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Cambridge English Students and Applicants

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Reply 1140
Hi! Is anybody in Gonville and Caius for English? I'm thinking about applying there for next year. :smile:
Original post by Berbor
Hi! Is anybody in Gonville and Caius for English? I'm thinking about applying there for next year. :smile:


Not from Gonville and Caius (maybe you'll have better luck asking in the college thread?) but I'm happy to answer any general questions about the English course. :smile:
Reply 1142
Hi, I just got my interview invitation for English today! Super nervous about the Admissions Test though, does anyone have tips on how to prepare? SAVE ME
Original post by isayhi
Hi, I just got my interview invitation for English today! Super nervous about the Admissions Test though, does anyone have tips on how to prepare? SAVE ME


I got mine yesterday too!!!! Super nervous for the Interview, tbh as I think they'd ask about texts I covered last year (aka I don't remember half of it). Don't worry about the admissions test though, it's pretty similar in structure to the Unseen Paper in GCSE and A-Level Lit, just pure practical criticism.

You're probably an international applicant, right? Where from?
Reply 1144
Oh I see I see. Thank you! I'm from Malaysia, and 95% of the other Oxbridge applicants are applying for engineering so I'm alone. /sigh/ what about you?
Original post by isayhi
Oh I see I see. Thank you! I'm from Malaysia, and 95% of the other Oxbridge applicants are applying for engineering so I'm alone. /sigh/ what about you?


im lauGHING SO hard im from malaysia too!!!!! I'm from Taylors College haha what about you? Also SAME fml literally everyone who's applying from here are basically either during Engineering or Law...
Reply 1146
Original post by Jayd Shah
im lauGHING SO hard im from malaysia too!!!!! I'm from Taylors College haha what about you? Also SAME fml literally everyone who's applying from here are basically either during Engineering or Law...


OMFG ARE YOU SRS I'M FROM TAYLOR'S COLLEGE TOO I'm from TCSJ, are you from TCSH?
Reply 1147
Hi guys,

I wonder if any current students can tell me what a typical week is like in terms of workload and content :smile: Just received an offer from Newnham and was wondering what to expect.

Cheers
Original post by MPip
Hi guys,

I wonder if any current students can tell me what a typical week is like in terms of workload and content :smile: Just received an offer from Newnham and was wondering what to expect.

Cheers


Hey MPip,

It obviously varies from college to college, but generally you'll have two essays a week - one of them will be for the current Literature Period module you'll be doing (e.g. Renaissance, Medieval, etc.) and the other will be for the mandatory Practical Criticism module you'll be taking for all three years of the course. The essay for the former will be between 1500-2000 words long, while for the latter it varies greatly due to how unfamiliar everyone is with the course at the start (anywhere from 500 - 1500 is usual!). For the Period module, in first year you'll usually be given a question or a selection of questions to pick one out and answer it, and accompanying this you typically get a reading list. You don't have to follow this reading list (I usually didn't) but it can definitely be helpful early on until you get a feel for selecting your own critical reading. The Practical Criticism essay question sometimes but not always has an article or two which your supervisor will give to you and encourage you to use when answering the question. Outside this, you won't have additional reading to do for that essay.

People approach the workload pretty differently - I usually do two days of primary reading, then a day of critical reading before diving into the essay over two days. But it's different for everyone, and during first year workload is pretty consistent so you'll find yourself getting into a schedule soon enough. It's tough at first, especially since you get given your first essay title after a 3-day Fresher's Week (!), but you'll definitely get used to it and then find that you have the time for loads of other stuff as well. Oh, and of course there are lectures - the introductory lectures are usually excellent, and the many others are good for getting a feel for the context of each time period. However, you'll probably find that after about week 5, lecture attendance drops sharply. You may or may not find lectures useful - I can't really sit there for an hour without falling asleep, but I have friends who love them and even in second year try to make at least 2 - 3 a week. But they aren't mandatory or often as directly useful to the course as they are in other subjects (take that with a pinch of salt though, because obviously I'm biased). I hope some of this has helped. If you need more info/have more questions about the course ask away! :biggrin:
Reply 1149
Original post by dlaiden
Hey MPip,

It obviously varies from college to college, but generally you'll have two essays a week - one of them will be for the current Literature Period module you'll be doing (e.g. Renaissance, Medieval, etc.) and the other will be for the mandatory Practical Criticism module you'll be taking for all three years of the course. The essay for the former will be between 1500-2000 words long, while for the latter it varies greatly due to how unfamiliar everyone is with the course at the start (anywhere from 500 - 1500 is usual!). For the Period module, in first year you'll usually be given a question or a selection of questions to pick one out and answer it, and accompanying this you typically get a reading list. You don't have to follow this reading list (I usually didn't) but it can definitely be helpful early on until you get a feel for selecting your own critical reading. The Practical Criticism essay question sometimes but not always has an article or two which your supervisor will give to you and encourage you to use when answering the question. Outside this, you won't have additional reading to do for that essay.

