Hi! I’m Huw and I study geography at St Catherine’s College, Oxford. Geography was ideal for me as there is so much breadth to the subject – this term I have written essays on future political forms, general circulation systems in the atmosphere and the individual identities associated with transnationalism and migration – so you can go wherever you want with it in future.
The workload, in comparison to other subjects, is in my experience relatively light. There are between 6-8 lectures a week, with one or two classes and a tutorial. The whole subject is quite reading-intensive, with an essay a week on average. Each essay takes quite a while to put together, around 12 hours reading and 4 hours planning and writing for me at least. The tutorial essays are set up to be an opportunity for you to explore one particular part of the course in depth, and for every topic the complexity of the arguments means there is real freedom to go wherever you want with the readings. In the first year, the course is mainly about introducing the topics and techniques that are likely to be used in future years – a human methods course and a module on statistics in the first term, with a physical methods course in the second, in preparation for fieldwork in both human and physical geography fieldwork later on in the year. The point of this year is to get everyone on a similar level in terms of knowledge of techniques and the basic theory, and to work out which options you might want to choose in future. For me personally, I came in to the course very much a human geographer, but I would say I’ve definitely developed more of an interest in climate change and the physical environment because, and I should probably stress this, it’s not just rocks and maps – though that is part of it!
My interview was, as you’ll hear elsewhere I’m sure, a lot more relaxed than I was expecting. The tutors at Catz at least are really nice, more than anything else they want to give you the opportunity to show how you think and what you can do. Maybe the difficulty (but also a massive positive) with interviews is that pretty much any question could relate to geography in some way, so I wouldn’t advise preparing precise questions. I wasn’t asked anything about my personal statement in either interview – we had one for physical and one for human and in each there were 4 or 5 broader topics. For each topic the tutor will ask a question which they don’t necessarily expect you to come up with the right answer for, they just want to know how you might go about tackling a question that would take a good amount of research to properly answer. Really don’t worry if you feel like you haven’t immediately got the right answer to a certain question, take it step by step from the obvious details of whatever you are being asked about or shown (tutors used a diagram, the front cover of a report and a map of the world with some natural phenomenon mapped on it in my interview). Simple observations can allow you to build from there and make connections between them, just saying something is better than staying silent so you can let the tutor know you are engaging with the topic. If they see you struggling, as happened to me a couple of times, they’ll direct you towards the area they would like you to talk about, and from there it might become clearer. More than anything else, just keep talking them through what you are thinking!
Geography at Oxford is so broad that you can do whatever you want with it. I’ve loved getting to look at some really interesting topics with people who really know what they’re talking about – the lecturers especially are likely to be some of the most knowledgeable people around on their particular topic, and it does still seem slightly strange to be referencing a lecturer’s academic paper in a tutorial essay! I’d encourage, in preparation for applying, just reading anything you are interested in – the chances are it will be related to geography in some way. Also, once you’re here the opportunities around the course to get involved with whatever interests you are brilliant, I’d definitely recommend watching the Oxford Climate Society’s events for a taster! If you’re interested in global affairs and issues, the natural world, geopolitics, or anything like that, Oxford geography is for you.