Oxford Oriental Studies Students and Applicants
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Original post by TheTechN1304
Congratulations 
My college seems to not have sent out any interviews yet :O
My college seems to not have sent out any interviews yet :O
Wadham seems pretty late with interviews... I saw the first few today and they were for history. Some people already have replies for OS from other colleges though so I hope we might hear from Wadham tomorrow!
Original post by Barenhaft
Wadham seems pretty late with interviews... I saw the first few today and they were for history. Some people already have replies for OS from other colleges though so I hope we might hear from Wadham tomorrow!
Yeah. I'd really like to hear before next Wednesday's deadline. Someone on the Oxford Applicants page said they contacted Wadham and that interviews would be sent out near the deadline though :L
thank you!
No some of my friends who have applied to st johns haven't heard yet so I think there is still a lot more to go x
No some of my friends who have applied to st johns haven't heard yet so I think there is still a lot more to go x
Original post by TheTechN1304
Yeah. I'd really like to hear before next Wednesday's deadline. Someone on the Oxford Applicants page said they contacted Wadham and that interviews would be sent out near the deadline though :L
Oh... I might lose my sanity waiting through another weekend!
Just got an interview from Pembroke 
Good luck to all those still waiting! (if there are any of you, not sure haha)
Good luck to all those still waiting! (if there are any of you, not sure haha)
I'm an international student trying to apply myself in Oxford University for my Masters hopefully after graduating from my current University in the Middle East.
Im questioning whether my qualifications are met with Oxfords requirements.
In Singapore, my home country, i graduated from a private school and received a Pre-University cert in Arabic and Islamic studies (instead of A levels) and excelled getting 4 Excellent and 6 Very Good grades.
But still not up to par with those that i'll be competing with to get into the department that i'm eyeing for; Oriental Studies.
They are asking for A Level results and as i mentioned, i only have Pre-U and my current Graduate cert so can i still apply myself?
and even if, do i have a chance of getting in?
Thank you. ☺️
Im questioning whether my qualifications are met with Oxfords requirements.
In Singapore, my home country, i graduated from a private school and received a Pre-University cert in Arabic and Islamic studies (instead of A levels) and excelled getting 4 Excellent and 6 Very Good grades.
But still not up to par with those that i'll be competing with to get into the department that i'm eyeing for; Oriental Studies.
They are asking for A Level results and as i mentioned, i only have Pre-U and my current Graduate cert so can i still apply myself?
and even if, do i have a chance of getting in?
Thank you. ☺️
I would definitely still apply! The people I met when I was there were so diverse, from all over the world, there was A level students and IB students and one person was only doing 2 Alevels... so don't think you don't have the right quals!
Really what do you have to lose if you don't get an interview?
My experience of the interview process is definitely that if you don't try you will never know, so go for it!
Really what do you have to lose if you don't get an interview?
My experience of the interview process is definitely that if you don't try you will never know, so go for it!
Hi Guys,
I'm hoping to apply to read 'Japanese Studies' at Oxford, and I noticed that you have to submit written work with the application which is up to 2,000 words, which you have done at school. The only thing is that I don't do essay subjects at AS level; I study Biology, Chemistry, German and Spanish, and I've never written any written work to such length - only 200 words as practice for the essay section of the language exams. I have emailed the Oriental Studies contact on the Oxford website to ask what I should submit, but I was wondering if you guys know what I should do?
Any help would be so gratefully appreciated!
I'm hoping to apply to read 'Japanese Studies' at Oxford, and I noticed that you have to submit written work with the application which is up to 2,000 words, which you have done at school. The only thing is that I don't do essay subjects at AS level; I study Biology, Chemistry, German and Spanish, and I've never written any written work to such length - only 200 words as practice for the essay section of the language exams. I have emailed the Oriental Studies contact on the Oxford website to ask what I should submit, but I was wondering if you guys know what I should do?
Any help would be so gratefully appreciated!
Hi,
So I was worried about this too and the relevance of handing in a piece of English coursework. I therefore asked one of the professors (Bjarke- he ended up being one of my interviewers) at a uni open day. He said hand in something you are proud of, doesn't matter what it is but you should be able to talk about it etc if asked. Also, they say 2000 words as a maximum I believe, they don't have time to read 4000 words from every applicant! So don't feel you have to reach that.
