This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

Archaeology & Anthropology Oxford Students......(Typical Workload etc)

I am currently contemplating doing Archaeology & Anthropology @ Oxford (if i get in LOL :smile:

) and basically was wondering.....

All current (or former) A&A Students @ Oxford.....

- What is the typical workload??? (i.e. essays per week/daily revision time spent in the library/any field work, if it is done etc)

and if possible,

- A typical day in the life of a A&A Student

Thanks for any help given, really will give me a better view of the course :biggrin:

Reply 1

heliotrope

1

akademic

I am currently contemplating doing Archaeology & Anthropology @ Oxford (if i get in LOL :smile:

) and basically was wondering.....

All current (or former) A&A Students @ Oxford.....

- What is the typical workload??? (i.e. essays per week/daily revision time spent in the library/any field work, if it is done etc)

and if possible,

- A typical day in the life of a A&A Student

Thanks for any help given, really will give me a better view of the course :biggrin:

i know a couple of arch+anthers. they work about the same as most other people, maybe a little less. i think its three essays a fortnight, but i may be wrong. besides, how many essays you get depends on your college. you do field work in the summer. i think you have to do four weeks or something.

Reply 2

History_is...

6

One of my best friends does arc and anth and I lived down the corridor from her last year, she seemed to do less work than the historians, but had the same amount of written work, one essay one week, two the next, alternating each week. However every few weeks she just had to do a presentation, which looked like a lot of fun! I'd say Oxford workload is fairly standard with all arts subjets having roughly the same number of essays, how long they take you/how many hours you work per day depends entirely on how quickly, how much, and how efficiently you read.

On the subject of fieldwork, she's going to have barely been home all summer, with a dig near oxford right after term, then one down in devon, then several weeks in tanzania.

Again like all arts subjects at least, there is no typical day. Your time is your own, with few lectures, few to no labs (although arc and anth have a few throughout the year) so it depends entirely on how you like to work, if you like to do two full days before an essay is due, or work a little each day throughout the week.

Good luck.

Reply 3

YouAreWhatYouEat

OP

^^^^ Thanks guys you have managed to clear a lot up for me, so your help is greatly appricated :smile:

One question though............

- Basically i'm a bit worried about the essays which are due in every week :s-smilie:

I mean is each essay like 10 pages long etc??? as i think i can handle like doing 2-3 essays a week which are like 4 pages long etc, but not really long 10 pagers etc

also what do they count for??? (i.e. do they count for your end of year grade, or are they simply just essays for learning purposes)

Reply 4

Agrippina

15

akademic

^^^^ Thanks Guys You Have Managed To Clear Alot Up For Me, So Your Help Is Greatly Appricated :smile:

One Question Though............

- Basically i'm abit worried about the essays which are due in every week :s-smilie:

I Mean is each essay like 10 pages long etc??? as i think i can handle like doing 2-3 essays a week which are like 4 pages long etc, but not really long 10 pagers etc

also what do they count for??? (i.e. do they count for your end of year grade, or are they simply just essays for learning purposes)

Essays are usually about four pages long and they don't count towards anything. But obviously your tutor won't be impressed if you don't make any effort with them just because they don't count towards your grade :wink:

Also, you'll get end of term "collections" where they read out your report to the president (or some other senior figure) of the college, so if you do well during the term collections are a nice pat on the back. :smile:

Reply 5

YouAreWhatYouEat

OP

Agrippina

Essays are usually about four pages long and they don't count towards anything. But obviously your tutor won't be impressed if you don't make any effort with them just because they don't count towards your grade :wink:

Also, you'll get end of term "collections" where they read out your report to the president (or some other senior figure) of the college, so if you do well during the term collections are a nice pat on the back. :smile:

are the essays fairly easy to do???

^^ i clarify on what i mean by that, obviously essays to be done in a particular subject are different to the essays done in another subject......what i mean is,

(a) was it easy to get into that routine??? (i.e. of handing in 2 essays a week etc)

(b) say for A&A obviously i won't know much (except research that i have done before actually attending the uni etc) - will the essays/work require me to be some super genius or have in depth knowledge

i havn't really explained myself well on (b) so i'm sorry if you or know one understands what that means lol :biggrin:

its just i have some pre-conception in my head that (although i am willing to work hard etc) i still want a social life, i.e. i don't want it to be that doing these essays means i will be stuck in the libary for 6/7 days of the week for most of the day :s-smilie:

Reply 6

Agrippina

15

akademic

are the essays fairly easy to do???

