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YouKnewThat!
What sort of thing are people going to send?

I am thinking of my AS coursework, and a piece of work I'm about to start!


Something you would be happy to discuss and critique at length in an interview would be best.
I was thinking a piece of work I've done at A2 and a timed essay I did at AS that I got full marks in. I would have liked to have sent my coursework but I have no way of getting a marked copy of it since my teacher's off having a baby.
Reply 3
AS coursework should be fine.

a funny anecdote from my application days last year: at an oxford open day (merton), there was a group of us (6 or so) sitting in the tutor's room, being given a general talk about the course etc. then when the talk moved to application procedures and how people are required to send in a couple of essays, this one girl asked a question, which went something like this: "well, i was just wondering, as i always all do my essays the night before and rush them, they probably won't be any good, so is it alright if i sent in some stuff i did for gcse instead?" the look on the tutor's face was absolutely priceless, with the rest of the room trying to suppress their laughter. very funny moment.
silence
AS coursework should be fine.

a funny anecdote from my application days last year: at an oxford open day (merton), there was a group of us (6 or so) sitting in the tutor's room, being given a general talk about the course etc. then when the talk moved to application procedures and how people are required to send in a couple of essays, this one girl asked a question, which went something like this: "well, i was just wondering, as i always all do my essays the night before and rush them, they probably won't be any good, so is it alright if i sent in some stuff i did for gcse instead?" the look on the tutor's face was absolutely priceless, with the rest of the room trying to suppress their laughter. very funny moment.
hehe, smooth... :biggrin:

I still really don't know. Our teacher sets us tons of essays so I've got loads I *could* send, although probably best not the messy handwritten ones that waffle on for 20 odd pages :redface: I just don't know if I could discuss them in depth, particularly the ones on 'The Handmaid's Tale' as I wouldn't have time to re-read it! I have a coursework on 'Much Ado' but I didn't like it that much. I know a lot of people write essays specifically for this, but the DoS at Newnham said they really didn't want us to do that unless we just hadn't been set any essays all year. Plus, I probably wouldn't have time considering how long a decent essay can take me. aaargh - anyone got any more advice??
I wasn't really asked in-depth questions on them, I just re-read the essays and that was fine. I was asked why I'd picked those in particular though.

I sent AS coursework (81/90), an AS Class essay (marked A) and the A2 class essay which was the only one I'd done so far that year.
Reply 6
my submitted essay was horrible (to answer on, well, with regards to the way in which i was asked about it): the interviewer said something like, "i just want to ask you a couple of things about your essay on the great gatsby; firstly, could you explain what you mean by.....". and then he proceeded to quote a couple of paragraphs continuously from my esasay, reeading for well over a minute or two. and when he finished and looked up at me... :eek:. had no idea where to start.
Hm so it varies as to whether they ask you brief questions on the essays like with Charlottie's, or more in-depth stuff like with Silence's - that sounds horrible btw, my mind would just have totally frozen :eek: Basically all my essays have the same mark (apart from this crap thing I did in 10 minutes where I had to modernise a fairytale :confused: :redface:) so I can't decide that way.

Do they have a limit on how long the essays should be?

My AS c/w was praised by the moderating people but I didn't think it was that good; it was discussing wit in 'Much Ado About Nothing' though, which is a topic I find very interesting and might be able to discuss at an interview. The best essays I've written imo consisted of one on Serena Joy in THT, which I was really proud of and worked very hard on *but* I don't remember THT in immense detail... The other 2 were essays I recently wrote on Blake; one was a 20 page rambler so assuming I can't send that, the other was a more respectable 7 pages though not as good. I also have some other essays on THT and on 'The Glass Menagerie' and am starting what promises to be an interesting one on 'Othello'.

Right I'm fairly sure I want to send one on Shakespeare and one on either poetry or THT, but I don't know whether to use one I'm yet to write on Othello or the c/w from last year, and whether to combine it with the Handmaid's Tale one or a Blake one. Could anyone advise me on this? I'm really sorry to blah on for this long, but I can't ask my teachers for various annoying reasons!
Reply 8
*Bethany*
Hm so it varies as to whether they ask you brief questions on the essays like with Charlottie's, or more in-depth stuff like with Silence's - that sounds horrible btw, my mind would just have totally frozen :eek: Basically all my essays have the same mark (apart from this crap thing I did in 10 minutes where I had to modernise a fairytale :confused: :redface:) so I can't decide that way.

Do they have a limit on how long the essays should be?

