Oxford History Students and Applicants

Do you have to read the whole reading list before you go up?

Reply 661

Incarnadine91

6

Original post by billieerin23

Do you have to read the whole reading list before you go up?

No, it's only so you can get a basic understanding of the topic so you don't feel too daunted by your first essays - I only ever used two books from my summer reading list during term, and that was mainly for revision. It's a good idea to read as much as you can, but don't stress if you don't finish :smile:

Reply 662

Is anybody else going to be starting in October and studying Ancient & Modern History?

The intake for the course seems so small (especially compared to standard History) that A&M historians are hard to find!

Oh and just out of sheer curiosity, what sorts of courses/modules are people going to choose?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 663

Original post by The Anti-Hero

Is anybody else going to be starting in October and studying Ancient & Modern History?

The intake for the course seems so small (especially compared to standard History) that A&M historians are hard to find!

Oh and just out of sheer curiosity, what sorts of courses/modules are people going to choose?

Well, I'm not doing Ancient and Modern History, I'm just doing straight History but I chose a late Medieval British option (1048-1300 I think) to try something different and the French Foreign Language Texts option to keep my French up. What about you?

Reply 664

That sounds like a pretty good spread.

We're doing the same "general history" module by the sounds of it.
Titled "Medieval Christendom and its Neighbours", I think? Sounds absolutely fantastic, actually!

I'm also doing Roman History and the "Approaches to History" module.

I'm really, really enjoying the flexibility and freedom of choice on offer.

Reply 665

FuzzySheep

15

I might apply to Oxford's History course after I've had a chat with tutor. Not done as well as I should have at AS due to various circumstances, but hopefully I can make it the only weak part in my application, so it's worth a shot just in case! Will see what my history teacher and tutor think I should do first though. :smile:

Reply 666

Original post by The Anti-Hero

That sounds like a pretty good spread.

We're doing the same "general history" module by the sounds of it.
Titled "Medieval Christendom and its Neighbours", I think? Sounds absolutely fantastic, actually!

I'm also doing Roman History and the "Approaches to History" module.

I'm really, really enjoying the flexibility and freedom of choice on offer.

Same! All the other unis I looked at chose your first year modules for you :-) the reading for the Medieval Paper's been really fun so far, I actually can't wait to start. The Tocqueville I'm reading for the Foreign option's hard work but it's really interesting too. Basically, I'm just very excited and hyper. Have you had a Freshers Pack yet?

As for your comments FuzzySheep I got a B in a subject I went on to do for A2 at As-level but I did a re-sit and got an offer from Oxford anyway, whereas I know people that got straight As all their life and didn't get an interview so it's always worth a shot!

Reply 667

Original post by billieerin23

Same! All the other unis I looked at chose your first year modules for you :-) the reading for the Medieval Paper's been really fun so far, I actually can't wait to start. The Tocqueville I'm reading for the Foreign option's hard work but it's really interesting too. Basically, I'm just very excited and hyper. Have you had a Freshers Pack yet?

As for your comments FuzzySheep I got a B in a subject I went on to do for A2 at As-level but I did a re-sit and got an offer from Oxford anyway, whereas I know people that got straight As all their life and didn't get an interview so it's always worth a shot!

I only got my reading list at the weekend, so I sent off for all the books today.
I intend to spend pretty much all of September getting up to speed with Roman History, because it's something I've never studied before and have only looked at for leisure.

I haven't had a physical fresher's pack in the post, but everything I need is online (inc. a college handbook which has gotten me stupidly excited)!

Reply 668

Original post by The Anti-Hero

I only got my reading list at the weekend, so I sent off for all the books today.
I intend to spend pretty much all of September getting up to speed with Roman History, because it's something I've never studied before and have only looked at for leisure.

I haven't had a physical fresher's pack in the post, but everything I need is online (inc. a college handbook which has gotten me stupidly excited)!

I know! My college handbook confused me a bit but made it all feel so much more real. I still wake up every morning and it takes a few moments for me to remember I got in though! Good luck with all your reading, I did a bit over the summer but now I know I'm going I'm getting really stuck in too, I haven't touched the Middle Ages since I was eleven I don't think and I didn't really study it in any sort of depth then . . . Somehow I don't think my "diary of a peasant girl" will impress my tutors

Reply 669

Original post by billieerin23

I know! My college handbook confused me a bit but made it all feel so much more real. I still wake up every morning and it takes a few moments for me to remember I got in though! Good luck with all your reading, I did a bit over the summer but now I know I'm going I'm getting really stuck in too, I haven't touched the Middle Ages since I was eleven I don't think and I didn't really study it in any sort of depth then . . . Somehow I don't think my "diary of a peasant girl" will impress my tutors

Well it's not even that they expect you to be unfamiliar with the period, it seems like they actually want you to be, hence the stipulation that you stay away from anything you studied at A-Level.

So in that respect, I'm sure we'll both be absolutely fine.
I just want me books to arrive quickly so I can make a start.

As for the college handbook; I must've read through it about a dozen times. Fresher's Week sounds like it's going to be the single most amazing thing ever!

Reply 670

Original post by The Anti-Hero

Well it's not even that they expect you to be unfamiliar with the period, it seems like they actually want you to be, hence the stipulation that you stay away from anything you studied at A-Level.

