Languages Applicants for 2021 (and 2022) entry

[Tenpastseven]

For those interested and moving over from the St Andrews thread (that became not about St Andrews)

@RainBow725 Ha! That’s the thing. It’s so exciting isn’t it? I went to a couple of Unis with my DS1 (who is now in his 3rd year) and was all ready to go again myself for sure! DS wasn’t that keen on the virtual open days. Not sure he’s really done enough research into 3 of his 5 options .

Pleased Lancaster was a successful one. It does have a great reputation for languages.

Love the name @Chocolatedeficitdisorder!

Love the name @Chocolatedeficitdisorder!

Thank you. I'm suffering greatly this evening. Pray for me.

Have other Cambridge hopefuls decided on which pieces of work they’ll submit. It all feels a bit real now, huh? DS has submitted his SAQ and that other confidentiality document thingy and is speaking to his teachers tomorrow to decide which work he’ll upload. He wants to get it done before half term as he’s got a maths exam on return to school so he wants it out of the way.

I’ve just popped to the shops and somehow some Tony’s Chocoloney made its way into my basket @Chocolatedeficitdisorder 😳

Just bumping to see how others DC’s are deciding which work to submit. DS is going to submit one essay for both French and Spanish. He doesn’t have many essays to chose from so is going to chose one price of homework and one assessed essay from April which was done for online mocks.

Any other advice for things to consider?

@Tenpastseven dd is submitting two essays too, one in the post-A level language she wants to study at uni and the second is an English literature essay. She only has one language at A level. School advised her to send in one piece which was written in timed conditions, which is a very recent mock exam. The other was a piece of homework, not written in timed conditions. Deadline for submitting written work at Oxford is 10 November - is it similar for Cambridge?

@NiamCinnOir ah that’s so helpful. Thank you. I think DS doing the same as in 1x timed and 1x not. DS has had a change of French teacher so hasn’t been able to get much input there but seems happy with the French work he’s chosen. He’s less clear about the Spanish essay. Deadline for Cambridge is 5th November but hopefully is on the case.

I understand Oxford have released provisional interview dates?

Sounds like your ds has it all in hand, @Tenpastseven. School have marked both of dd’s pieces of work and signed a cover sheet to confirm they’re her work and if they were done in timed conditions or not. They didn’t give her any advice about which pieces to choose. Yes, Oxford have just released the provisional interview dates, which would be 7-10 Dec for first college interviews and 14-15 Dec for any second college interviews. Dd is not thinking about interviews yet though, she’s mainly focussed on the admissions tests on 5 Nov and trying to stay healthy at the moment!

Sounds wise @NiamCinnOir!

Cambridge have done away with need for teacher’s to sign a cover sheet. DS just needs to provide his teacher’s email address.

Oxford do make it clear what you need to send in. In addition to a piece of MFL work for the languages(s) DC are intending study post A level, they want an English essay too. They want to see how DC develop and argument.

When my DD applied there was a post strike. I delivered it myself!

That's commitment @Guymere!

Ha! No option. Collected work from DDs boarding school and went to Oxford!

True dedication to the cause, Guymere! Luckily, dd has the option of submitting written work electronically and she’s planning to do that over half term. Is your dd currently studying MFL at Oxford?

How is your ds getting on with his written work @Tenpastseven?

@KaptainKaveman would it be possible to ask you a couple of questions about your dd’s language combination please? I don’t think your account can accept DMs.

No. dD is older than that. She did get a place but didn’t go. Long story!

Chocolatedeficitdisorder I'm so glad I read your post. Ds has applied to Cambridge for Chinese Studies (He's also looking at other universities for History). It's a long shot but it was the only university offering what he wanted, and we hadn't considered Edinburgh before. I've just skimmed through the Edinburgh offer and one question immediately came to mind. Does the student make his/her own arrangements for Y3, or does the university? Does the whole year group decamp there?

@NiamCinnOir DS has chosen his two pieces - one a French essay in timed conditions and the other a Spanish homework essay. It was a bit of a struggle for him if I'm honest with very few essays to chose from. Not sure why and he seemed a bit stressed so I didn't push it. His last year's teacher has since left and so he didn't seem to have access to her marked work anymore. Maybe that was part of it. Anyway, they've been chosen and I think he's hoping to upload this weekend.

Still no information about what Cambridge intend to do about their usual format of 'at interview assessments' I don't think. Perhaps they are considering another option. It seems like it would be a very tricky thing to sort logistically speaking.

NiamCinnOir I've PMd you.

Thank you, @KaptainKaveman!

@Tenpastseven, dd didn‘t have much to choose from for written work either - her English mock is just about legible, so who knows what the admissions tutors will make of it! At least she didn’t have to spend hours working out which pieces to choose.

Oxford have said the online interviews will take place in school, but haven’t released any information of what platform they‘ll be using, or if they will have measures in place for invigilation. What format does the Cambridge MFL/MML admissions test normally take?

I’ve just popped to the shops and somehow some Tony’s Chocoloney made its way into my basket @Chocolatedeficitdisorder 😳

Great choice @Tenpastseven!

@Unformidable

Glad to hear that your DS is considering Chinese. There seem to be a lot of work offers for graduates.

In answer, yes, the whole year group goes to China in 3rd year and it is organised by the university. There are 5 partner institutions and my Dd choose to go to Beijing to study at Peking Uni. She was very fortunate to get an Erasmus+ grant on top of her student loans which was very generous. Sadly, that may not be possible now.

www.ed.ac.uk/literatures-languages-cultures/asian-studies/yearabroad/china/about

Chocolatedeficitdisorder

Thank you!

@NiamCinnOir I think it is usually a 1 hour written test which they complete on the day that they are in Cambridge for interview.

So for Oxford you do your admissions test and then depending on how you do in that, you get called for interview or not? That's quite a quick turn around time to mark and sift?

Essays now submitted. Goodness, I felt quite nervous now.