Classics Admissions - 2021 Oxford

Anyone here thinking of applying for Classics for Oxford at 2021 entry?

I have posted a few of these for different subjects, but I am just pondering on different things to consider to study.

As the others, do you have any experience in the subject, any book recommendations, tips?

Hi, I'm not an applicant for 2021, but I've got an offer to study Classics for 2020 entry and I'm very happy to answer any questions you might have about the subject or application process.

As for books, I would recommend:
- SPQR by Mary Beard (Roman history)
- A Very Short Introduction to Classics (general intro to the subject, very good to start with I think)
- Mythos by Stephen Fry (Greek mythology)
- Any historical novels by Mary Renault (Greek history and mythology)
- The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker (a fictional retelling of the Iliad)

And also, of course, classical literature itself - you might think about reading the Odyssey, Iliad, or Aeneid which will usually make up a significant part of any classics course or for shorter poetry you could try Sappho or Catullus.

I wish I had something further to tell you about Classics. I have asked Oxford offer holders to write me a chapter with these very details.

Crossing my fingers and hoping for an answer.

Thank you very much for these useful recommendations! Are you doing the I or II course at Oxford? How did you find your interviews?

No problem, I'm glad they're useful! I'm doing Course I as I already study Latin. To be honest I found my interviews quite a challenging experience - having 3 academics watch me answer questions about topics I didn't know anything about was a lot, though I'm sure that's the case for many other subjects as well. I was preparing for rejection and was actually quite surprised when I got an offer haha.

And as Oxford Mum says, I'm currently writing a chapter on applying for Classics at Oxford which should be up soon, in case you want to read a more detailed account of the application process.

I will happily read the chapter for sure. I definitely understand what you mean about the interviews - I am a History 2020 reject - it was daunting, although quite interesting.

What college are you in by the way?

Oh cool, I'm sorry you weren't successful but congrats on getting to interview. I would guess there aren't many people who don't find interviews at least a bit intimidating. Yeah, the discussion was actually very interesting, just not the ideal situation! And I've got an offer from St Hilda's.

That's great, Elilast! I love the location of St Hilda's, right near the river. There's a lovely little spot where you can sit and watch all the amateur punters falling (or nearly falling) in the Cherwell. Plus there's is a concert hall there, which is to die for.

Enjoy!

That's great, Elilast! I love the location of St Hilda's, right near the river. There's a lovely little spot where you can sit and watch all the amateur punters falling (or nearly falling) in the Cherwell. Plus there's is a concert hall there, which is to die for.

Enjoy!

I was at St. Hilda's for interviews as well. I wouldn't have minded ending up there for sure, although it was not my first choices.

Can't see the statistics for Classics (not on Oxford web page) but I would imagine it's easier to get in for than history, simply because this subject isn't available in most schools, and it is just a subject that wouldn't occur to most students.

Let's look at some data.

Oxford took some data from 2016-2018 and then got the average. so

in this period,
238 people applied for classics
1,429 people applied for history

And also let's look at Oxford Royale data

Best chances of getting an interview - classics 95.9%
And highest success rate in getting an offer? - classics, 40.1%

https://www.oxford-royale.com/articles/what-are-the-easiest-and-hardest-subjects-to-get-in-for-at-oxbridge/#aId=06bf9006-7122-4ad7-8358-3b65ea1f375d

https://www.theguardian.com/education/datablog/2012/oct/11/how-hard-is-it-to-get-into-oxbridge