The Student Room Group

Oxford 2011 Freshers Chat Thread

Scroll to see replies

Original post by MrCarmady
why is h a ч? it's a х. being a Russian, our accent would pronounce this as зыс, BTW, though that's not completely relevant.
good luck with that, anyway!

On a different note:
I printed off all the forms today (going to be so angry on the 18th if I did that too early, but I won't have access to a printer then and I'm too lazy to go to an Internet café), and one of them was about the arrival day, which is stated as Monday the 3rd between 9 and 12 AM. Somewhere else, however, I read that Fresher's starts on Sunday the 2nd. What am I supposed to believe?


Different colleges have different arrival days for freshers - go by what your college has told you :smile:
Original post by MrCarmady
why is h a ч? it's a х. being a Russian, our accent would pronounce this as зыс, BTW, though that's not completely relevant.
good luck with that, anyway!

On a different note:
I printed off all the forms today (going to be so angry on the 18th if I did that too early, but I won't have access to a printer then and I'm too lazy to go to an Internet café), and one of them was about the arrival day, which is stated as Monday the 3rd between 9 and 12 AM. Somewhere else, however, I read that Fresher's starts on Sunday the 2nd. What am I supposed to believe?


Thanks for the correction :smile: I've finished the first unit today, going to recap it tomorrow and start unit two.
Original post by dbmag9
0th Week starts on the 2nd (Oxford weeks start on Sundays), but different colleges will have people arriving at different times (understandable if you've encountered Oxford's road system). Believe what you're told by your college. The impression I get (please correct me, people who've actually been through this) is that most of the freshers' stuff is done by college anyway, so don't worry that you're going to miss out on anything.


Original post by MrCarmady
why is h a ч? it's a х. being a Russian, our accent would pronounce this as зыс, BTW, though that's not completely relevant.
good luck with that, anyway!

On a different note:
I printed off all the forms today (going to be so angry on the 18th if I did that too early, but I won't have access to a printer then and I'm too lazy to go to an Internet café), and one of them was about the arrival day, which is stated as Monday the 3rd between 9 and 12 AM. Somewhere else, however, I read that Fresher's starts on Sunday the 2nd. What am I supposed to believe?



This is right - all your freshers stuff will be organised in college, even club nights will be ticketed and bought by your JCR committee before hand and the Freshers fair is on the Thursday and Friday normally, so it doesn't matter. At our college some people came on the Sunday because they couldn't get dropped off on a weekday, so if there is a problem you can talk to them.
Reply 2563
Original post by dbmag9
I remember briefly looking at that test and thinking how fun it looked. Same for language olympiads and stuff.


Yeah, I was surprised it hadn't got it from there, but I guess the corpuses (not 'corpora', thank you) they feed it are classical texts rather than whoever mentions Latin on the internet. And anyone would have a hard time figuring out grammar from 'never tickle a sleeping dragon'; it's a fairly loose translation.


Our Latin teacher gave us the specimen (with the Classical Armenian) at the end of Year 12 when there was little to do. It was really enjoyable, and did go well, but sadly it's meant for people who've never taken a classical language at school before.
Reply 2564
Original post by Incarnadine91
Ah, yes, I was exactly the same - I picked the Medeival module because it was the furthest removed from what I'd done at A-level, plus it got the compulsory aspect out of the way, and it really was being plunged into the deep end. So you're doing Brit II (1042-1330)? I did that :smile: What other modules are you looking at doing?