^^ i clarify on what i mean by that, obviously essays to be done in a particular subject are different to the essays done in another subject......what i mean is,

(a) was it easy to get into that routine??? (i.e. of handing in 2 essays a week etc)

(b) say for A&A obviously i won't know much (except research that i have done before actually attending the uni etc) - will the essays/work require me to be some super genius or have in depth knowledge

i havn't really explained myself well on (b) so i'm sorry if you or know one understands what that means lol :biggrin:

its just i have some pre-conception in my head that (although i am willing to work hard etc) i still want a social life, i.e. i don't want it to be that doing these essays means i will be stuck in the libary for 6/7 days of the week for most of the day :s-smilie:

Everyone's in the same position as you so you obviously don't need to be some super genius. Many of the essays will be hard and will require a lot of work before you feel ok with writing an essay on that particular topic. However you will quickly get into the routine of getting through the reading list (and weeding out the less relevant bits of the reading list) and writing the essays, and having a social life is no problem whatsoever.

Something I initially found hard to accept was having to hand in essays which I know weren't as good as I could have done had I had more time. But the tutors know you're pressed for time and won't expect you to be writing masterpieces every time, especially in your first term.

Also, the essay-writing exercise would be rather pointless if they were dead easy to write!

(BTW I do Classical Archaeology and Ancient History so my workload is very similar to Arch and Anth.)

Reply 7

History_is...

6

It's funny, you find that, on getting an essay on a topic you know nothing about in the first few weeks, it takes you aaages just to figure out what the question is about, let alone what is the answer. By the end of first term, approaching an essay from the exact same starting position it takes less then half the time to write a much better essay.

In terms of spending days in the library and balancing this with social life, I am infamous in college for practically living in the library. I go almost every day, for at least 4 or 5 hours, but usually from 10 till 6ish. HOWEVER I also have a good social life (and apprently go out too much!). I have lunch with friends every day, we take breaks together, and because I always work during the day I never have esay crises which involved working in an evening when there might be better things to do like going out, or never have to get up early to work before a tute. Some people will take days off, then work 24 hours a day for two days to get everthing finsihed, then take the next 5 off again etc, it depends on how you want to do it.

Reply 8

YouAreWhatYouEat

OP

Agrippina

Everyone's in the same position as you so you obviously don't need to be some super genius. Many of the essays will be hard and will require a lot of work before you feel ok with writing an essay on that particular topic. However you will quickly get into the routine of getting through the reading list (and weeding out the less relevant bits of the reading list) and writing the essays, and having a social life is no problem whatsoever.

Something I initially found hard to accept was having to hand in essays which I know weren't as good as I could have done had I had more time. But the tutors know you're pressed for time and won't expect you to be writing masterpieces every time, especially in your first term.

Also, the essay-writing exercise would be rather pointless if they were dead easy to write!

(BTW I do Classical Archaeology and Ancient History so my workload is very similar to Arch and Anth.)

Yea That Is Exactly How I'm Like in Sixth Form (A-Level)..........

I Do All Nighters If I Don't Have Enough Time To Make it a 'Excellent Essay' in a Particular Subject - Even if The Essay Itself Does Not Count Towards Bugger All......Guess I'm Going To Have To Get Used To It.....

May I Ask Both Agrippina... and History Is... - What Are Your Future Career Aspirations??? (If You Don't Mind Me Asking)

I Was Wondering This ^^^ as I Wish To Go Into The Finance IB Field After University (which i know seems abit odd when doing a A&A industry, i just enjoy both things lol) - So Is There Any One You Know in Your Course or A&A That is Also Getting Into The Financial Industry Afterwards????

Thanks :smile:

Reply 9

Athena

6

History_is...

In terms of spending days in the library and balancing this with social life, I am infamous in college for practically living in the library. I go almost every day, for at least 4 or 5 hours, but usually from 10 till 6ish.

That may be because you're a historian, though - arch and anthers will have more lectures per week than you (I know, because they share quite a few with the human scientists!). Also, as the anthropology the arch and anthers and humscis is the same, I didn't find the reading overly challenging - two longs days (ie, 9am - 7pm, half an hour for lunch and the same for dinner) would be enough to cover all the reading and write the essay, once you get into the swing of things. I have done all the reading and writing for an anthropology tutorial in a day and a half (on a week when we had three tutorials, because our tutors had messed up!), but that led to a difficult and slightly embarrassing tute because I hadn't read thoroughly enough.

Archaeology & Anthropology Oxford Students......(Typical Workload etc)

Related discussions

Articles for you