Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Oxford

I received an offer this year from Oxford for Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. During one of my interviews, an interviewer started speaking to me in the language I was applying for. I'm not quite at a conversational level yet and I did make a lot of mistakes when speaking to her, but I received the impression that it's definitely encouraged that applicants have previously had some engagement with the language that they're studying even if they're not fluent/proficient. I would think that being conversational in Arabic definitely helps to demonstrate your interest in the subject you're applying for, although it's not a requirement.

(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 3

Original post by cosmosflowers

I received an offer this year from Oxford for Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. During one of my interviews, an interviewer started speaking to me

in the language I was applying for. I'm not quite at a conversational level yet and I did make a lot of mistakes when speaking to her, but I received the impression that it's definitely encouraged that applicants have previously had some engagement with the language that they're studying even if they're not fluent/proficient. I would think that being conversational in Arabic definitely helps to demonstrate your interest in the subject you're applying for, although it's not a requirement.

I am also planning to apply to this program. Can you please share some info regarding the written pieces you submitted for the application? Also what language did you apply for? Thanks!

Reply 4

Original post by vrameshbabu

I am also planning to apply to this program. Can you please share some info regarding the written pieces you submitted for the application? Also what language did you apply for? Thanks!

I applied for Japanese. As an American applicant, my AP classes at the time only allowed me to produce short, timed written pieces, but from what I've seen, most other applicants preferred to submit written work that displayed their writing abilities in different settings (e.g. one timed essay written in class and one excerpt from a paper written for a longer-term project).

I submitted two essays I wrote in AP English Lang & Comp; one essay was a 50-minute rhetorical analysis of The Great Gatsby and the other essay was a (partly in-class and partly completed as a homework assignment) argumentative essay on mob mentality and collective fear in society.

Best of luck!! If you have any other questions about applying, feel free to message me :smile:

Reply 5

This is amazing, I am an American applicant too! How many AP scores did you submit and did you submit your ACT or SAT scores? Thanks!

Reply 6

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by vrameshbabu

This is amazing, I am an American applicant too! How many AP scores did you submit and did you submit your ACT or SAT scores? Thanks!

I submitted all my AP scores (8 already achieved 5s and four predicted 5s on the AP exams I took in senior year). I submitted my SAT score too because I didn't take the ACT. I think it's especially a good idea to submit scores for subjects relating to languages (world history, euro history, french, chinese, lit, lang, etc). They might also bring up your AP subjects during the interviews.

Also btw you don't have to send proof of your scores until you get an offer, so don't worry about paying Collegeboard for sending scores until Oxford asks for them.

Thank you so much!

Original post by cosmosflowers

I submitted all my AP scores (8 already achieved 5s and four predicted 5s on the AP exams I took in senior year). I submitted my SAT score too because I didn't take the ACT. I think it's especially a good idea to submit scores for subjects relating to languages (world history, euro history, french, chinese, lit, lang, etc). They might also bring up your AP subjects during the interviews.

Also btw you don't have to send proof of your scores until you get an offer, so don't worry about paying Collegeboard for sending scores until Oxford asks for them.

Can you please share if you were involved in any activities related to the program that you included in your personal statement? Were there any other activities you included in your personal statement?

Reply 9

artful_lounger

21

Evidence of interest in the language and culture and of language learning ability is certainly not a bad thing.

Although worth noting, at the very least for Japanese at Oxford I gather the course focuses more heavily on reading and writing than speaking and listening (although all four key skills are covered of course) and I suspect just based on Oxford's general academic emphases this is probably true for Arabic and other languages there as well.

Reply 10

Original post by vanramox

Can you please share if you were involved in any activities related to the program that you included in your personal statement? Were there any other activities you included in your personal statement?

I didn't really do too many activities related to East Asian studies, so I ended up mostly talking about the books I'd read relating to the program, particularly Korean feminist books and some Japanese literature. I also wrote a little bit about studying languages in general (I took AP Chinese and AP French in hs), my specific interests in Japanese culture (pop culture, music, literature etc), and a small portion about extracurriculars (I think I mentioned poetry society and playing cello & piano if I remember correctly?? I tried to connect my hobbies to language).

Reply 11

Thank you once again for the immediate response.

Reply 12

Original post by cosmosflowers

I didn't really do too many activities related to East Asian studies, so I ended up mostly talking about the books I'd read relating to the program, particularly Korean feminist books and some Japanese literature. I also wrote a little bit about studying languages in general (I took AP Chinese and AP French in hs), my specific interests in Japanese culture (pop culture, music, literature etc), and a small portion about extracurriculars (I think I mentioned poetry society and playing cello & piano if I remember correctly?? I tried to connect my hobbies to language).

Which college did you apply for in Oxford?

Reply 13