Unfortunately, history gets seen by many as a doss subject. And in a way, that's true - it's possible to not go to lectures, write all your essays the night before, and scrape through with a 2:2 or even a very low 2:1. However, that said, if you want to have an enjoyable time at Oxford then do NOT do that!!! In a way it's harder than the sciences, where you have to go to every lecture and mustwork most hours of the day, because the amount of work you do is up to you. You need to have responsibility. It's your choice whether you have a few days off at the start of the week, then panic and rush out something at the end, or if you get your essay done first and then can relax for 24 hours before your tute. I choose the latter, it's a much nicer experience - even if it does require getting into the library at 9 for 6 days a week, having the last day without any stress whatsoever is the sweetest feeling imaginable!!! Plus of course, your grades are better at the end :cool:

To answer your question in a more specific, less rant-ish way: you don't need to go to every lecture. If it's on something you're plainly not going to write anything about ever (and it's not being given by your tutor - they notice if you're missing...) then it's fairly safe to skip it. If it's more important than that but you have, say, a hospital appointment, you can get someone else doing that module to grab the notes for you and it won't make too much of a difference. BUT you'd be surprised what you need to have notes on come revision time, and lectures can give you some quality background information/examples that you'll find yourself using again and again. It's better to go to as many as possible and have a comfortable amount of notes for revision, just in case the topics you were planning to do don't go as planned, then be forced to write an essay on something you know nothing about because you skipped the lecture. We only have 5 a week and they're usually at 12 noon anyway, so it's not like you have to get up early for them! So basically, try to go to them, but don't panic if you miss it.

Sorry, as you've probably guessed, people treating history like an 'easy' degree or saying that it's not as hard as the others annoy me, a lot. :redface: You try writing an essay on Malthusian demographic theory applied to the 16th century and then tell me I'm a slacker, dammit!


Thank you, I had the general idea that I'd rather take advantage of everything available to me for the duration of my degree but I'm glad that a current historian thinks that automatically skipping lectures is stupid. Anyway, quite apart from having enjoyed most lectures I've been to, even on subjects I don't enjoy, I didn't fancy paying 3 grand for tutorials alone :tongue:.

Although I have no experience of the degree, I do remember my science-y friends saying that History was an easy option which filled me with rage... so I understand your rant! (Of course, I was more filled with rage because they said English Literature was much harder than History because 'you have to read in English!' :angry:)

Univ made us pick a package of subjects so I'm actually taking General II (shame, because I'd rather fancied General I or IV) and Brit VII - not really sure why I picked 1900-present seeing as I've been saying for about three years that I'm sick of the 20th century. Picked Approaches because my languages aren't up to scratch (no one said you had to be good at anything besides History when I applied! Bad show) which is another shame because I really liked the look of the Historiography module. Ah well. I'm thinking Theories of the State for the special subject but then there is a Celtic peoples module...
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by Frankie
:ditto:


Yeah, this.

Damn you, AQA French exam, damn you :angry:
Reply 2566
Original post by flywithemma
Yeah, this.

Damn you, AQA French exam, damn you :angry:


OCR Chemistry..:eek3:
Original post by Mellete
OCR Chemistry..:eek3:

Magic Tang :eek:
Reply 2568
Original post by Salliana23
Magic Tang :eek:


Ahh! I managed only the E-grade level "How Science Works" part of that question (that flavour is affected by more than just pH so the sciencists may not necessarily have the correct formulation)

Have you discovered the magic tang? :sexface:
Original post by flywithemma

Also from this thread:
a) I feel really stupid because I know no Latin whatsoever :frown: I would have done it at GCSE, but my school has never ever offered it. Sob. So yeah, adding to the 'uneducated Northerner' stereotype nicely there. :smile:
b) I agree totally with the sentiments expressed about achaeological digs. The best thing about the one I did last year was all the cool American students who were also doing it :tongue: although, nerdily, I really like cataloguing and stuff :colondollar: I'm actually doing work experience in a Roman site museum in a couple of weeks :colondollar:


a) Don't worry, I don't think ANYONE feels intelligent enough for Oxford. Constant feeling of inferior is pretty standard, I hear :tongue: As has been said before, just remind yourself that the Tutors thought you were intelligent enough. That's what I've been doing, anyway!

b) Despite my complaints about cataloguing, I am still constantly tempted to do another dig. I quite fancy that one up in York, it sounds interesting, and different to the one I did before. I always feel though that by the time I check out a site, all the 'good stuff' is gone :tongue: Your work experience sounds awesome!
Original post by bogstandardname
all you lot pretty confident with your offers?