So in that respect, I'm sure we'll both be absolutely fine.
I just want me books to arrive quickly so I can make a start.

As for the college handbook; I must've read through it about a dozen times. Fresher's Week sounds like it's going to be the single most amazing thing ever!

You're probably right, it's a good thing that I'm feeling lost it means I'm where they want me to be :-) challenged and ready to learn!

And I know we've been told to bring a Hawaiin themed outfit and something we don't mind getting foam on; it sounds like it's going to be excellent!

Reply 671

her

9

Original post by Andy the Anarchist

No

All applicants will sit the HAT, and it is on the basis of the HAT and the UCAS application that they decide who to interview.

Hi I will be taking the HAT test this year, what does test contain? How can I prepare/revise? what should I expect? I'll be taking it for the History and Politics course.

Anyone else with information, feel free to quote me.

I would be incredibly grateful

Reply 672

Incarnadine91

6

Original post by her

Hi I will be taking the HAT test this year, what does test contain? How can I prepare/revise? what should I expect? I'll be taking it for the History and Politics course.

Anyone else with information, feel free to quote me.

I would be incredibly grateful

The HAT is the same for all history subjects, you won't be getting a seperate one for your course. It's meant to test your ability to comprehend sources, quickly break them down and argue a case - basically, all the skills you need in degree-level history - and as such is designed so that raw historical knowledge is not necessarily an advantage. It's testing your skills, not your memory!

That's not to say that you can't prepare for it, you can, but not by frantically revising what you've learned in class. It's better to sit down with a past paper, do it in the allotted time, and then see what the mark scheme says about it - hopefully seeing where you went wrong and getting an idea of what the examiners are looking for. Don't expect to do it perfectly first time or indeed any time, it is a hard test and you're not expected to get 100%. 50% is a real acheivement, and usually enough to get you an interview.

The sources could be from anywhere, on anything, so don't expect to know their time period either. As an example, the test I did (in 2009) contained a source about 12th century monks comissioning a crucifix, and I had to write about what that said about gender relations in the period... Nothing I'd ever done before, so had to rely strictly on what the source told me, which is what they want. The second question is more general and allows you to use your own knowledge a bit, in my case it was asking how geography had influced major historical events, but again the questions they could ask are so wide that it's not worth revising anything specific. Just make sure you have a good understanding of the themes of what you've covered, and can argue a good case.

Past papers can be found on the history faculty website, I believe, and they're seriously a godsend. If you have any questions, particularly on the 2009 paper, feel free to ask me :smile:

Good luck!

Reply 673

shoshin

Original post by her

Hi I will be taking the HAT test this year, what does test contain? How can I prepare/revise? what should I expect? I'll be taking it for the History and Politics course.

Anyone else with information, feel free to quote me.

I would be incredibly grateful

One of the main benefits in going through past papers is to get your time management right. You don't want to get so involved in the essay that that you run out of time before the final question, which is worth a vital 30 marks.

The instructions at the beginning of the test usually advise:

'Spend about a third of your time on reading, thinking and planning, and the rest of the time writing. Question One should take about twice as much time as Question Two.'

Under the stress of exam conditions, it can be pretty difficult to work out what these instructions actually mean in terms of roughly how much time you should be spending on each question, given that there are three parts to question one, each of which is weighted differently regarding the marks on offer. So do two or three of the past papers and use the experience gained to work out a timing guide that suits your own approach.

The past papers and marking schemes are here:

http://www.history.ox.ac.uk/prosundergrad/applying/hat_introduction.htm

Best of luck :smile:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 674

Andy the Anarchist

Original post by her

Hi I will be taking the HAT test this year, what does test contain? How can I prepare/revise? what should I expect? I'll be taking it for the History and Politics course.

Anyone else with information, feel free to quote me.

I would be incredibly grateful

www.history.ox.ac.uk

Seriously, it's not hard to do a little research

Reply 675

ladymary

Original post by The Anti-Hero

Is anybody else going to be starting in October and studying Ancient & Modern History?

The intake for the course seems so small (especially compared to standard History) that A&M historians are hard to find!

Oh and just out of sheer curiosity, what sorts of courses/modules are people going to choose?

Yes, i will be. Gosh i'm so excited to start ! Are you? I havn't even thought about that yet, best get thinking though :smile:

Reply 676

Original post by ladymary

Yes, i will be. Gosh i'm so excited to start ! Are you? I havn't even thought about that yet, best get thinking though :smile:

Oh, I'm stupidly excited!
At which College will you be studying?

I've chosen and confirmed my modules (I think when this needs to be done by varies between colleges, so I wouldn't worry) and have made a start on my reading list.

I'm doing the Roman History module in the first term, the Medieval Christianity module in the 2nd and then Approaches to History for my method.

It should be great!

Reply 677

flywithemma

14

This might be a really stupid question, but does anyone know the dates which the terms 'medieval', 'early modern' and 'modern' encompass?

Also I'm sending my modules away this week (we only have to choose method and British atm), and I think I'm going to do Approaches (College 'strongly advised' we all do this, otherwise maybe I'd have done historiography), and 1330-1550 :smile:

Reply 678

shoshin