Nikki - Philosophy

Name: Nikki Rettie
Subject: Philosophy
Year: 2nd
A-levels taken: Theatre Studies, Psychology, Maths, Further Maths

What does your working week entail?

I have around 7-10 lectures a week,
none of which are mandatory, one one hour discussion group, and a
supervision. The supervisions are one hour long sessions one on one with a
PHD student or member of the faculty. Each week I write an essay that is
handed in before the supervision and discussed within it. I read between
60-100 pages for the essay which has to be around 2000 words long.

How easy was the transition from A-level to the first year of your degree?

My first essay was terrible, but after that I quickly got into the swing of
things. The work load wasn't that big a step up, it just seems more as its
only for one subject instead of four. Lectures aren't that different to
classes at school because philosophy is such a small subject. Supervisions
were a very different experience, but not as intimidating as I thought they
would be. The exams in my first year were very like my A-level psychology
exams, so the transition there was very easy. I was used to writing three
essays in three hours and even used the same revision methods.

How easily can you fit social activities into your working week?

In first year it was very easy to fit social activities into my week. The main club
night here is Wednesdays, and I didn't miss one for work reasons. In second
year its a little bit harder as the work load goes up, but it's not
impossible. There is no reason why I wouldn't be able to go out twice a
week, more than that I just have to be smart with using my time well, and
not procrastinating.

What sort of things did you talk about in your interview?

I really didn't think that my interview had gone well. The first question I was asked was "If everything is predetermined or random how is there moral responsibility?",
I was then asked about some ethical dilemmas and questioned about things
I'd put on my personal statement. But to answer the question, I didn't
actually talk about anything. My main answer was "I don't know" to most
questions. Luckily for me there is also an exam part of the interview. I
found this much less stressful. It was in two parts. The first part was a
series of logic questions and the second was a more open essay question
about what it was for something to be beautiful.