Oxford Applicants for 2012 Entry

*a lot

Now that is just pedantic. Although given I did it twice, probably deserve it. Bloody tempted to go back and edit it out, will live with the shame though!

Like it would kinda feel as though they were saying 'You moron why'd you even bother applying...'

I have the same irrational fear Even though I know that all the applicants are truly the best of the best... it would be horribly disappointing not to have a chance at an interview.

Good luck!

I have the same irrational fear Even though I know that all the applicants are truly the best of the best... it would be horribly disappointing not to have a chance at an interview.

Unfortunately, pedantic describes me quite well... I'm now a little ashamed of it and want to go remove my post

Yeah, I can imagine. Right now I've not done alot, there's probably an element of not wanting to tempt fate. As I'm applying to English though, just doing alot of reading around the subject and trying to have lots of opinions on things! Hopefully will get practice interviews closer to the time and stuff like that though...

Ah right, that's fair enough. I am also applying for English... What've you been reading? Sorry to be annoyingly intrusive, I just don't know anyone else who's applying for English this year and obviously want to maximize my chances.

Don't worry man. Just tried to make sure i'm reading a good variety of different things. Looked at a lot of poetry, read a few plays, stuff like Oscar Wilde, Stoppard and Brecht. Trying my hand at some of the old AEA papers too, just to try and stretch my thinking etc. Lots of it kinda fits into what i'd read anyway, but the prospect of an interview has just focused my aim, so to speak.

I'm glad there's someone who feels the same. Pretty much everyone I know well went to uni this year, so....

What're you applying for?

I'm applying for E&M... So the chances are rather low (30%).. What about you?

Ah right, that's fair enough. I am also applying for English... What've you been reading? Sorry to be annoyingly intrusive, I just don't know anyone else who's applying for English this year and obviously want to maximize my chances.

Fair enough. What are the AEA papers? Are they old versions of the ELAT or...? Stretching the thinking is probably our best bet. I'm trying to collate all the notes I'm making on my reading material so that I can formulate a structured argument, but I don't know if that's the best move...

I'm applying for English too!

If you're stuck on what to read, my advice would be just to read whatever interests you Personally I'm really interested in 19th century novels at the moment - I read "Wuthering Heights" as part of my A-level coursework earlier this year, which has led me on to read "Jane Eyre", "Pride and Prejudice" and "North and South". I'm just trying to cram as much reading in as possible over the next couple of months!

AEA is the Advanced Extension Award that used to exist. Like super-A-Level things, think they stopped doing it a few years ago, but my school must have kept a few papers. It just seems to be a real test of understanding disparate bits of text and finding a coherent argument to make, so theoretically should be good prep for the ELAT!

Collating notes would sound like a good plan too actually, suppose so much will be down to clarity of thought.

Always nice to meet another English applicant. I'm doing that, so that's a start...my reading has also incorporated all of the first three novels you mentioned....how did you enjoy them? Then I moved onto King Lear, Hamlet and The Tempest, but I want to find some Christopher Marlowe as he was a contemporary of Shakespeare...Lolita sounds good. I also want to try and find some poetry, but my knowledge of poetry is unfortunately not that fantastic. I'm trying to do exactly the same as you, but because I'm making notes and reading some critical material on all of the stuff I'm reading it's taking me around a week per text, which is far, far too slow - and because I'm no longer at school I don't have as much access to teachers (which I guess is a good imitation of what uni will be like! )

I loathed "Pride and Prejudice" - far too stuffy for my liking! I can't fathom why people idolise Darcy. I really liked a criticism from Charlotte Bronte; she compared it to "... a carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers; but ... no open country, no fresh air, no blue hill, no bonny beck.", which I found rather apt. I think it may have just contrasted too heavily with the wilderness of "Wuthering Heights", which I absolutely adore. I'm definitely a fan of the darker romances!

I'm doing "MacBeth" this year as part of my coursework, but admittedly I haven't read many plays, although I have seen a fair few on stage I loved "A View From the Bridge" and "'Tis Pity She's a Whore" because of the way they challenge the audiences pre-conceptions about love and corruption. I recently saw a production of "As You Like It", but wasn't too keen on it. I much prefer doom and gloom to comedy, it seems

Yes, "Lolita" is on my vast "to-read" list! I'm also planning on getting through "War and Peace" at some point; I'm keen to read more Russian work.

As far as poetry goes, I've just been reading whatever takes my fancy Keats, Wilde, T.S. Eliot, etc. I'm mainly focussing on novels at the moment though.

It sounds like you're doing a lot of really good work! It's taking me forever to get through texts at the moment because I'm so busy with college and everything else Not being at school sounds like bliss! Although obviously, being able to discuss what you've been reading with teachers can be a really great help.

Always nice to meet another English applicant. I'm doing that, so that's a start...my reading has also incorporated all of the first three novels you mentioned....how did you enjoy them? Then I moved onto King Lear, Hamlet and The Tempest, but I want to find some Christopher Marlowe as he was a contemporary of Shakespeare...Lolita sounds good. I also want to try and find some poetry, but my knowledge of poetry is unfortunately not that fantastic. I'm trying to do exactly the same as you, but because I'm making notes and reading some critical material on all of the stuff I'm reading it's taking me around a week per text, which is far, far too slow - and because I'm no longer at school I don't have as much access to teachers (which I guess is a good imitation of what uni will be like! )

...Lolita sounds good.

"Girls, when you get to university, make sure you hang out with the medical students."

I'm not applying to English, but I do English Literature A-level, and if you want to read Marlowe, go for Dr.Faustus...a really interesting play with the odd suprisingly contemporary issue (like one of the characters' concept of hell) for the time it was written.