It was just over a month or so ago now that I stood outside the school library, one almost reminiscent of Oxford's Bodeleian, ready to embark on the rather surreal experience that was the Eton College Universities Summer School- and it's this very experience that I aim to share with you today, something which I hope will be useful as I know that there isn't a great deal online about it. For once I think I'm going to cut out the rambling, so as usual feel free to leave any comments down below and I hope you find this an interesting (or at the very least informative) read!
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T H E B A S I C S
If there's one piece of advice that I could give to any Year 11 students here, it's to spend at least a little bit of time looking into the whole university affair. Granted, that sounds a little bit absurd considering you haven't yet even gotten back your results- but if it wasn't for me researching ways in which I could bolster my knowledge of my subject and ameliorate a prospective university application, I know I wouldn't have been able to do half of the things that I've done this year! In fact, it was doing said research that I stumbled across a YouTube video from Viola Helen where she mentioned attending the Eton Summer School and I was instantly intrigued. Eton Summer School, in the words of this year's application brochure, "is a ten-day residential course for pupils at the end of their first year in the Sixth Form. Applicants should have the intention of going to a British university and be of the calibre of those applying for admission to Oxford or Cambridge. As far as possible the course supplements normal school work and avoids the topics covered during Advanced Level teaching. The aim is to provide an intensive and exciting programme to enrich the intellectual experience of those participating and to give them the opportunity to exchange ideas with able students with similar interests from other schools"- and that's a summary which, in my opinion, hits the nail on the head.
Contrary to other summer school programmes, Eton Summer School is not means tested and this year's fee was £475- but it is important to mention that this cost was subsidised and there was an opportunity for the fee to be remitted if you did not have the means of paying it yourself. This fee includes everything from accommodation to food to potential trips.
The programmes offered this year included: Mathematics; Mathematics with Physics; Mathematics with Chemistry; Physics with Chemistry; Chemistry with Biology; English; History; Politics and Economics; Geography; French; Classics. To provide you with a bit of context, I think it's probably useful to mention that I did the French course and was accepted with GCSE grades 8A* 3A (4 8's and 4 9's, with a 9 in French).
Contrary to other summer school programmes, Eton Summer School is not means tested and this year's fee was £475- but it is important to mention that this cost was subsidised and there was an opportunity for the fee to be remitted if you did not have the means of paying it yourself. This fee includes everything from accommodation to food to potential trips.
The programmes offered this year included: Mathematics; Mathematics with Physics; Mathematics with Chemistry; Physics with Chemistry; Chemistry with Biology; English; History; Politics and Economics; Geography; French; Classics. To provide you with a bit of context, I think it's probably useful to mention that I did the French course and was accepted with GCSE grades 8A* 3A (4 8's and 4 9's, with a 9 in French).
A T Y P I C A L D A Y, W H A T W A S C O V E R E D E T C .
Although the application brochure had a rough outline of a typical day, what I really would've liked to have seen upon applying is a complete sample programme- so that's what I decided I'd share with you here! The programme listed for Friday was, with the exception of a few days, what we followed for the majority of the course- and I thought I'd show you this page on purpose to explain some of these exceptions.
For most days of the Summer School, we would have three Specialist Course Sessions. The content of these sessions of course depends upon your subject so if you're interested in anything particular other than French, feel free to DM me on Instagram (@gabijabarkute) and I can try to put you in contact with somebody from that particular course! For French specifically, our sessions consisted of a mix between grammar and literary analysis which followed on from the preparatory work we had done the night before after supper. In terms of grammar, we followed a booklet which would be given to Etonians for their French Pre-U which goes into excruciating depth on every aspect of grammar that you could possibly imagine and after reading up on a particular assigned topic, we would complete some practice exercises to reinforce the knowledge and prepare for a short test the next day. As for the literary work, we managed to cover two texts (L'Avare and Thérèse Desqueyroux) and would usually go through, discuss and analyse the parts of the text which we had read the night before. I have to say, the workload was definitely a shock to the system- not just for French, either- and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I was up until 12-2am most nights still working. That being said, although difficult at first, I found this aspect of the course to be incredibly rewarding afterwards (I never thought I'd be able to say that I'd read a French play in two days!) and I feel it definitely taught me how to work more efficiently and how to have greater discipline in order to do so.
Aside from the Specialist Course Sessions, we would usually have a tutorial wherein we could discuss any pressing issues we had in small groups (as well as the whole matter of university applications) and also a lecture wherein the entire Summer School would gather and listen to a variety of topics such as the value of modern art being discussed. Between that we would have various points where we could grab something to eat/drink/socialise as well as recreation, where we would usually have a choice of around 4 activities that we could sign up for as a bit of a de-stress; these included: dodgeball, rounders, swimming, bracelet making and going for a walk. Although perhaps not being as free as anticipated, I ended up quite enjoying these activities because what really made and got me through the experience was the people around me!
