Insight sought on studying English Literature

[Knittedanimal]

DD in y12. EngLit is her favourite subject, which she's doing alongside maths, further maths and psychology. She's predicted all A*s.
We went to Warwick open day and she loved the course but not keen on the campus and wants a 'proper' university (I think she means old) i think she'll try for Oxford but we need a bsck up plan too. What experience do people have of difference in courses/unis please?

My DD did Eng lit and she loved Warwick actually - it was her firm (tho she missed the grades and went elsewhere through clearing). I would certainly call it a proper university. It is 60 years old after all. For sure there are unis with older buildings but we both were very impressed bu the course and the tutors at Warwick.

Other places DD looked:
Birmingham
Leeds
York
Sheffield

With three A stars your DD can aim high for sure. Durham is a lovely uni with gorgeous buildings, and Bristol is a beautiful city. Oxford obviously is old and lovely and all that. DD wanted to be a certain distance from home so didn't consider any of those three, nor Scotland or south-east.

We found, going on a number of open days, that the English lit lecture always seemed to be “we offer everything from Beowulf to Beyoncé” but I suspect that there is a basic structure – you are going to have to do some Shakespeare and some poetry haha. Also bear in mind that a specific module may depend on the tutor still being there in 2 or 3 years' time, and enough students opting for it.

DD went to Leicester in the end and the dept was great actually, she had a wonderful PT (your DD will be aiming higher tho). In her third year especially she was able to tailor her choices to her interests and did a lot of Victorian literature.

Is that any help? What sort of thing did you want to know?

DD is in Year 2 doing English literature at Exeter. She was predicted 2x A* and 2 A’s. She got through to interview at Cambridge but was rejected afterwards. She got offers from Durham, Exeter, Warwick and Lancaster. She met all her offers. She chose Exeter as her firm as she preferred the course there to everywhere else. She thought Durham’s English course felt slightly dry. It was very difficult for her to turn down the prestige of Durham for Exeter but she definitely feels like she made the right choice. DD also really liked the course at Warwick but felt that the campus was lacking any buzz.

Other unis that we visited but didn’t make the final 5 were York and Leeds.

Your DD needs to think what other selection criteria is important to her besides course and being “a proper, old university” 😂

English courses actually vary a fair amount. I agree the Durham one seems dry. I wiled away a few hours not that long ago perusing courses and if I were to have my time again, I'd look seriously at Warwick, Exeter and Birmingham if location made no difference. But it can do! St Andrew's is highly regarded for English but I never would have wanted to go there, personally. I went to York, always been extremely good for English. In my day it was best known for Anglo Saxon, Middle English and making students do foreign literature. But the course has changed a lot. She ought to look, though.

By the way clary I managed to get through an entire degree with no Shakespeare! I had my reasons at the time but wouldn't recommend!

Thanks both, really helpful. It's tricky trying to help on their behalf as you only know so much and ultimately of course it's down to them but they have so much else to think about (imaginary numbers, anyone? 🤣)
I'd forgotten about Exeter, so will have a look, thank you. Leicester too close to home sadly.
Any tips for the Oxbridge interview @Rollergirl11 ? That must have been a horrible disappointment for your dd. It's all so much pressure!
@clary I guess yhe different modules/style of courses are good to bear in mind but of course dependent on staff, I hadn't thought of that. I find it hard to decipher which courses are better than others but was blown away by the whole approach at Warwick (secretly want dd to go there so I can do the course vicariously 🤣🤣)

Get her to really find out what she will be covering in all 3 years. Leeds uni do an excellent English degree with loads of variety. The oxbridge courses can be a bit dull to be honest.

If it's an old uni she is after try Glasgow Uni. Beautiful old buildings and a great English dept.

Look in depth at the course structure, which modules are compulsory and what the choice of options is. English lit degrees can vary a lot when you look beneath the skin.

Once she’s done some research on courses she can narrow it down to a list to visit for open days which will help her get a sense of whether she feels drawn to the atmosphere.

If what she wants is the pretty old world vibe and a small town feel, Durham and St Andrews would be obvious choices that feel quite Oxbridgey. I’m guessing by “proper university” her preference is for a city university rather than a campus out of town.

DD is studying English Literature at York which is a "proper old university". We found a fair variety in courses - she was put off Oxford because of the variety of "older" literature as she wanted more of a range. And was particularly interested in York because they had a wider focus on international texts. She also had Warwick as one of her favourites.

It's also worth looking at research interests in the department - DD was looking for some that aligned with her own literary interests as these will determine the optional modules in 2nd and 3rd year. For example, Birmingham has a strong focus on Shakespeare.

I agree with those saying look at the modules on offer and yes, there is a decent variety of options and variation between courses. DD actually did no Shakespeare after her first year.

I guess the thing about checking modules is that you need some flex. Some modules will be very popular, others less so. Agree re research specialities of dept tho. DD was very keen to take a module on Austen and then not enough chose it so it didn't run. But the prof whose speciality it was, was the perfect person to be her tutor for a dissertation on the subject so it ended well.

I wasn't suggesting Leicester for a student with three A star PGs btw. DD got in with BCC. Tho a uni like Brum where AAB was DD's offer is a good insurance choice.

