, that approach sort of helped! Haha, I am indeed Mr Khan :tongue:.

It was in essence about the issues that arise from a contract. Something about a supplier emailing a consumer about a potential sale of an item, then the supplier sells it to another consumer. The original person goes to buy the good, only to find out that it has already been sold. I don't remember it all, sorry!

I told him that the first line was irrelevant, as was line two and a few others. He didn't seem too pleased, but I was sure that the lines in question had little to do with the issues involved.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 33
Physical Natural Sciences - reapplicant

4 A's at AS (Maths, Physics, Further Maths, Chemistry)

Predicted 4A*

Colleges: Considering either Homerton or King's.
Reply 34
Original post by Kidioteque
Haha! Aw, bless them. :wink:


Let's wait till they get to A levels and see if they still feel the same way :colone:
Original post by j.alexanderh
Try Prufrock, and the other poems from Prufrock and Other Observations. I still can't understand much of The Waste Land, but I love the early poems.


Thank you! I only have the later poetry (Four Quartets) and I think it's probably better to start at the beginning. Haha, nice to see Maths and poetry aren't mutually exclusive pursuits. Whenever I read The Waste Land I'm overwhelmed by the references which go over my head - thank you Eliot for deciding all literature is essentially yours to plunder - but the form is still wonderful, as is what little I can pick up with translations and a lot of time.

Original post by ArsLongaVitaBrevis
In all honesty my favourite of the Amores is actually 3.2 - his wit shines in that one. That's an interesting idea! It is very discordant with the theme and style of his earlier poems, but I think he's simply revealing a deeper side to himself, and as such we are seeing the "real Ovid" behind the humorous and cynical facade. However. I've also thought on occasion that this could also be for a new type of comic effect, a sort of inside joke between Ovid and the group of literary peers he was writing for.

I've always been interested in Economics, and I think I'd make a good economist/actuary/banker. I also want to earn a lot of money doing something that I love, so this seems like the correct next step for me.


Yes, I read Amores 3.2 at GCSE so by this time it's a little stale for me. I'd agree it's the most apparently witty though. I'm not sure about it being the "real Ovid" - I think he keeps himself at a distance from elegy all the way through, and it becomes very obvious in 3.5 in particular. Yeah, a literary in-joke is a good way of putting it! What a phrase for the exam. :cool:

Sounds like you've been set on it for quite a while then. Good luck, I hear it's very competitive!

Original post by Kidioteque
Haha it is a bit, although she's really cool and down-to-earth about it all (not rah-y at all :tongue:) so I think even if I don't get in she won't tease me too much :wink: It is really helpful to have somebody to talk to who's been through the system recently, specifically for Law too. Oh, and in answer to your later question - yes, my grandfather's a District Judge, although that said, the idea of being a lawyer has never been forced upon me at all. I know somebody whose father, uncle, grandfather and great grandfather are/were all lawyers, and it means that him studying law was pretty much decided for him before he was even born!

Ah cool - there's a medieval class in my year whose modules sound similar to yours. Also, you're right about English and History not being mutually exclusive - context is such a huge part of any writer's influence that if you end up studying English, there will be a wealth of History to study along with it :smile:

Agreed - it really does frustrate me that a teacher's preference can have such a huge influence on one's entire AS level, but c'est la vie. I'm not doing too badly considering I despise almost all the texts, bar Death of a Salesman.

As for preparation, I'm trying to do as much as is possible, what with the looming summer exams and a semi-hectic social life. Reading the recommended books, as well as bits of texts from further afield (e.g. Kant & Bentham); getting work experience (1 week in a combined court, 1 week at a chambers and more to come after exams); doing 'relevant' extracurriculars (debating); doing a law-related EPQ (to also be begun after exams); and keeping up to date with current affairs. Hopefully if I can fulfil the above to a good enough standard, it'll hold me in good stead for my application :smile: How about you, apart from obviously just reading a lot? :lol:


I didn't assume she'd be rah-y, haha! Nobody I know who's got in is anything like that stereotype to be honest. Yeah, one of my friends has an aunt who's a judge and an uncle who's a doctor, cousins doing Law, and parents who're both medics! So she's all over the place between Law and Medicine at the moment. Family can have a big influence.

You're doing Death of a Salesman? Awesome, that was my GCSE coursework text! I love Arthur Miller. Looking back, I wish I could've written more about Willy Loman as a tragic hero instead of such insights as "Loman as in Low Man". From what I remember I got a paragraph out of that. :colondollar:

Wow, sounds like you're really prepared then! My friends who do Philosophy are forever recommending Kant. And you're doing the EPQ? We start in summer as well, though I haven't come up with a vaguely literary question yet. Yeah, you can probably tell I'm trying to read a lot. I'm woefully ignorant of poetry and am trying to make up for it now; I'm relatively good on drama and 19th century lit, as well as a few of the classical epics from GCSE Latin/Greek. I've been to the RSC Summer School for three years (with this August coming as my fourth). But I'm just trying to get a good grounding so I can have some basis to approach more difficult texts.

EDIT: I just noticed your signature! Sherlock is amazing! Any speculations on the ending of last series?
(edited 12 years ago)
Ah this takes me back.. (not very far back, mind :wink:)

Anyway I'll probably be on this thread a lot out of boredom :tongue: Any questions about interviews and stuff are cool (but note since I'm a maths applicant I'm by no means actually going to Cambridge yet) :smile:
Reply 37
Can I stalk here too? It's just that with Kid, Etoile Arva and Alex, Cambridge does seem to have the best people atm! :tongue: I'm waiting for Lily to come join us on Oxford :colondollar:

Original post by j.alexanderh
Try Prufrock, and the other poems from Prufrock and Other Observations. I still can't understand much of The Waste Land, but I love the early poems.


:grin: I swear you used to dislike Eliot much more than this? In other news: I really like Hardy now - it was you who liked him right?
Reply 38
Original post by Kidioteque

As for preparation, I'm trying to do as much as is possible, what with the looming summer exams and a semi-hectic social life. Reading the recommended books, as well as bits of texts from further afield (e.g. Kant & Bentham)


So much love for Kant :biggrin: I'm afraid to say that I am actually geeky enough to have this!
I'm planning on applying to Cambridge next year as well!

Course - Maths
GCSE's - 6 A*, 5 A, 1 B
A Level Subject Choices - Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Business Studies
AS Predictions - AAAA
Current AS Marks - 99/100 (C1), 95/100 (S1), 79/90 (Physics)
Colleges: Trinity, Pembroke, Gonville & Caius

I'd love to go to Trinity due to its size and the amount of maths undergraduates they accept, but it's so competitive I may end up applying to another. I'm going on the 28th April Open Day to it either way, and it's the most interesting one to me at present.

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