Oxford History Students and Applicants

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Mook

oriel

sorry off topic, but in another thread you described what made you choose Oriel, and they were pretty much the same things as I'm looking for and I wondered what other colleges you looked at that are similar/or ones you think are pretty similar now you're there. Danke :smile:

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 141

Athelstan

Realism

I am a reapplicant - After getting A*A*A I thought I should retry Oxford and now the time has come again where I am attempting to plough through my personal statement and choose a college but I have one massive predicament - History or History and Politics?

Is anyone here doing History and Pol or any other joint school? What is the work load like in comparison to single honours History?

Also - at the open day most of the history tutors I met said not to worry about history and pol being harder to get into because you can be considered purely for history if your not so hot on politics, but noone could explain why the successful applications for history/pol was so low in comparison to history? Would applying for history and pol mean I would be taking a risk and have less chance of getting in?

Finally, I'm currently on a gap year and am working in Westminster as a researcher for an MP (which I got through that wonderful W4MP website). This is mainly the reason I am thinking to apply for History and Pol because I feel that this may be a bit of an irrelevance for history on it's own? Obviously I enjoy politics immensely but I'm not so sure if I would want to study it as part of a degree, as it may kill the interest for me. If I were to only apply for history, how could I make this relevant on my PS?

Thanks (In advance)

I wouldnt worry about Pol work experience not being useful for a pure History application. They just want to see that you've got off your ass and your the type that is motivated in life, and would see work experience in any sector as showing an interest in 'life'.

Also mate, Can i ask what your UMS's were for your 3 (or 4, or God knows how many) A levels? Coz im thinking bout applying to Cambridge with not a single A star but alright UMS.

Reply 142

Andy the Anarchist

Second year History and Politics student here.

HPol students generally have more work than single honours students, but it's less than PPE, so perfectly manageable.

I echo what Mook said about there being a great deal of crossover in the History course. I'm currently doing General XIII (1914-45) and writing an essay on Italian fascism. There are also papers in the history of political thought, if that's your thing.

Reply 143

Realism

Andy the Anarchist

quote

Just out of interest what college do you go to and how do you find the course?

finnyounger

quote

Overall in History I got 93%, Eng Lit 92% and Geography 86%. Business for AS I got 78%, which thoroughly annoyed me.
My module grades for history were:
AS: 80/100
94/100

A2:
76/80
120/120

Mook

quote

Yeah, I had a good long think about it yesterday while drafting my PS and decided to go for straight History because, as you say, there is much history in it anyway. Thanks for your help.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 144

Andy the Anarchist

Realism

Just out of interest what college do you go to and how do you find the course?

I'm at Mansfield, and I really enjoy the course (albeit it's a large step up from A level, but that's to be expected).

Reply 145

Mook

Felix101

Errmm tricky... I didn't really look at too many other colleges, to be honest. I went to Oriel first, fell in love with it, wandered into Jesus (and didn't like it) and then generally meandered around the city. :dontknow:

On purely anecdotal grounds, I'd say that Trinity seems pretty similar in some respects: old, central, small student body, 24 hour library, three years accommodation with 1st and 2nd years on-site (personally I think that makes for a much better atmosphere than freshers and finalists).

I'd maybe suggest Lincoln as well. Similar specs. Although I don't think their library is 24-hours, but that's not the end of the world by any stretch of the imagination.

Depends on what your criteria are really. Are you reapplying? Feel free to PM me.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 146

cynthialf

There seems to be quite a few of us in the general Oxford Applicant thread so I thought I could make one for History people as there doesn't seem to be one :smile:

What college is everyone applying to and how're you feeling about the HAT (which is getting close now... :biggrin:

Reply 147

Olivia_Lightbulb

Brasenose! I wished I'd chosen Merton though .. :grumble:

And I'm so terrified about the HAT !

Reply 148

cynthialf

Olivia_Lightbulb

Brasenose! I wished I'd chosen Merton though .. :grumble:

And I'm so terrified about the HAT !

I considered Merton for ages, it was one of my three final college options :smile:

I'm getting really scared as well, and the worst thing is that there's no way to prepare really! But the interviews are worrying me even more really, I can't believe they're in a couple of months as well (as long as I get invited...)