No.

I'm not going to even bother trying to sleep on Wednesday night.
Original post by laura_bird88
No.

I'm not going to even bother trying to sleep on Wednesday night.


My plan to go out all night to celebrate/drown my sorrows on Thursday might hit a snag, because I know I'll struggle to sleep on Wednesday. :s-smilie:
Reply 2572
Right.

I do not have the full story of what I am about to tell you, simply because I can't find the webpage to show you and when/if I do I will post it.

Basically, my mum uses mumsnet and five seconds ago she shouted me downstairs to read a post on the site. It was from someone who identified themselves as an Oxford admissions tutor, but he/she did not specify which college. The message read thus: (paraphrased)

"Just want to let all nervous parents know that Oxford received all candidates' a level results yesterday. Some applicants may be contacted by their Oxford college soon if they haven't made the grades."

Now, after this bit there was more that I can't accurately remember, but it read as meaning that some applicants who had missed their offer could receive an offer of a place anyway, and it read to me (ergo, I may have misread/misunderstood) that these people may be contacted by there college.

Although this was never explicitly said, the inference was that all the above would happen BEFORE Thursday.

He/she did also say that not all colleges would do this, but that he/she would.

He/she also said that they had admitted 2 more people to their course than usual in response to the fee rise next year.

Basically, this is all I know, and I wanted to share it with you before I forgot. I will go onto mumsnet now and see if I can find it.

Good luck everybody.:s-smilie:


Right, here's the link http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/further_education/1280034-A-Level-Anxiety/AllOnOnePage#26901284

Scroll down until you see the user name sieglinde

Sorry, me again, if you scroll down past the point where all conversation about Oxford appears to stop, there's another message from sieglande saying that you can message him/her if you want any advice on approaching a college. Personally, although I want to know, I'm scared of actually contacting them.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by Elrobi
Thank you, I had the general idea that I'd rather take advantage of everything available to me for the duration of my degree but I'm glad that a current historian thinks that automatically skipping lectures is stupid. Anyway, quite apart from having enjoyed most lectures I've been to, even on subjects I don't enjoy, I didn't fancy paying 3 grand for tutorials alone :tongue:.

Although I have no experience of the degree, I do remember my science-y friends saying that History was an easy option which filled me with rage... so I understand your rant! (Of course, I was more filled with rage because they said English Literature was much harder than History because 'you have to read in English!' :angry:)

Univ made us pick a package of subjects so I'm actually taking General II (shame, because I'd rather fancied General I or IV) and Brit VII - not really sure why I picked 1900-present seeing as I've been saying for about three years that I'm sick of the 20th century. Picked Approaches because my languages aren't up to scratch (no one said you had to be good at anything besides History when I applied! Bad show) which is another shame because I really liked the look of the Historiography module. Ah well. I'm thinking Theories of the State for the special subject but then there is a Celtic peoples module...


Good idea, glad you've got a sensible head on your shoulders :wink: Unfortunately, far too many current historians seem to subscribe to the other view, which is why we might have got the reputation in the first place...

I'm doing Brit VII (the second-year version) next term, so that's cool :cool: Even if you're sick of it you should have a good background knowledge on it, which will help you come exams - plus that's your modern paper out of the way, giving you more choice if you want to branch out later! I did Approaches too and it was fun, especially since I already had a grounding in Anthropology and Sociology, but there's a great range of angles you can take with that one so I'm sure you'll find something you'll enjoy. Hist&Pol students have to take Theories of the State and have complained about it no end, they really didn't like it, but whether that's simply because it's compulsory for them I don't know. Anyway, your special subject is the first time you get to do something in real detail so make sure you pick something you enjoy. I did the module on Witchcraft and it was the most fun I've ever had with work :biggrin:
Original post by jenny18
Right.

I do not have the full story of what I am about to tell you, simply because I can't find the webpage to show you and when/if I do I will post it.