Also, are you doing the EPQ? If not I really recommend it! Firstly it gives you the opportunity to write about an aspect of Japan, seeing as you don't have that opportunity with your a level choices. Also it's great because they will most likely ask about it if you get to the interview stage, which is very comforting as you can talk about something you are comfortable and knowledgeable with/about. If you decide against the EPQ, I guess you'll have to write about something on your own which is a lot more difficult! However, I did submit my biology coursework I did for my AS, to show variety of style etc, which you could do with either bio or chem. equally, while the essays you give in have to be in English, you could show exploration into spanish/german culture etc, they like to see study of other languages to see your potential in learning Japanese, rather than your current level of ability.
Whatever happens, if you're studying those a levels and considering applying to Oxford, I'm sure whatever you write about will be good, there is after all no set criteria, just something you are proud of.
Hope this helps and good luck, my interview was the best experience I have ever been given hands down so make the most of it
So I was worried about this too and the relevance of handing in a piece of English coursework. I therefore asked one of the professors (Bjarke- he ended up being one of my interviewers) at a uni open day. He said hand in something you are proud of, doesn't matter what it is but you should be able to talk about it etc if asked. Also, they say 2000 words as a maximum I believe, they don't have time to read 4000 words from every applicant! So don't feel you have to reach that.
Also, are you doing the EPQ? If not I really recommend it! Firstly it gives you the opportunity to write about an aspect of Japan, seeing as you don't have that opportunity with your a level choices. Also it's great because they will most likely ask about it if you get to the interview stage, which is very comforting as you can talk about something you are comfortable and knowledgeable with/about. If you decide against the EPQ, I guess you'll have to write about something on your own which is a lot more difficult! However, I did submit my biology coursework I did for my AS, to show variety of style etc, which you could do with either bio or chem. equally, while the essays you give in have to be in English, you could show exploration into spanish/german culture etc, they like to see study of other languages to see your potential in learning Japanese, rather than your current level of ability.
Whatever happens, if you're studying those a levels and considering applying to Oxford, I'm sure whatever you write about will be good, there is after all no set criteria, just something you are proud of.
Hope this helps and good luck, my interview was the best experience I have ever been given hands down so make the most of it
Original post by mollyamberr
Hi,
So I was worried about this too and the relevance of handing in a piece of English coursework. I therefore asked one of the professors (Bjarke- he ended up being one of my interviewers) at a uni open day. He said hand in something you are proud of, doesn't matter what it is but you should be able to talk about it etc if asked. Also, they say 2000 words as a maximum I believe, they don't have time to read 4000 words from every applicant! So don't feel you have to reach that.
Also, are you doing the EPQ? If not I really recommend it! Firstly it gives you the opportunity to write about an aspect of Japan, seeing as you don't have that opportunity with your a level choices. Also it's great because they will most likely ask about it if you get to the interview stage, which is very comforting as you can talk about something you are comfortable and knowledgeable with/about. If you decide against the EPQ, I guess you'll have to write about something on your own which is a lot more difficult! However, I did submit my biology coursework I did for my AS, to show variety of style etc, which you could do with either bio or chem. equally, while the essays you give in have to be in English, you could show exploration into spanish/german culture etc, they like to see study of other languages to see your potential in learning Japanese, rather than your current level of ability.
Whatever happens, if you're studying those a levels and considering applying to Oxford, I'm sure whatever you write about will be good, there is after all no set criteria, just something you are proud of.
Hope this helps and good luck, my interview was the best experience I have ever been given hands down so make the most of it
So I was worried about this too and the relevance of handing in a piece of English coursework. I therefore asked one of the professors (Bjarke- he ended up being one of my interviewers) at a uni open day. He said hand in something you are proud of, doesn't matter what it is but you should be able to talk about it etc if asked. Also, they say 2000 words as a maximum I believe, they don't have time to read 4000 words from every applicant! So don't feel you have to reach that.
Also, are you doing the EPQ? If not I really recommend it! Firstly it gives you the opportunity to write about an aspect of Japan, seeing as you don't have that opportunity with your a level choices. Also it's great because they will most likely ask about it if you get to the interview stage, which is very comforting as you can talk about something you are comfortable and knowledgeable with/about. If you decide against the EPQ, I guess you'll have to write about something on your own which is a lot more difficult! However, I did submit my biology coursework I did for my AS, to show variety of style etc, which you could do with either bio or chem. equally, while the essays you give in have to be in English, you could show exploration into spanish/german culture etc, they like to see study of other languages to see your potential in learning Japanese, rather than your current level of ability.
Whatever happens, if you're studying those a levels and considering applying to Oxford, I'm sure whatever you write about will be good, there is after all no set criteria, just something you are proud of.