Oxbridge English tips - get her to research carefully. Look around a lot of colleges - some of the big grander ones and some of the smaller less well known. Get her to find out what the tutors specialise in and find a college which she likes where the tutor's interests intersect with her own. Try and meet the tutor casually on an open day to find out if they click.

Main tips: read very very widely around the A level syllabus - at least two or three other novels or plays by anyone she is studying, and a few contemporaries. Encourage her to discuss with you and analyse any writing she loves - it doesn't have to be high browWhat matters is that she can analyse it. Practical criticism skills are very highly valued at Oxford and Cambridge, so encourage her to practice them as often as possible as she might have a text thrown at her in the interview to see what she makes of it.

I wouldn’t use tutor interests to choose an Oxford college. For a start, tutors get research grants, take on major admin roles that take them away from teaching for several years, get sick, have babies, or leave the university altogether. If you have chosen a college specifically because you want to be taught by Professor X, this may not happen and can be disappointing if that was your motivation.

I would choose a college based on things like location (more central but less green space and more tourists vs less central but quiet with big gardens? Proximity to Faculty or to city centre?) size, and other things that matter to her (self catering? 24 hour library access?) Or just go with your gut. About a quarter of Oxford offer holders get an offer from a college they didn’t apply to, so it’s best not to set your heart on it too much anyway. For specialist Finals options, some will be centrally taught so you may not get your college tutor, and for those which aren’t, tutors will often arrange swaps with colleagues.

This is all amazing, thank you all so much.
I've been advising her to massively up her reading so will quote advice here, because who listens to their mum?
I think we'll have a couple of trios to Oxford to try and suss out the colleges, St Edmunds is our local outreach so we could start there. York another one to consider, thank you and we're off to Sheffield open day later this month. Little one is the Shakespeare fan and I've been checking out Birmingham and their connection with the RSC...so exciting!

This is brilliant, thank you!

@StokePotteries I like your style of casually bumping into the profs to suss them out! Great tip.

We visited Glasgow last week, pretty impressive! I would move to Scotland in a heartbeat but not likely and the drive home was so long, so sadly not likely a choice. (I had an offer there too, still regret not taking them up on it)

Oh and the other thing about research interests is that in Year 13 you don’t know what your interests are. You are right at the start of your exploration of the subject. You may think you love 20th century poetry most but then find that by your second year you become completely obsessed with Victorian travel writing or Middle English - that’s one of the exciting things about uni.

Yes she needs to read read read. Oxford tutors want candidates who read voraciously and widely. She needs to read beyond the school curriculum, both in terms of reading the other works of authors she is interested in, and reading a wide range of genres and periods. To be honest if she doesn’t want to do that then she won’t enjoy studying English literature anyway.

My DD is currently studying English Lit at Sheffield.
She initially wanted a campus university but loved Sheffield. The open day wasn't the very best one she went to but the overall package won her over. Nottingham was a contender for a while. Didn't love York or Loughborough.
She got A A A so had her pick really. Didn't like Oxford/Cambridge syllabus or vibe. Far south/north was too far from home. Didn't fancy big cities - which ruled out London,Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester.
Very happy with her choice.

I’m a PhD English Literature student at University of Reading/Exeter. Recent MA and BA a long time ago at the University of Southampton. Southampton is ranked highly and has a nice red brick campus (Avenue), for English. As others have said, I would look at what modules are offered. Southampton MA for instance allowed us to take a module in history which I found really interesting. Modules vary widely given the specialist areas of academic staff so I would do some research amongst the top RG options.

I agree that York is great (see above: I went there) but it's not a 'proper old uni'. It was founded in the 60s, is a campus plate glass and is the same age as Warwick , so the DD may not like it. aesthetically (except for the city itself, of course , which is a beauty). She really ought to consider it!

Re Sheffield vs Birmingham. Both are fab 0 my DS has been to both and is now loving doing a master's at Sheffield but , oddly, Sheffield has a much more city feel than Brum, which is a large campus. It's in no way isolated form the city unlike many campuses but felt more of its own community. DS definitely gets out and about more at Sheffield. Birmingham is the Selly Bubble.

Both have really interesting English courses.

Ten years ago I would have said go for it. Now, consider whether your DD is going to get a return on investment. 9% of earnings over a salary threshold that is basically now touching minimum wage is a really really bad investment unless your DD plans to go into law or high finance etc. Really really think about this OP

I’ve heard great things about the Leeds English course, and a relative of mine is enjoying Exeter. I studied at Cambridge and unless the course has changed substantially, it was quite dry and traditional. I’m hoping it’s slightly more diverse now! A word of warning about Edinburgh - the experience of someone I know studying English there is that there does seem to be a general expectation that students buy into a particular view on the current gender debate. Put it like this, JK Rowling would be spending a lot if time arguing with her lecturers if she studied English there…

@Knittedanimal
Oxford posts on YouTube, videos where professors give advice for interview and where mock interviews are shown in full.

Ah that's a shame. It was a long journey home for me too but worth it I think. I had a great time there and still go back and visit once a year.