Basically, my mum uses mumsnet and five seconds ago she shouted me downstairs to read a post on the site. It was from someone who identified themselves as an Oxford admissions tutor, but he/she did not specify which college. The message read thus: (paraphrased)

"Just want to let all nervous parents know that Oxford received all candidates' a level results yesterday. Some applicants may be contacted by their Oxford college soon if they haven't made the grades."

Now, after this bit there was more that I can't accurately remember, but it read as meaning that some applicants who had missed their offer could receive an offer of a place anyway, and it read to me (ergo, I may have misread/misunderstood) that these people may be contacted by there college.

Although this was never explicitly said, the inference was that all the above would happen BEFORE Thursday.

He/she did also say that not all colleges would do this, but that he/she would.

He/she also said that they had admitted 2 more people to their course than usual in response to the fee rise next year.

Basically, this is all I know, and I wanted to share it with you before I forgot. I will go onto mumsnet now and see if I can find it.

Good luck everybody.:s-smilie:


Right, here's the link http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/further_education/1280034-A-Level-Anxiety/AllOnOnePage#26901284

Scroll down until you see the user name sieglinde

Sorry, me again, if you scroll down past the point where all conversation about Oxford appears to stop, there's another message from sieglande saying that you can message him/her if you want any advice on approaching a college. Personally, although I want to know, I'm scared of actually contacting them.


Woke up this morning feeling alright and not so nervous. This hit me like a pan to the face....It's tempting, but if they're going to contact me anyway (maybe) do I wait? Ahh!
Original post by jenny18
Right.

I do not have the full story of what I am about to tell you, simply because I can't find the webpage to show you and when/if I do I will post it.

Basically, my mum uses mumsnet and five seconds ago she shouted me downstairs to read a post on the site. It was from someone who identified themselves as an Oxford admissions tutor, but he/she did not specify which college. The message read thus: (paraphrased)

"Just want to let all nervous parents know that Oxford received all candidates' a level results yesterday. Some applicants may be contacted by their Oxford college soon if they haven't made the grades."

Now, after this bit there was more that I can't accurately remember, but it read as meaning that some applicants who had missed their offer could receive an offer of a place anyway, and it read to me (ergo, I may have misread/misunderstood) that these people may be contacted by there college.

Although this was never explicitly said, the inference was that all the above would happen BEFORE Thursday.

He/she did also say that not all colleges would do this, but that he/she would.

He/she also said that they had admitted 2 more people to their course than usual in response to the fee rise next year.

Basically, this is all I know, and I wanted to share it with you before I forgot. I will go onto mumsnet now and see if I can find it.

Good luck everybody.:s-smilie:


Right, here's the link http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/further_education/1280034-A-Level-Anxiety/AllOnOnePage#26901284

Scroll down until you see the user name sieglinde

Sorry, me again, if you scroll down past the point where all conversation about Oxford appears to stop, there's another message from sieglande saying that you can message him/her if you want any advice on approaching a college. Personally, although I want to know, I'm scared of actually contacting them.


No I didn't just make a mumsnet account and pretend to be acting on the behalf of my worried son :colonhash:
Original post by 04ghicks
No I didn't just make a mumsnet account and pretend to be acting on the behalf of my worried son :colonhash:


You've got a bairn?

Mine's getting called Pavel :colonhash:
well, i got the grades and sent the certificates to the college, they recieved them, what now?
how long have i to wait until they confirm my offer?

(math, st hilda's)
Original post by 04ghicks
No I didn't just make a mumsnet account and pretend to be acting on the behalf of my worried son :colonhash:


If you find out which college she works for do let us know
Original post by moritzplatz
well, i got the grades and sent the certificates to the college, they recieved them, what now?
how long have i to wait until they confirm my offer?

(math, st hilda's)


Last year it was on UCAS track in the morning for St Hilda's and I think I received a letter in the post soon after with information about going etc.

Quick Reply

Latest

Trending

Trending