Hope this helps and good luck, my interview was the best experience I have ever been given hands down so make the most of it
Hi,
Thank you so much for your advice. I was really worried about it because I've never done anything to such length as that and I was worried it actually had to be that long. I nearly did higher project at GCSE and was going to do it about Japan, but I dropped it due to health issues, and unfortunately I never got to the stage of writing the project out. I hadn't planned on doing an EPQ this year, and I don't know if it's too late to start an EPQ now? I don't really know whether it entails the same things at A-levels as it did at GCSE, but it seemed like a lot of work back then. I'm still not sure what I should write. I'm going to Mexico in the summer on an exchange, so I suppose I could always write about that? I've also been to Germany and Sicily on exchanges, so I don't know whether they would be good things to write about. I did write an essay on Japan in Year 9 that won me an award in my school, but I'm afraid I don't have it and the teacher I submitted it to is still using it in a display. I was incredibly proud of it when I wrote it. I've just had another thought; I am quite friendly with a Japanese lady that lives in my village as I babysit her children. Do you think I could 'interview' her and ask her about the similarities and differences between Japan and the UK? I really have no idea as to what would be acceptable to write for this, and I am quite concerned as I haven't written a proper essay in sometime. Have you been accepted to Oxford? What was the interview like? Sorry for all the questions and thank you for all your help.
Hi yeah no problems! firstly, no I didn't get in. Looking back there was just a lot of stuff I could have done differently and better, but I'm still so glad I did it. I'm assuming you are applying to start in 2016? So are in year 12? I started the EPQ at the beginning of year 13, so have this summer to start it is a good idea. It is a lot of work, yes, but if you enjoy doing it i think it's worth it, as well you can probably expand on it for a uni paper as he topics will more than likely come up again! Get the piece of work from your teacher and have a look at it again, if it's from year 9 you will want to add to it and develop it a lot more so it's of a high analytical standard: make sure you have an analytical question. Speaking to your friend is a good idea, a question could be something like 'to what extent do you think the uk and Japan are similar?' Which provides a far more interesting essay than saying the expected 'they are totally different and Japan is weirdetc'. My question was 'is it fair to blame the government for Japan's demographic crisis?'
I had two interviews over the four days I was there. One they threw a lot of questions at me about my EPQ and general things like why Oxford, but the other was much harder and they gave me a language test to do. I suggest reading up on current affairs, politics, culture and just generally read the newspaper every day! Be passionate and show you love the subject. X
firstly, no I didn't get in. Looking back there was just a lot of stuff I could have done differently and better, but I'm still so glad I did it. I'm assuming you are applying to start in 2016? So are in year 12? I started the EPQ at the beginning of year 13, so have this summer to start it is a good idea. It is a lot of work, yes, but if you enjoy doing it i think it's worth it, as well you can probably expand on it for a uni paper as he topics will more than likely come up again! Get the piece of work from your teacher and have a look at it again, if it's from year 9 you will want to add to it and develop it a lot more so it's of a high analytical standard: make sure you have an analytical question. Speaking to your friend is a good idea, a question could be something like 'to what extent do you think the uk and Japan are similar?' Which provides a far more interesting essay than saying the expected 'they are totally different and Japan is weirdetc'. My question was 'is it fair to blame the government for Japan's demographic crisis?' I had two interviews over the four days I was there. One they threw a lot of questions at me about my EPQ and general things like why Oxford, but the other was much harder and they gave me a language test to do. I suggest reading up on current affairs, politics, culture and just generally read the newspaper every day! Be passionate and show you love the subject. X
Original post by mollyamberr
Hi yeah no problems! firstly, no I didn't get in. Looking back there was just a lot of stuff I could have done differently and better, but I'm still so glad I did it. I'm assuming you are applying to start in 2016? So are in year 12? I started the EPQ at the beginning of year 13, so have this summer to start it is a good idea. It is a lot of work, yes, but if you enjoy doing it i think it's worth it, as well you can probably expand on it for a uni paper as he topics will more than likely come up again! Get the piece of work from your teacher and have a look at it again, if it's from year 9 you will want to add to it and develop it a lot more so it's of a high analytical standard: make sure you have an analytical question. Speaking to your friend is a good idea, a question could be something like 'to what extent do you think the uk and Japan are similar?' Which provides a far more interesting essay than saying the expected 'they are totally different and Japan is weirdetc'. My question was 'is it fair to blame the government for Japan's demographic crisis?'
