Which Subject Do You Intend To Apply For?

Ah, me too, can't wait till the open day! Deer park ftw. I do Archaeology for A-level by the way !

AEA's (Advanced Extension Awards) are just an additional exam in some subjects, that you can take (in theory at the end of A2), which require no revision and just test your knowledge of the subject in general. You either achieve a Merit or a Distinction, though 50% who enter fail to achieve either. From what I understand, Cambridge and Oxford are quite keen on them because (in their own words) they stretch your knowledge 'vertically instead of horizontally' - i.e. another A-level. But I haven't heard of them ever being part of an offer, though maybe it has happened...

They do form a part of some offers. It's much less common at Oxford - for History, in particular, we were assured at the open day that the offers never go above AAA. At Cambridge it can - a third of Christ's offers are EE + sit two AEAs - and I've seen one guy floating around on TSR who needs a Merit in English to do Philosophy at Cam.

At the end of the day, though, take heart - even if you do get an AEA offer, at least it's an offer, and you might not have got one without it. I'm doing English, History and Maths AEAs in less than a month (because I'm completely insane) - PM me if you want to know anything.

(P.S. you switched college choice from Merton to Magdalen? Traitor )

I had a feeling they might do in some cases - although admittedly I would have thought more for the sciences than arts, since I think I remember reading something about the Maths dept. sometimes giving Maths AEA as an alternative to STEP requirements. Not that I pay much attention to Maths admissions, so I possibly dreamt that up. English, Maths and History...christ, that is insane! Good luck. Are you doing anything in particular to prepare for them? I'm taking the English AEA too next month, so hopefully if it goes well I shall cunningly avoid the remote possibility of such a flaky offer by beating the admissions office to it. That's the plan, anyway...

Traitor, hehe, I guess I am . What can I say, the Merton scarf just wouldn't have suited me at all - there was nothing else for it!

History I'm not doing anything for, on the basis that I read everything relevant for the HAT and interview, Maths I've done past papers. English, I've read "Doing English", some of "Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction", and an essay here and there from "Modern Literary Theory" - that seems to be the kind of stuff they want. I should really do a mock, but a) it's three hours, b) I'll feel guilty about not using the time to revise for subjects that actually count towards my offer, and c) it's three hours.

You're year 12, aren't you? There's a year 12 at my school doing English AEA (on the orders of our sixth form director, high on power from having got two people into Oxbridge for the first time ever) - it seems doable (although A2 does help a bit with the comparison between two poems) especially if your AS texts lend themselves well to theory stuff (her year did The Tempest, which is full of colonialism and stuff - though I guess you can just go feminist on any Shakespeare text if that's your thing ).

Cool. Are you doing the AEA this year by any chance? I hadn't planned to (my school are so clueless about AEAs), but it seems quite a few people are and I am starting to panic!!
Why not Christ Church? I'm definitely not applying there because I'm worried about it being really competitive.

Ah well, I guess I have no idea what I'm talking about on the AEA front then! Nothing new, I assure you .

I read through "Doing English" too, over a very boring plane journey at Easter - wasn't terribly impressed though. I'm currently working my way through this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0199258368/ref=sib_rdr_dp which is helping me feel a little more prepared, although I am definitely feeling a bit freaked out about doing it this year (I am year 12, yes). We did Much Ado for Shakespeare, so I could break out the feminist slant on the paper if the topic will lend itself well - I've looked over a few of the past papers, but yeah, I'm not going to spend three hours of my life doing one either. It is a shame that I haven't got the A2 synoptic unit to draw on but, I've just got to hope for the best I guess. The head of the English department has predicted a distinction, but I think it's quite likely he was smoking something when he came up with that one.

It is a shame that I haven't got the A2 synoptic unit to draw on but, I've just got to hope for the best I guess.

i'm going to the st anne's open day, i had no say in it, it was either st anne's oxford or sidney sussex cambridge and i chose the former because it's oxford that i want to apply to anyway. i hope i get the chance to have a look at exeter while i'm there!

Has anyone received details about the open days on the 25th & 26th? I submitted my email here a week or so ago, but I haven't had any response yet. I'm probably just being impatient, but it's not that long until the open days when you think about it. `

Yes, same question - also, is that the only way of registering for Oxford open days, or is there something else you have to do? I entered my email address, to receive further information, for the general open days on the 25th/26th but I've had nothing back. Also, for Cambridge, you had to fill in this form with your name, details, subject interests... it even asked me how I was getting there! I was just thinking "I don't know yet, I haven't made travel plans 8 weeks in advance!" I would have though Oxford had something similar?

As you can gather from the above I'm visiting both, because I haven't decided which to apply for yet, to study English by the way. For Cambridge, I'm liking Emmanuel (though still considering Newnham, Pembroke and Christ's) and for Oxford I'm less decided. I was sort of thinking about Christ Church, Magdalen and Exeter though...

For the Oxford open days on the 25th and 26th, you have to book with the colleges themselves (which you can do on their websites) - you can only book at one for the formal talks, free lunch etc, but you are free to look around the others throughout the day.

As you can gather from the above I'm visiting both, because I haven't decided which to apply for yet, to study English by the way. For Cambridge, I'm liking Emmanuel (though still considering Newnham, Pembroke and Christ's) and for Oxford I'm less decided. I was sort of thinking about Christ Church, Magdalen and Exeter though...

If you don't fall in love with Emmanuel the moment you walk in, there's something wrong with you Pembroke was my second choice, it's gorgeous too!

Ohh, you've got an offer for Emma You lucky thing. I'm already a bit in love with it, and I haven't even been there yet!