Anyone applying for Persian / AMES at Oxford ?

Anonymous #1

Sent in my written work a few days ago and waiting to hear back. Anyone else In similar situation?

Reply 1

Anonymous #2

Original post

by Anonymous

Sent in my written work a few days ago and waiting to hear back. Anyone else In similar situation?

I've applied for Classics with AMES. I sent my written work on the 6th and got a confirmation email from the college that they'd received it the next day. Perhaps it's college dependent the speed at which they send confirmation emails or whether they do at all.
Btw- Persian sounds SO COOL! All I know about it is that it's an Indo European language and I'm learning about the Achaemenids in relation to the wars with Greece at the moment which is really fascinating.
What about Persian made you want to study it??

Reply 2

Anonymous #1

Original post

by Anonymous

Wow, what college? I'm applying to Pembroke. I'm generally quite interested in languages and I would have liked to apply for Persian and French rather than just Persian, but my school doesn't offer French A-level (or any language for that matter) so I couldn't. I come from a Persian background and speak it (not completely fluently) and even did the A-level last year, and I'm also really into Iranian history and literature (the works of Rumi, Ferdowsi, etc), so being able to study them for 4 years would honestly be so fun. Regarding the Achaemenids that you mentioned, I'm more of a modern history person (Zand, Qajar, and Pahalvi dynasty), but I do agree learning about the Persian Empire and its relationship with the Greeks really is fascinating. In fact, there was an exhibition about this very relationship a few years ago at the British Museum that I think you would have liked.

Classics also sounds super fun and interesting! How come you chose this combination? What languages do you want to end up specialising in AMES btw? Also do you do any languages as A levels??

Reply 3

Anonymous #2

Original post

by Anonymous

Wow, what college? I'm applying to Pembroke. I'm generally quite interested in languages and I would have liked to apply for Persian and French rather than just Persian, but my school doesn't offer French A-level (or any language for that matter) so I couldn't. I come from a Persian background and speak it (not completely fluently) and even did the A-level last year, and I'm also really into Iranian history and literature (the works of Rumi, Ferdowsi, etc), so being able to study them for 4 years would honestly be so fun. Regarding the Achaemenids that you mentioned, I'm more of a modern history person (Zand, Qajar, and Pahalvi dynasty), but I do agree learning about the Persian Empire and its relationship with the Greeks really is fascinating. In fact, there was an exhibition about this very relationship a few years ago at the British Museum that I think you would have liked.
Classics also sounds super fun and interesting! How come you chose this combination? What languages do you want to end up specialising in AMES btw? Also do you do any languages as A levels??

Ooh that sounds really interesting!!
I'm applying to St Johns and my AMES specialty is Egyptology. I chose it because my interest in the wider ancient world (especially the Ancient Near East) has been growing and I want to learn more about that. Egyptology, I think, complements Classics really well as there was interaction within the cultures and it provides a nice stepping stone from the ancient world of Greece and Rome that I know to that of eg Assyria, the Hittites etc which I know less about. (Not to say I dislike Classics- I absolutely adore Classics and have applied for straight Classics at my other options)
I do Latin A-Level but I don't do any modern languages. It's weird that your school doesn't offer it but I know that at most unis they offer extra curricular language classes outside of uni hours. I'm already eyeing the possibility of learning German or Italian.

Reply 4

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post

by student4949

Just to inform you, while I am sure you are well meaning - it is against the TSR terms of use to invite others to offsite communications platforms (including email or social media). There are a number of reasons for this, chief among them though is safeguarding as there are a lot of younger users on the website who are below the age of majority, towards whom TSR has a duty of care.

I would encourage you to share your information and knowledge, but please do so through the forum posts directly - all conversations started on TSR need to stay on TSR :smile:

Reply 5

AryanB_08

Oh wow! I can tell that you're really passionate about it! Have you been doing interview prep? No one in my school is applying for Persian / AMES or anything similar, so I just do it with my friend applying for PPE from time to time. I'm just a bit worried that, if I do get shortlisted for an interview, I'll get too nervous and not answer the questions properly. I normally am really extroverted but given the circumstances, I think I'd be too anxious to even talk lol.

Also, since my course is so niche, there is very little (close to nothing) in terms of online resources I can use to prepare. I guess you would have more available to you for classics. Do you know how many interviews you will be doing btw? Mine is just 2, one by the AMES department and one by the college (I think).