I had two interviews over the four days I was there. One they threw a lot of questions at me about my EPQ and general things like why Oxford, but the other was much harder and they gave me a language test to do. I suggest reading up on current affairs, politics, culture and just generally read the newspaper every day! Be passionate and show you love the subject. X
firstly, no I didn't get in. Looking back there was just a lot of stuff I could have done differently and better, but I'm still so glad I did it. I'm assuming you are applying to start in 2016? So are in year 12? I started the EPQ at the beginning of year 13, so have this summer to start it is a good idea. It is a lot of work, yes, but if you enjoy doing it i think it's worth it, as well you can probably expand on it for a uni paper as he topics will more than likely come up again! Get the piece of work from your teacher and have a look at it again, if it's from year 9 you will want to add to it and develop it a lot more so it's of a high analytical standard: make sure you have an analytical question. Speaking to your friend is a good idea, a question could be something like 'to what extent do you think the uk and Japan are similar?' Which provides a far more interesting essay than saying the expected 'they are totally different and Japan is weirdetc'. My question was 'is it fair to blame the government for Japan's demographic crisis?' I had two interviews over the four days I was there. One they threw a lot of questions at me about my EPQ and general things like why Oxford, but the other was much harder and they gave me a language test to do. I suggest reading up on current affairs, politics, culture and just generally read the newspaper every day! Be passionate and show you love the subject. X
I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get in. Are you going to study Japanese at another university? Yes, I'm applying for 2016 entry. Do you recommend that I ask my teachers if I can do an EPQ? I don't know whether it would take too much time away from my A-level subjects. So are they looking for analytical skills in the written work? Sorry for so many questions, but I haven't been to look at the department yet. I went to an open day last year , but I just looked at colleges. Thank you - I'll have to go and see her about it. Was that your EPQ question? Do you think that I could write the essay about the similarities and differences just for Oxford instead of doing an EPQ? What was the language test like?
Yes I'm gong to Edinburgh hopefully! Think I'm much more suited to it which is great. I recommend the EPQ, my head of sixth form said anyone applying to Oxbridge should have it to show wider thinking knowledge etc, but I guess you could write the essay without doing the actual EPQ, it does take a lot of time. As an English and history student I'm quite used to writing lots of essays so it wasn't too big a thing for me, but each to their own! Analytical is much better than purely stating facts because it not only shows understanding but that you can also think for yourself, they want to learn something new/be challenged as a reader because it's more interesting to read after all. The open days are good, it's a good chance to make a good first impression too: if you can meet professors they will likely be your teachers or the people Reading applications, so say hello! if you're interested my interview was at Hertford, I made an open application as I wasn't sure which was easier etc, but it is as difficult if you make an open as if you apply to one, so whichever you prefer. I loved Hertford immediately and a few of the people who also didn't get in are going to Edinburgh too!
The language test was difficult because I wasn't prepared or expecting it at all. I was prepared to be given some stimulus to look at, but basically it was sentences written in ancient Japanese with the English meaning next to it, then from that information you had to write some other sentences and translate a few, so it was particularly challenging, but I did enjoy being challenged (if that doesn't sound too weird!)
if you're interested my interview was at Hertford, I made an open application as I wasn't sure which was easier etc, but it is as difficult if you make an open as if you apply to one, so whichever you prefer. I loved Hertford immediately and a few of the people who also didn't get in are going to Edinburgh too! The language test was difficult because I wasn't prepared or expecting it at all. I was prepared to be given some stimulus to look at, but basically it was sentences written in ancient Japanese with the English meaning next to it, then from that information you had to write some other sentences and translate a few, so it was particularly challenging, but I did enjoy being challenged (if that doesn't sound too weird!)
Anyone attending the Hertford Open Day 18th September who is applying for Oriental studies? Would love a wander-buddy http://www.hertford.ox.ac.uk/discover-hertford/undergraduates/hertford-open-days/open-day-details
http://www.hertford.ox.ac.uk/discover-hertford/undergraduates/hertford-open-days/open-day-detailsWill the fact that I haven't done a modern language to my A-level equivalent (Scottish Advanced Higher) hold me back at all for Arabic and Islamic Studies? They say "Students are not expected to have studied any Oriental language before. A language to A-level, Advanced Higher, or Higher Level in the IB or another equivalent can be helpful to students in completing this course, although they are not required for admission" - but I'm not quite sure what to make of this.
I've already had my grades (gap yah) and did English, Maths and History. I have been self teaching Arabic since the start of summer and can write it and have some basic conversational skills. I'm also hopefully heading out to the Middle East for a few months after January where I'd be able to work on my Arabic.
I've already had my grades (gap yah) and did English, Maths and History. I have been self teaching Arabic since the start of summer and can write it and have some basic conversational skills. I'm also hopefully heading out to the Middle East for a few months after January where I'd be able to work on my Arabic.
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