Reply 149

Olivia_Lightbulb

cynthialf

I considered Merton for ages, it was one of my three final college options :smile:

I'm currently most terrified about what essays to send in (provided I don't fail the HAT)?! I don't really have any A2 essays to send in, so I suppose I'm relying on sending some AS essays but I don't think they're good enough!
Are you doing IB? Because at least you can just send in your EE ...
So yes, very stressed at the moment. :h:

Reply 150

cynthialf

Olivia_Lightbulb

Unfortunately the word limit is 2000 so I can't send my EE! I wish I could, (according to my teacher) it's pretty good...

Surely you have at least some A2 essays (or just improve one of your AS ones a bit :biggrin:

)? I'm sending this Historical Investigation, it's on Ancient Rome though so it might not be a great choice... maybe the weird topic will win me some bonus points or something but probably not.

Why did you decide to apply to Brasenose btw?

Reply 151

tom_malthus

Hi everyone! Looking forward to see you all in December, god willing. A few questions?

- Do we REALLY not need to do anything to register for the HAT? I'm uneasy with the idea -- any way to confirm we're in, at least? Also, how do we know where to take the test? I'm an international student in Asia and the only one applying to Oxford in my school, so that might complicate things!

- How do we send in the writing sample? Anyone have links to instructions for that? And when is it due -- not Oct 15 with the rest of the app, is it?

Thanks guys!

Reply 152

tom_malthus

whoops, double posted!

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 153

Delaney

tom_malthus

The HAT gets sent to your school if you're applying through UCAS. As far as where to take it, I plan to talk to my year head to get a quiet room to do it in.

You send it to the admissions tutor for the college you're applying to. I had to email the college to get their address.

Reply 154

cynthialf

tom_malthus

- How do we send in the writing sample? Anyone have links to instructions for that? And when is it due -- not Oct 15 with the rest of the app, is it?

IIRC you should get an acknowledgement letter asking for a sample of your writing... But I'm not completely certain of this! It has to be sent by the 10th November.

Delaney

Fellow Univ applicant, hello! :biggrin:

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 155

Olivia_Lightbulb

cynthialf

If I'm honest I'm not too sure?! It's quite centrally located and I couldn't make up my mind so I just chose it. Probably should have been a bit more thorough in my choosing but I got a bit flustered ...
And no I'm certain you can send your EE! My school offers IB as well as A' Levels, and two people are sending their EE off for history (but for Cambridge). Apparently according to my teachers, in actuality, they're not too fussy if your work is a bit over the word-limit.
I only have one A2 essay (and it's not very good!) so I'm just going to have to improve an AS essay, get it re-marked by my new teacher and hope that works ... alas it's not ideal.

Reply 156

Lumi Nous

It's only just hit me how much I need to do. I'm going for History at Hertford, just started looking at HAT papers and not even thought about which essays to send in, just presumed I'd deal with it when they asked... and I need to spend SO MUCH more time reading... eeeek

Reply 157

cynthialf

Olivia_Lightbulb

Well everyone says college choice doesn't really matter much at all so I'm sure it's fine! :smile:

It specifically says on the Oxford webpages that you aren't allowed to unfortunately, I really really wish I could but I don't think I'll dare send twice the amount of words!

What's your essay on then? And are you going to do any wider reading around it? I was considering it myself, my schedule for November will be incredibly busy if I do though... and I've pretty much read everything available in the local university library as sources (it's not that great for Ancient History obviously so that's not saying much).

--

Has anyone received acknowledgements yet by the way? I was wondering if it goes by department as a friend of mine got his today and he only applied yesterday.

Reply 158

Historiana

I'm terrified of the HAT!

I sent my application a month ago, with no acknowledgement as yet.

It looks like I'll have to send in a Law essay as my sample of written work, because I don't have any History essays left from my A Levels.

Eeeek. I have so much reading and test prep to be doing :s-smilie:

Reply 159

Connhk

History and Economics applicant to Jesus College. The HAT is quite intimidating I must say... Almost messed up registering by including my middle names hahaha