People approach the workload pretty differently - I usually do two days of primary reading, then a day of critical reading before diving into the essay over two days. But it's different for everyone, and during first year workload is pretty consistent so you'll find yourself getting into a schedule soon enough. It's tough at first, especially since you get given your first essay title after a 3-day Fresher's Week (!), but you'll definitely get used to it and then find that you have the time for loads of other stuff as well. Oh, and of course there are lectures - the introductory lectures are usually excellent, and the many others are good for getting a feel for the context of each time period. However, you'll probably find that after about week 5, lecture attendance drops sharply. You may or may not find lectures useful - I can't really sit there for an hour without falling asleep, but I have friends who love them and even in second year try to make at least 2 - 3 a week. But they aren't mandatory or often as directly useful to the course as they are in other subjects (take that with a pinch of salt though, because obviously I'm biased). I hope some of this has helped. If you need more info/have more questions about the course ask away! :biggrin:


Thanks :smile: Also, what amount of primary reading is there a week, roughly?
Hey,


Any 2017 English applicants out there?
Original post by dorababy1995
Hey,


Any 2017 English applicants out there?


Hey! I might be applying!
Have you looked into the colleges yet?
I have no idea which one I'll be applying to...
Yes. Actually, I've applied to Cambridge before and got rejected, but I can see why. I'll be working on my weaknesses all summer and then reapply next year. Look at the official 2017 group - I posted my story there yesterday.
(edited 7 years ago)
Oh, and yes, I have looked into the colleges already, and I'm hesitating between King's and Selwyn.
[current students]


I'm hesitating between King's (never know where the apostrophe is!), Trinity and Selwyn. My situation is quite unique so I don't want to have to think about choosing a college in September. Which one do you think is the most suitable for a blind English applicant? I've contacted all 3 colleges and the admissions officers seem nice enough.
Do Cambridge expect you to have read a lot of literary criticism?
(edited 7 years ago)
Hey all,


I know this thread is a bit early (although there certainly are much earlier ones!) I've been reading through the official 2017 applicants' thread, and there are understandably a lot of science, maths, medicine, comp sci, PBS (and other humanities) applicants, but I've hardly seen any fellow English applicants, which I'm sure doesn't mean we're not around!

We still have a few months to prepare for the Cambridge application. What are you all going to do to prepare? Have you looked into the colleges yet? What other unies are you applying for?
I haven't done much preparation for English Literature at university other than just reading and studying for my AS English Literature (which has finished now!) and I've looked at some past papers for the admissions test but it looks a little too challenging for me right now.
I haven't researched Cambridge colleges yet and I've only been once for a masterclass but if I have to I guess Clare college because I really liked the feel of it.
Other universities... Durham, UCL, Nottingham, Exeter probably?

Altogether I have to admit I haven't done as much research into universities as other people have and I just kinda have a vague idea because it is really dependent on the grades you get in August.
Yep well that's me!
Original post by studying_me
I haven't done much preparation for English Literature at university other than just reading and studying for my AS English Literature (which has finished now!) and I've looked at some past papers for the admissions test but it looks a little too challenging for me right now.
I haven't researched Cambridge colleges yet and I've only been once for a masterclass but if I have to I guess Clare college because I really liked the feel of it.
Other universities... Durham, UCL, Nottingham, Exeter probably?

Altogether I have to admit I haven't done as much research into universities as other people have and I just kinda have a vague idea because it is really dependent on the grades you get in August.
Yep well that's me!




Are you planning to do anything over the summer?
Original post by dorababy1995
Are you planning to do anything over the summer?


I have work experience at the National Archives and Cambridge Homerton College Summer School at the end of July so I think I'll only have August to do stuff really!
Preparation for me only includes reading and past papers so I'm not really sure...
Plus I have my EPQ research bit to do as well as a few essay competitions so I think it'll be a pretty hectic summer!

What are you doing as preparation?

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