My AS c/w was praised by the moderating people but I didn't think it was that good; it was discussing wit in 'Much Ado About Nothing' though, which is a topic I find very interesting and might be able to discuss at an interview. The best essays I've written imo consisted of one on Serena Joy in THT, which I was really proud of and worked very hard on *but* I don't remember THT in immense detail... The other 2 were essays I recently wrote on Blake; one was a 20 page rambler so assuming I can't send that, the other was a more respectable 7 pages though not as good. I also have some other essays on THT and on 'The Glass Menagerie' and am starting what promises to be an interesting one on 'Othello'.

Right I'm fairly sure I want to send one on Shakespeare and one on either poetry or THT, but I don't know whether to use one I'm yet to write on Othello or the c/w from last year, and whether to combine it with the Handmaid's Tale one or a Blake one. Could anyone advise me on this? I'm really sorry to blah on for this long, but I can't ask my teachers for various annoying reasons!


You could send in contrasting pieces, so for example your coursework on the Bard, and something on either poetry or prose to balance out the drama.

EDIT: I just realised that's exactly what you've just said :biggrin:
Reply 9
The options I have are:
An 'Othello' essay about the presentation of Women
An essay comparing conflict and its resolution in The Tempest and Friel's 'Translations'
An essay comparing reality and illusion in The Tempest and Friel's 'Translations'
My A Level coursework on 'The Great Gatsby'

Common sense tells me that perhaps I should submit two slightly different pieces of work, and therefore not two on Shakespeare - so it looks like it's the 'Great Gatsby' coursework as one. Also, the module of A Level where we had to compare 'The Tempest' and 'Translations' is looked upon (I think) as being the most challenging, so perhaps I should choose one of them instead of the one simply on Othello?

Any thoughts? Argh, this is so hard.
Reply 10
*Bethany*

Right I'm fairly sure I want to send one on Shakespeare and one on either poetry or THT, but I don't know whether to use one I'm yet to write on Othello or the c/w from last year, and whether to combine it with the Handmaid's Tale one or a Blake one. Could anyone advise me on this? I'm really sorry to blah on for this long, but I can't ask my teachers for various annoying reasons!


Erm, I know you're applying to the same college as me for English so just wanted to ask are you forward planning here or have you had a request for your essays? Just I have had nothing in the post. :frown:
Bryllyg
Erm, I know you're applying to the same college as me for English so just wanted to ask are you forward planning here or have you had a request for your essays? Just I have had nothing in the post. :frown:
Don't worry I've heard nothing yet either :smile: am just preparing for if they do send me a request, because apparently some people last year didn't get theirs until shortly before they actually wanted the work!
Reply 12
What are post-A level applicants doing about these essays?

I was only set four the entire A2 year! I'm thinking of sending one (to Oxford) discussing the portrayal of Nicholas and Alison in the (arg!) first 300 lines of 'The Miller's Tale', which sounds so bleakly unimpressive...but it was a coherent, well-written essay, and I love the Canterbury Tales. As for the second, I'll write from scratch this weekend, on the industrial/natural confliction in 'Sons and Lovers'. And another (possibly) on classical approaches to Doctor Faustus, if the two I wrote last year make me inwardly die when I re-read them later... :redface:
On another thread it seems that people who have applied to Oxford are sending work in even if they haven't been asked for it as there is a 10th November deadline for submitting it. Is there a similar deadline for Cambridge and should I be sending something off now? I haven't heard anything form the college yet but I don't want to miss a deadline.
Reply 14
mm i'd have thought you'd have probably heard something from the college by now. there usually is a deadline of somewhere around the 2nd-3rd week of november (it was 15th nov the two previous years but sounds as if it's earlier this year). i'd contact your college today just to double check the situation.
iluvenglish
On another thread it seems that people who have applied to Oxford are sending work in even if they haven't been asked for it as there is a 10th November deadline for submitting it. Is there a similar deadline for Cambridge and should I be sending something off now? I haven't heard anything form the college yet but I don't want to miss a deadline.


Isn't it easier to call up the college you applied to so you can know for sure instead of relying on personal opinions? I'd want to be 100% sure if I were you..
Which college are you applying to (out of interest, not because I think it's relevant)?

Cambridge don't have a set deadline (in the way that Oxford seem to, where they expect you to know and don't ask for it) that I know of, what happened with my application was that I got a letter (possibly in late October/early November, I can't quite remember) which asked for essays to be sent to the college by a certain date. They inform you of their deadline, they don't expect you just to send it in. If you're not convinced, try emailing them?
Reply 17
It's 15th november for Cambridge
Applied to Sidney Sussex. Anyone else?

if it's 15th November, I think I will give it over the weekend and then get in touch on Monday if I don't get anything.

Thanks to those of you who replied helpfully.
Reply 19
btw just some advice: obviously it would be silly to submit a badly written essay, but i'd say that it's actually best to send in something which you could talk about with greater ease and understanding that a piece of work which is generally good but would be harder to discuss.