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Essay Crisis!!!

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KHL

you really should check out the entire boatie subculture in cambridge, when you do come up... there are reasons why people get so addicted that they wake up at 5:30am to freeze on a river... come on, if a few hundred people are doing it everyday, there must be something going on here...

as for erging, as far as i know, a time of 6:20 is one of the fastest in the lightweight squad. of course, as they say, ergs don't float, but seriously, it's much easier to make an erg float than a floater erg...

as for 6 or 7 essays a week, it happens. How? some supervisors give more than 1 essay, simple! i've got 2 for anat, 1 for physio, 1 for biochem... all due in by monday latest, and i'd have next week's to finish quickly before i burn my entire week rowing in bumps... and that's another 3 essays...

I am sorry but 5 or more essays in one week is totally unacceptable and I would not do them. How do they expect you to do them? One per day? and attend lectures etc and eat food and formal hall and blah blah blah?

Reply 101

KHL

can be done, just barely. my current record is something like 5 essays in 6 days. sometimes, you can do 2 a day - afternoon and night.

i'm lucky in the sense that i've got a nice timetable - filled mornings, but generally free afternoons. i get histology once every fortnight, but that's about all the regularly timetabled afternoons i have...

to be fair, the medics get 2 hours to write 3 essays in the tripos, rinsed and repeated 3 times - once for each main subject. that's about 9 essays in one suicidal week in june... without counting practical and MCQ papers...

Reply 102

Mentally Ill

KHL

*I wish this thread came about before 15th October 2003*

Reply 103

Helenia

KHL

to be fair, the medics get 2 hours to write 3 essays in the tripos, rinsed and repeated 3 times - once for each main subject. that's about 9 essays in one suicidal week in june... without counting practical and MCQ papers...

Damn, I'd forgotten the tripos papers were 3 essays - I thought they were 2. Oh bugger, I'm so screwed.

Mentally Ill - you have to remember that while our essays are still hard, they're not the same as the sort you'd have to write for an Arts subject.

Reply 104

MrKeen

Do people at Oxbridge not have time for anything else?? I'm considering applying, but all this talk of 5 essays per week is beginning to put me off....

Reply 105

al65

MrKeen

Do people at Oxbridge not have time for anything else?? I'm considering applying, but all this talk of 5 essays per week is beginning to put me off....

It's only on really bad weeks and for some colleges I think!?! Depends on the subject as well...But I'm not yet at oxbridge so can't comment too much

Reply 106

Tek

al65

But I'm not yet at oxbridge so can't comment too much

Pff, "not yet"... with your EEE offer! :tongue:

Reply 107

Helenia

Tek

Pff, "not yet"... with your EEE offer! :tongue:

What he means is he's not here, living the life and doing the essays, so he can't comment. I think we'll be fairly safe to have him here in October!

MrKeen - yes, we do have time for other stuff. As for the number of essays, it depends what subject and what college.

Reply 108

Tek

Helenia

What he means is he's not here, living the life and doing the essays, so he can't comment. I think we'll be fairly safe to have him here in October!

Yes, I realised. I was just referring to the other way in which that term could be used.

Reply 109

blissy

Helenia! You and I share the same birthday!

Reply 110

Tek

blissy

Helenia! You and I share the same birthday!

OMG!!!!!!!! How rare!

Reply 111

blissy

Tek

OMG!!!!!!!! How rare!

Don't be such a tosser Tek.

SO anyway Helenia - I'm looking forward to having my birthday in/near (?) May week. eeeeee!

Reply 112

Tek

blissy

Don't be such a tosser Tek.

SO anyway Helenia - I'm looking forward to having my birthday in/near (?) May week. eeeeee!

How did you find that out anyway?

Reply 113

Amazing

Tek

How did you find that out anyway?

Heh, is it yourself or a mischievous mod that has socialised your signature Tek?

Reply 114

Alaric

blissy

SO anyway Helenia - I'm looking forward to having my birthday in/near (?) May week. eeeeee!

hehe, 7th June, you'll be lucky - that's an exam week :smile:

I don't think Full term ends until the 11th or so, so there's a good chance you'll be having exams on that day :smile:

But then mine is on the 23rd, so I'll be back at home/settling into summer job... dependent on if anyone will actually give me a job for the summer!

Alaric.

Reply 115

KHL

don't let talk of essays scare you... much as i'm loath to admit this, but after a while, they do get interesting to think about and write.
the only bad thing is having to handwrite them all :rolleyes:

there's a certain challenge in crafting a "perfect" essay which the supervisors do try very hard to teach you - it certainly is an elusive art. and depending on how you much you like the subjects, it certainly can be quite enjoyable doing a bit of research for essays. nowadays i find myself reading quite a bit of stuff outside of syllabus as "research", although to be fair it's generally irrelevant and done purely out of interest.

i wouldn't recommend any random person to apply to cam medicine - the course is quite "science-y" and could almost be considered natsci(medical) rather than medicine sometimes. one should ideally have a certain interest/passion in sciences to truly thrive in the cambridge medical environment.

and you DO get quite a bit of time to yourself to pursue your passions. there have been people who have rowed in the blue boats and managed a first before. FYI, blue boat commitments are something like 11+(?) outings a week. (they basically live on the river...)

i might have to do 5 or 6 essays sometimes, but i'm still rowing, playing frisbee, a bit of waterpolo, and still do chill out in friends' rooms, etc... the essays don't take as much time as you think, unless you let them...

basically, all one needs is discipline and efficiency. discipline to be able to sit down in the 1 or 2 hours after lunch and before evening supervisions to finish an essay due in a few days, and efficiency in planning and writing... that way, the work never piles up, and it never feels as if you're sinking.

despite all my ranting on this message board, i'm having the time of my life here in cambridge, and i would recommend it to anybody else in a heartbeat. it's just human nature to bitch about anything and everything... :biggrin: