Laura
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Posts: 37
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Post by Laura on Nov 4, 2006 1:48:21 GMT 1
Hiya, those who are or have studied archaeology at university, how long did it take for you to get a decision back from your 6 choices regarding your application? I hate the waiting game .
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Post by caroline on Nov 4, 2006 10:43:14 GMT 1
It really varied for me. Nottingham (where I am) was really quick (I had that one by the beginning of December), but I think I was waiting till Feb until I got all the replies back. But archaeology is quicker than a lot of subjects because they often don't bother asking you to come to interview.
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Laura
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Post by Laura on Nov 4, 2006 12:22:28 GMT 1
Lol guess what, I've been called for an interview!! I wish you hadn't said that now lol. It says that it is Sheffield's policy or something and I'm dead on their 'typical' offer so they probably will put the grades up to AAB. I also got an offer from Liverpool this morning. Good day for me Can anyone give me any advice about the interview please?
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ali
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Post by ali on Nov 4, 2006 14:55:53 GMT 1
Try not to worry about it, all the staff at Sheffield are really nice! I think a guy called Roger Doonan is the admissions tutor now, so he will probably be at your interview, but he is a good bloke, so no worries. It certainly won't be anything like an Oxford/Cambridge interview, I imagine that hopefully it will be quite informal. Maybe have a look through some introductory textbooks such as Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice by Renfrew and Bahn. Be prepared to answer some questions on why you want to study archaeology, and any experience you have. But I think the single most important piece of advice I can give you is to be enthusiastic about archaeology! My general experience with Sheffield is that they would rather have a student who only just made the grade requirements but is wildly enthusiastic, than someone who is a straight A student who is just doing it as a mess around for three years.
Anyway, hope this has helped, best of luck with the interview and I hope you like the look of Sheffield!
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Laura
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Posts: 37
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Post by Laura on Nov 4, 2006 19:21:09 GMT 1
Well I am seriously considering Sheffield as one of my top choices actually Isn't it supposed to be one of the top places for studying archaeology? Although to be honest I have got quite confused about where I would like to go now. Previously I was completely sure that I wanted to go to Birmingham as I really like the diversity of the course there and it is reasonably close to where I live but now I'm unsure. Oh well I'm sure I'll decide by spring. Maybe have a look through some introductory textbooks such as Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice by Renfrew and Bahn. Oooh that's lucky, I have that although it's rather difficult to have a quick look through it lol. Thank you for the advice by the way. I have also applied to Leicester, York and Liverpool if anyone has any suggestions.
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Post by ellie163 on Nov 4, 2006 20:16:41 GMT 1
Regards Sheffield and an interview: I was asked to interview there. I went to an open day there and most other people had already had an offer so of course I was panicking about why I had to be interviewed... it turns out they make a policy of interviewing students they're thinking of giving lower offers to to make sure it's the right decision. I got a CC offer although I ended up not going there. The department was pretty big and had good facilities so far as I could tell. I think with all the people linked to this board you could prob get advice on any university. Good luck and don't panic about making decisions at least until you've had all your replies. You've got plenty of time yet.
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Post by Toby on Nov 5, 2006 23:05:37 GMT 1
Bradford is brilliant - but I am biased.
I was in the position of not waiting for grades when I applied, which made the whole thing a bit unusual as I was not going to get any offers just Y/N.
Make sure you visit all places and talk to lots of people about stuff when you are there.
A big thing to remember is that there is still plenty of time and don't take any written rejections etc personally. Archaeology is a very small world and everybody knows everybody else.
At one place I was not impressed by what I first saw, by the time my interview came up (5pm, I had been there since before 9!!!) they were just a bunch of ******** (I will let you choose a term). When I got the place offered to me I responded with the same level of dignity that I was shown.
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Post by caroline on Nov 6, 2006 10:01:57 GMT 1
I was asked for interview at Sheffield, but it was more a chance for me to ask questions and see the department than a strict interview (NOTHING like Oxford interviews which are terrifying and made me feel very very ignorant). Sheffield was not high on my list before I went, but ended up being my insurance choice. I did a dig with Sheffield uni over Easter and the staff were great, and the department sounds really good too (a lot bigger than Nottingham). I would second Ali's comment- be enthusiastic and show that you are committed to doing some work.
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ali
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Post by ali on Nov 6, 2006 18:23:45 GMT 1
Sheffield IS supposedly one of the top in the country, but it really depends what you want out of a course! For instance, Sheffield is really strong on prehistory, whereas Bradford has a really strong scientific focus. All departments have different focuses (foci?) depending on the staff they have. As Toby says, there's plenty of time, just make sure you try and visit everywhere and then see how you feel afterwards. Just go with your gut feeling!
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Laura
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Posts: 37
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Post by Laura on Nov 6, 2006 20:05:25 GMT 1
Wow thanks for all the response. I am quite interested in pre-history and have some experience working in those layers so that sounds good. Mind you I am interested in all areas really. I think I would like to keep my options quite broad for now (a reason why I am leaning away from Leicester, they only really offer greek and roman archaeology). Apart from that I need to think about where I would be happy to live so it's balancing all these factors that will be difficult. My interview is along with a tour and talks with hands on demonstrations which sounds interesting. Plus I will visit everywhere again to get a clearer idea. Thanks again though !
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keiths
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Post by keiths on Nov 7, 2006 17:08:38 GMT 1
Hi Laura,
I see that you have applied to York, I have just started there as a mature student, I can't tell you much about the interview/A level offer side of things as I went through a different route. However the department itself seems to be pretty well balanced, it was originally heavily Anglo-Saxon/Medieval but they have beefed up (if that's the right word) the pre-history side in the past few years. They are also fairly strong in bioarchaeology, buildings, and landscape archaeology. I guess that you already know a bit about York from the training dig but if you have any specific questions about the department let me know.
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Laura
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Posts: 37
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Post by Laura on Nov 9, 2006 14:32:31 GMT 1
Yay I got another offer yesterday this time from Leicester. Thanks for the info on York by the way but I doubt I will get an offer from there.
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lynne
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Post by lynne on Nov 10, 2006 10:02:03 GMT 1
Hi Laura
I'm at Leicester, I went in as mature student second year, If you want to ask any question Richard Thomas, is the best place to start he's the admissions tutor at present, and is very real helpful. Leicester have a good Prehistory, You just have to work around the Romans and Greeks, not my subject, It would depend on your degree course, mine is straight archaeology and this year only Romans in sight are in the ironage/roman in northern Europe, hope to avoid them completely next year. Have lived in or round Leicester all my life, so any thing you want to know about the area let me know ...Lynne
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P-Dawg
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Posts: 73
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Post by P-Dawg on Nov 11, 2006 18:40:27 GMT 1
Hey Laura,
I'm going through exactly the same waiting game! 3 unis have been very good to me so far, although one has told me not to expect to hear anything from them until March...tusk tusk...so I think it just depends on how each uni goes about its admissions process. As far as interviews go, I've got my first one in 4 days time (Argh!), so if yours is later then I could give you some idea as to how it went and what to expect, if you like?
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Laura
New Member
Posts: 37
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Post by Laura on Nov 13, 2006 1:03:44 GMT 1
Hey Laura, I'm going through exactly the same waiting game! 3 unis have been very good to me so far, although one has told me not to expect to hear anything from them until March...tusk tusk...so I think it just depends on how each uni goes about its admissions process. As far as interviews go, I've got my first one in 4 days time (Argh!), so if yours is later then I could give you some idea as to how it went and what to expect, if you like? Yeah that would be great thanks Good luck with it. Mine is on the 29th.
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