Anybody applying for Arabic/Middle Eastern Studies?

Hi my daughter is in year 13 and applying for Arabic and MES this year to Exeter, Edinburgh, Durham, St Andrews and Leeds. She is predicted A* A* A. Her first choice is Exeter.

Reply 3

Original post by cloverpatches111

Hello!

I'm currently in Year 12 so I'm not applying for universities this year, but I'm wondering if there's anyone who is applying on Ucas for Arabic and/or Middle Eastern Studies.

It's a subject I'm very interested in and am planning to do an EPQ on in Year 13.

If you are applying for Arabic/Middle Eastern Studies, please say why, where you're applying, and your predicted grades etc etc. if you're comfortable with that!

Thank you so much to anyone who sees this :biggrin:

Hey, I’ve applied for Arabic/ Middle Eastern studies at Cambridge, Exeter , Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester!! (just waiting on Cambridge and Edinburgh now) I chose it because I’ve always had an interest in the Middle East and have wanted to learn Arabic to someday live in an Arabic speaking country.

My predicted grades are A* A* A

Doing an EPQ is worth it, I’ve had reduced offers because of it.

(edited 5 months ago)

Reply 4

That’s great, have you had any offers? My daughter has got one from Exeter (ABB) so far, but that’s where she wants to go so she is happy! She only put her ucas in last Friday and swapped out Durham for SOAS last minute..

Reply 5

Original post by Morganmaestro

That’s great, have you had any offers? My daughter has got one from Exeter (ABB) so far, but that’s where she wants to go so she is happy! She only put her ucas in last Friday and swapped out Durham for SOAS last minute..

Thank you!! I’ve had offers from Manchester (ABB) Leeds (ABB) and Exeter (BBB reduced because of EPQ) and I applied on the 12th of October.
Well done for her offer! Exeter does have the best department for Middle Eastern studies I’m pretty sure. Have you and your daughter gone to an Exeter open day? If so how was it- I’m skeptical of Exeter because I’ve heard it’s student body is not very diverse and racism is pretty common.
SOAS is an amazing uni for oriental studies, I was going to apply but I want to get out of London 😂

Reply 6

merrystatue

3

Original post by cloverpatches111

Hello!

I'm currently in Year 12 so I'm not applying for universities this year, but I'm wondering if there's anyone who is applying on Ucas for Arabic and/or Middle Eastern Studies.

It's a subject I'm very interested in and am planning to do an EPQ on in Year 13.

If you are applying for Arabic/Middle Eastern Studies, please say why, where you're applying, and your predicted grades etc etc. if you're comfortable with that!

Thank you so much to anyone who sees this :biggrin:

Please do an EPQ in Year 12. You will have a lot more time in year 12, and it is the best time to do it rather than in year 13 where you will be overwhelmed with the amount of things you have to do.

Reply 7

My daughter was hoping to have heard from Leeds and maybe SOAS by now but nothing yet…

Reply 8

So she has now got a BBB offer from SOAS, which she is pleased about.

Reply 9

ChaoticKiwi

5

Hi - I started Exeter this September and study Arabic and Islamic Studies! I also applied to Cambridge, Durham and Manchester with A*A*A.

Of course I'm biased but Exeter is the best place to study Arabic: 18 contact hours a week (when the average is about 7), a grant of £1500 yearly to aid travel (will be using that for some summer study in the Middle East!) and class sizes of 6ish in seminars and 13ish in lectures (this will change year-to-year as the size of the cohort fluctuates dramatically).

There seems to be less of an interest in this subject across the board unfortunately, as offer grades are far lower this year than the year before (my required grade for Exeter was AAA) but this doesn't reflect poorly on the course so much as a general decline in interest. All the lecturers are very helpful and I am exceedingly glad I went here!

Any other questions, let me know!

Reply 10

That’s so great to hear ChaoticKiwi, thanks so much for your reply. Exeter is far and away my daughter’s first choice and it is great to hear that you are enjoying it so much.
I’m a little surprised at a cohort of 13, that is low.
A couple of questions: Are you all off to Jordan next year? Or are there other options?
Did you have any Arabic before you started/did the rest of the group?
Since you are abroad in 2nd year, how will you arrange accommodation for year 3? Do you just take over places in houses from others who are having years abroad in year 3?
What do you think is the 2nd best place to read Arabic in the uk?

Thanks!

