Simon - Management Studies

Name: Simon Bartle
Subject: Management Studies
Year: 3rd


Quick intro - Management Studies is a course you can take in your final
year, whether you do it as a third year, or a fourth year (after completing
your degree). I transferred to Management Studies from History at the end of
my 2nd year. 

What does your working week entail?

Each week has around eight hours of lectures. In the first term these are
with all of the other Management Students (around 70 in total), and in the
second term you get to choose options. These involve one class every week,
where numbers range from six to fifty. For each subject (four per term), you
have to do an essay approximately once every two weeks, and they usually
fall nicely so that you don't have to do more than two in any one week.
Supervisions are in groups, and they are much more relaxed than in any other
subject; you get the chance to talk normally with your supervisor and talk
about what was in the news over the weekend as it is all relevant to the
course. There are also lots of case studies, so you are learning about
things that actually happen rather than facts and theories written just for
the sake of it. The weekly reading is usually something like a few case
studies (ten pages each) and backing these up with a chapter or two from a
textbook. 

How hard did you find the transition from A-level to the first year of your
degree?

Not applicable to management studies as I'd already completed two years at university, 

but the transition between history and management was enjoyable rather than particularly difficult.

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

Both History and Management Studies are quite flexible meaning

I have never had a problem with having to miss out on social
activties - this usually means football training, a football match, a few
other sports games, and going to the main student club nights (both ten
seconds from Christ's!) on Wednesdays and Sundays. Then there is the work on
the May Ball Committee, the JCR Committee, being Football Captain and going
to formal swaps with the Marguerites Club to fit in! The worst possible thing to believe is that
Cambridge means work, work, work - if that is your worry, then I can promise
you that you are wrong.

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

There was no Management Studies interview, just a form to fill in and the
requirement of getting a 2.i in your exams. Other people will write about
the History interview, but I just want to add that the interviews are not a test of how much of the course
you know already. In other words, the people who interview you want to make
sure you are the right kind of person (sociable, friendly, generally nice)
rather than to see whether you already know University level work off by
heart. Just relax and be yourself!