Language applicants for 2012 entry

Well I've finally decided I'm going for Cambridge. Have to submit 2 essays in French and 1 in English and do a 'preparatory study' (probably a poem or something) at the interview. They're gonna put me in my place so badly :P
Now a mad rush to get the PS done before next Friday...

Reply 1181

.snowflake.

14

Original post by Deceiver

Well I've finally decided I'm going for Cambridge. Have to submit 2 essays in French and 1 in English and do a 'preparatory study' (probably a poem or something) at the interview. They're gonna put me in my place so badly :P
Now a mad rush to get the PS done before next Friday...

Good Luck! Hope they're not too horrible at interview.

Reply 1182

stevop21

10

Best of luck to all of you linguists :smile:

I've decided against languages for my degree, but will definitly be continuing my Spanish, just not as a degree. I haven't really been contributing but have watched this thread with interest. There are (imo) some very strong candidates on here who will do very well!

Deceiver: Best of luck for your Cambridge interview, my mum said her's was hideous!

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 1183

Deceiver

10

Original post by stevop21

Deceiver: Best of luck for your Cambridge interview, my mum said her's was hideous!

I know someone who had a philosophy interview at Oxford last year and he said they just tied him in knots until he had nothing left to say!
I'll probably have one of those moments where I can't remember a single word of French :tongue:

Reply 1184

Deceiver

10

To anyone applying for ab-initio languages (specifically at King's/Edinburgh if anyone's looking to go there):

Do I need to indicate on UCAS which language I'll be studying as a beginner or will the university contact me about this?

Reply 1185

Lewis :D

3

Original post by Deceiver

To anyone applying for ab-initio languages (specifically at King's/Edinburgh if anyone's looking to go there):

Do I need to indicate on UCAS which language I'll be studying as a beginner or will the university contact me about this?

If it doesn't indicate it you mention it in the further details box I think, it should have a code thing on the course info. I had to do it for Nottingham, although it didn't mention codes so I just wrote FrenchSpanishGerman. Hope this helps a bit.
EDIT: I think as you're applying for a French/Portuguese degree without an A level in Portuguese they'll realise straight away :smile:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 1186

Banoffeepie16

2

Original post by Deceiver

Well I've finally decided I'm going for Cambridge. Have to submit 2 essays in French and 1 in English and do a 'preparatory study' (probably a poem or something) at the interview. They're gonna put me in my place so badly :P
Now a mad rush to get the PS done before next Friday...

I've had a few Oxford mock interviews, and although I went into them absolutely petrified, I ended up loving it! Just think of it as talking about your favourite thing for half an hour :biggrin:

challenging though, they just want to find out how you think and if you'd do well in a tutorial environment :smile:

I've heard that they can often give you an offer for a course you haven't applied for, i.e if someone was applying for French and Spanish for example, and the Spanish section of their interview was considerably better than their French, but the French tutor wanted them, they may give them an offer for a different degree instead of French and Spanish, Spanish and Philosophy or something :tongue:

(just an example), apparently they hint at you to see if you'd be interested without directly asking you :rolleyes:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 1187

Kaylaleigh

12

Has anyone looked at Essex? I need a third choice ideally, and it seems alright - yet to look round it though.

Reply 1188

viviana

Original post by Banoffeepie16

I've had a few Oxford mock interviews, and although I went into them absolutely petrified, I ended up loving it! Just think of it as talking about your favourite thing for half an hour :biggrin:

challenging though, they just want to find out how you think and if you'd do well in a tutorial environment :smile:

I've heard that they can often give you an offer for a course you haven't applied for, i.e if someone was applying for French and Spanish for example, and the Spanish section of their interview was considerably better than their French, but the French tutor wanted them, they may give them an offer for a different degree instead of French and Spanish, Spanish and Philosophy or something :tongue:

(just an example), apparently they hint at you to see if you'd be interested without directly asking you :rolleyes:

I've had some mock interviews with my tutor and they are *terrifying* to start with :tongue:

but when you relax a bit they are fun - practice makes perfect as my grandma says!!!

Reply 1189

Banoffeepie16

2

Original post by viviana

I've had some mock interviews with my tutor and they are *terrifying* to start with :tongue:

but when you relax a bit they are fun - practice makes perfect as my grandma says!!!

Yep!

Grandparents' advice is always right!

Reply 1190

-raisa

I'm so jealous of all of you who have mock interviews to practice with!

If I do get a Cambridge interview, that will be my one and only interview, ever!

Reply 1191

stevop21

10

Original post by Deceiver

I know someone who had a philosophy interview at Oxford last year and he said they just tied him in knots until he had nothing left to say!
I'll probably have one of those moments where I can't remember a single word of French :tongue:

Oh god that sounds awful. I won't have to undergo that delightful experience luckily! :tongue:

Haha that would not be good! For a language degree is all the interview in the foreign language or a split?

Reply 1192

.snowflake.

14

Original post by stevop21

Oh god that sounds awful. I won't have to undergo that delightful experience luckily! :tongue:

Haha that would not be good! For a language degree is all the interview in the foreign language or a split?

I'd assume a split between english and the foreign language, but If in doubt, you could always shoot them off an email if the website doesnt say anything.

Reply 1193

qwertyuiop1993

16

Original post by stevop21

Oh god that sounds awful. I won't have to undergo that delightful experience luckily! :tongue:

Haha that would not be good! For a language degree is all the interview in the foreign language or a split?

It varies wildly.

At Trinity, Oxford, I spoke like 5 minutes of French for the entire 4 days....

However, some tutors like to put more focus on speaking so it's never really something you can predict.

Reply 1194

Deceiver

10

Original post by qwertyuiop1993

It varies wildly.

At Trinity, Oxford, I spoke like 5 minutes of French for the entire 4 days....

However, some tutors like to put more focus on speaking so it's never really something you can predict.

4 days?

Reply 1195

qwertyuiop1993

16

Original post by Deceiver

4 days?

Don't worry Oxford keep their applicants longer so that they can go for second interviews if needed - it's kind of like the Winter pool at Cambridge but done all at the same time...they have a uni wide database so that good applicants can be interviewed by other colleges during their visit. It saves having to go back...

My friends who applied to Cambridge stayed for about a day...

Reply 1196

BeccaCath94

10

Did anyone go to Liverpool open day - either yesterday or in june - what did you think of it?? :smile:

Reply 1197

SimplyComplex

Does anyone know what UCL are like with GCSEs? I know they require the standard entry requirements, but overall do GCSEs determine whether someone gets an offer or not? I've emailed the department and am waiting on a reply from them.

If anyone can help, it would be much appreciated. :smile:

Reply 1198

VickyDoodle

14