Reply 11

ChaoticKiwi

5

Original post by Morganmaestro

That’s so great to hear ChaoticKiwi, thanks so much for your reply. Exeter is far and away my daughter’s first choice and it is great to hear that you are enjoying it so much.
I’m a little surprised at a cohort of 13, that is low.
A couple of questions: Are you all off to Jordan next year? Or are there other options?
Did you have any Arabic before you started/did the rest of the group?
Since you are abroad in 2nd year, how will you arrange accommodation for year 3? Do you just take over places in houses from others who are having years abroad in year 3?
What do you think is the 2nd best place to read Arabic in the uk?

Thanks!

Hey!

1) Yes, we're all off to Jordan together, to a language institute partnered with Exeter. There isn't another option.

2) I have started ab initio, as have the majority of the cohort. Some have family links to the Middle East and so had a limited understanding at the start but even now, after the end of the first term, we're all pretty much at the same level!

3) It is a small source of anxiety but one we'll tackle nearer the time. Fortunately, since the cohort is so small we already have loose plans of living together in Exeter in the 3rd year (house viewings can always be conducted online). I don't think there is any system of taking over houses from certain people.

4) Other than Oxford and Cambridge, it's hard to say really since only about 8 universities offer Arabic. SOAS is brilliant because of how specialised it is. Other universities have their merits.

Reply 12

Fab thanks so much. Happy new year!

Reply 13

Still waiting to hear from Edinburgh and Leeds which is bizarre. I don’t know why they are so late. Anyway my Dd will def firm Exeter (ABB) and otherwise has heard only from St Andrews (AAB so no good as insurance) and SOAS (BBB). Her 2nd choice would be Edinburgh but I doubt it will be a better offer than Exeter, and SOAS would clearly be better than Leeds. She is having a gap year so not under time pressure, but would just like all her responses in!

Reply 14

Original post by Morganmaestro

Still waiting to hear from Edinburgh and Leeds which is bizarre. I don’t know why they are so late. Anyway my Dd will def firm Exeter (ABB) and otherwise has heard only from St Andrews (AAB so no good as insurance) and SOAS (BBB). Her 2nd choice would be Edinburgh but I doubt it will be a better offer than Exeter, and SOAS would clearly be better than Leeds. She is having a gap year so not under time pressure, but would just like all her responses in!

agh me too, still waiting on Edinburgh 🙄.
Why does your daughter want to study at Exeter? I’m trying to get some pros about the course at Exeter, everyone is telling me to firm my place there but with no reason. I’m also taking a gap year to work! Should be a nice break after all this revision 🥲

Reply 15

I think Exeter is fantastic principally because it gets a raft of funding from the Sheik of Sharjah. So it has a beautiful dedicated building, masses of professors, huge numbers of postgrads/phd students. That makes for a vibrant community and the fact that is well funded (when practically nowhere is in the uni sector at the moment) means that you get much more language teaching than almost anywhere else, and a really wide choice of options. Also the sheik gives everyone studying Arabic a scholarship of £1500 per year for 4 years in cash to spend on what you like (in the hope you spend it on trips to the Middle East) so that is a free £6k which is not to be sniffed at! Also if you do the MArabic course you come out with a proper Masters for your 4 years.
So to me it’s a no brainer, I don’t think anywhere else comes close.
Edinburgh is a nice dept but you have to study so much else in years 1 and 2 you just aren’t getting the hours in Arabic that you really need, iMO.

Reply 16

Original post by Morganmaestro

I think Exeter is fantastic principally because it gets a raft of funding from the Sheik of Sharjah. So it has a beautiful dedicated building, masses of professors, huge numbers of postgrads/phd students. That makes for a vibrant community and the fact that is well funded (when practically nowhere is in the uni sector at the moment) means that you get much more language teaching than almost anywhere else, and a really wide choice of options. Also the sheik gives everyone studying Arabic a scholarship of £1500 per year for 4 years in cash to spend on what you like (in the hope you spend it on trips to the Middle East) so that is a free £6k which is not to be sniffed at! Also if you do the MArabic course you come out with a proper Masters for your 4 years.
So to me it’s a no brainer, I don’t think anywhere else comes close.
Edinburgh is a nice dept but you have to study so much else in years 1 and 2 you just aren’t getting the hours in Arabic that you really need, iMO.

oh wow no way!! so there's no criteria to be elegible for the scholarship? Did you and your daughter go to the open day recently, if so how was it? I was going to go but I was fasting so I had to cancel 💔
That's really helpful thank you!

Reply 17