Sunday was entirely different as there were no Specialist Course Sessions and you simply signed up for an activity to do for the entire day, these included: debating, water sports, drama and so forth. As you will see in the timetable, Saturday was also slightly different due to the disco that took place- something which was certainly a highlight for me, it's not everyday you get to say that you were in a mosh pit at Eton! In addition to the disco, Saturday provided a great university focus to the Summer School and we had the opportunity to discuss the whole matter with Oxbridge tutors as well as the undergraduates that also supported us through the course- for me this was definitely one of the most helpful aspects of the course and I got some brilliant feedback from others' questions as I did my own! What was also particularly nice was 'Speeches' which took place on the penultimate day, a little bit like Eton's-Got-Talent if you will, as well as the farewell supper. Admittedly, due to the regimented nature of the activities and timetable, it didn't feel as if there was all that much down-time and this was something which I know a lot of people including me found particularly difficult in the first few days- but after that little rough patch, you definitely begin to pick up the pace and get the best out of the programme!
Aside from the Specialist Course Sessions, we would usually have a tutorial wherein we could discuss any pressing issues we had in small groups (as well as the whole matter of university applications) and also a lecture wherein the entire Summer School would gather and listen to a variety of topics such as the value of modern art being discussed. Between that we would have various points where we could grab something to eat/drink/socialise as well as recreation, where we would usually have a choice of around 4 activities that we could sign up for as a bit of a de-stress; these included: dodgeball, rounders, swimming, bracelet making and going for a walk. Although perhaps not being as free as anticipated, I ended up quite enjoying these activities because what really made and got me through the experience was the people around me!
Sunday was entirely different as there were no Specialist Course Sessions and you simply signed up for an activity to do for the entire day, these included: debating, water sports, drama and so forth. As you will see in the timetable, Saturday was also slightly different due to the disco that took place- something which was certainly a highlight for me, it's not everyday you get to say that you were in a mosh pit at Eton! In addition to the disco, Saturday provided a great university focus to the Summer School and we had the opportunity to discuss the whole matter with Oxbridge tutors as well as the undergraduates that also supported us through the course- for me this was definitely one of the most helpful aspects of the course and I got some brilliant feedback from others' questions as I did my own! What was also particularly nice was 'Speeches' which took place on the penultimate day, a little bit like Eton's-Got-Talent if you will, as well as the farewell supper. Admittedly, due to the regimented nature of the activities and timetable, it didn't feel as if there was all that much down-time and this was something which I know a lot of people including me found particularly difficult in the first few days- but after that little rough patch, you definitely begin to pick up the pace and get the best out of the programme!
T H E P R O S & T H E C O N S
Let's start with the cons first- there weren't all that many of them, so let's get the few negative snippets over and done with! As mentioned above, the workload was very intense and there wasn't a lot of downtime so I did find myself struggling mentally the first couple of days. That being said, there were an abundance of support systems in place- whether it be your tutorial sessions or speaking to the undergraduates as they came to check on you prior to going to bed. Additionally, the programme was a little more regimented than I thought it would be- particularly in terms of recreational activities and not being able to go to the High Street- but considering there were 130 students on the Summer School, that's fairly understandable.
In terms of the pros, the greatest without a shadow of doubt is the academic expertise that you have access to- which, after all, is what you're there for. Not to delve too greatly into it, but there have been various reasons as to why I've found A-Level French to be a real challenge and the Summer School got me to think about the subject in an entirely new light, showing me that there was so much I had yet to know and invigorating a fire in me once again. In addition to that, I found the experience to be invaluable on a personal development front too- not only giving me more confidence in knowing that I have the skill-set and knowledge to apply for a languages degree, but also on the whole social front given than I'm naturally more on the reserved side! As I think I've mentioned above, I think the experience has also made me a lot more disciplined and resilient. Finally, I would say that the third major pro was the people; I've come out of the Summer School with an amazing set of friends, but in general the atmosphere was lovely because everybody was in the same boat of being hard-working and passionate about their subject- but nobody was stuck-up and in general people were a lot more relaxed than I thought they'd be!
Needless to say, if you liked what you heard (or rather, read) and you're currently in Year 11 now, I could not recommend applying enough- and please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any more questions!
In terms of the pros, the greatest without a shadow of doubt is the academic expertise that you have access to- which, after all, is what you're there for. Not to delve too greatly into it, but there have been various reasons as to why I've found A-Level French to be a real challenge and the Summer School got me to think about the subject in an entirely new light, showing me that there was so much I had yet to know and invigorating a fire in me once again. In addition to that, I found the experience to be invaluable on a personal development front too- not only giving me more confidence in knowing that I have the skill-set and knowledge to apply for a languages degree, but also on the whole social front given than I'm naturally more on the reserved side! As I think I've mentioned above, I think the experience has also made me a lot more disciplined and resilient. Finally, I would say that the third major pro was the people; I've come out of the Summer School with an amazing set of friends, but in general the atmosphere was lovely because everybody was in the same boat of being hard-working and passionate about their subject- but nobody was stuck-up and in general people were a lot more relaxed than I thought they'd be!
Needless to say, if you liked what you heard (or rather, read) and you're currently in Year 11 now, I could not recommend applying enough- and please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any more questions!
