The 2012 HAT thread

I have to take the HAT on *Wednesday and more than my actual ability to preform in the test, I know I'll be placing so much pressure on myself...So does anyone who's sat the paper have advice for how they managed to approach it calmly and carefully and still have time to finish everything? Only 40min to read/think/plan for ALL the questions combined doesn't seem like enough and it'll be hard to preform well under so much pressure and fear. Thank you!

What makes you think you got 60%, did a teacher mark it? If so, he/she is unlikely to be accurate enough to rely on, for a number of reasons. btw it's a mark that would prob'ly have been enough to get you to the interview stage in previous years.

The HAT is meant to test potential rather than knowledge, so there's not much to be done in the way of revision. Prepared answers will be no help, because the essay question will be carefully tied to the first extract in some way. But it's a good idea to have a general topic up your sleeve that is adaptable to almost any scenario (Russian Revolution, Nazi Germany, or summat), just in case your mind goes blank trying to think of a good historical example. Test this 'emergency topic' by looking at past papers and imagining how you would answer q1c using it.

In general, yes you can't really do better than timing yourself on past papers. Remember that q2 is more important than q1c this year though.

Good luck

Thanks a lot! And yes my teacher marked it.
I just did another past paper and I was wondering whether it was alright to do the questions in a different order( I found it easier to do the source based questions first and then the essay), is this allowed?

Also would reading up on critical thinking or historiography not help at all in improving my Question 1?

Cheers

I'll be doing it on the 7th too. Literally so nervous. I reckon if I get to interview I have a genuine shot - I hate that this is inbetween. I panic hugely when I don't understand sources clearly and question one seems to be like that all the time. :P I'm a little confused with how to answer question two though - do we quote the source? Are we supposed to then talk outside of the source and make different inferences? Please help someone.

Hi. Yes, you will need to refer often to the source provided. In fact, as the 2011 instructions say, 'you should not provide information from other sources'. The idea is to show that you have read the text closely, and then use it to speculate intelligently on the question you have been asked. Reading all of the past papers in conjunction with their marking schemes is the best prep imho.

Good luck

Thanks for this When you say speculate intelligently, can you give me an example of what you mean? This is the part I'm not quite understanding.

[INDENT]

Certainly, with the proviso that my only qualification is that I sat it a couple of years ago and got an offer. So I've done one HAT and got through it, but that doesn't mean I know too much about it in general!

Do you have access to the 2010 q2, about the native American Mi'kmaq ceremony? The old woman says 'I have brought into the world warriors, great hunters, and admirable managers of canoes'. At first sight it is just a list of three tribal occupations. But you might think that the third one seems very specific and unusual. I mean, wouldn't the wigwam maker or the fire-starter be more highly revered than the chap who supervises the boats? But she seems particularly proud of giving birth to someone with this talent. So you might start to speculate that this society may have been heavily dependent on the waterways for transport and communication. She does, after all, subsequently invoke 'the river sides' as witness to the truth of her words.

Yup, printed it out literally an hour ago ready to have a go at tomorrow! Thank you very much, this has cleared it up for me. So I'm able to go beyond what the sources says with my own thoughts. And I'd use quotes here to illustrate that, like you did with 'the river sides'.

Slightly off topic, but does this mean you're at Oxford now studying History? If so, any tips for a would-be History student for the interview too? (Sorry if I'm badgering you with questions!)

Yes, you need to get the basics that the text definitely supports and then think about what it might further suggest. The text always has to be involved though, you wouldn't go off at a tangent about other native American tribes you have read about, or a film you once saw about a very similar woman etc. It's as if this source is the only piece of historical evidence you have and you are tasked with making the best possible use of it. The marking scheme helps you to understand this cos it explains what they are expecting in a good answer.

I don't think it matters whether you directly 'quote' or just summarize what has been said; prob'ly a bit of both, but careful not to overdo it such that you're just rejigging what's written in the source.

In the extract we're talking about, for example, you may find that the text will get you thinking about this society's attitudes towards age, gender and religion. But don't forget (this is important!) to bear in mind the author of the passage. Does the text,or even the description of him, tell you anything about his views (either actual or likely) on some of these issues? Can you completely trust his description?

Yes, I'm at Oxford. Each college has its own quirks with interviewing and it's very difficult to give specific advice. You end up saying 'don't get too nervous', as if that is going to help But once you're through the HAT stage and get your interview, by all means post on the History thread and one of us will help; maybe even someone who is at the same college.

Hi there,

I'm the only person applying from my school, and am the first to ever apply. My teachers have no clue or cannot give me guidance on what to do, so I'm not the most confident!

Can you just give me some guidance on Question 2 - how to answer it etcetera. I mean, is it based on the source, and what else do you do aside study the source?

Thank you!

I've more or less written a book on q2 in this thread, did none of it float your boat?

Haha, I actually meant to post this in a different thread - having multiple tabs open I posted it in the wrong one!

You have helped me a lot, thank-you very much! I definitely have a clearer vision of what to do and how to prepare!!

Thanks

Am I right in saying that question 1c does not have to have an outstanding historical example as long as it is suitable and argued well? I did the 2009 paper yesterday and the essay was on physical environment, which for my period was quite difficult to think of an example for! Also, would it be worth me revising one of my AS History topics, such as the Reformation just in case??