<p>I study Classics at Oxford, and I want to give you an honest, detailed picture of the course, because "Classics at Oxford" can sound grand and vague until someone actually walks you through it. Oxford has the largest Classics department in the world, with excellent libraries and facilities, and the degree runs for four years, which is unusual for a humanities course in the UK.</p><p><strong>What the degree actually is</strong></p><p>Properly, it's called Literae Humaniores. It's a four-year course, and most versions involve both Latin and Greek, but you can apply without knowing either, because they'll teach you. The versions that involve both languages are:</p><ol><li>Course 1A, for those arriving with good knowledge, roughly A-level equivalent, of both Latin and Greek</li><li>Course 1B, for those with good Latin but not Greek</li><li>Course 1C, for those with good Greek but not Latin</li></ol><p>There are also routes that involve only one language, open only to those who haven't studied either to A-level or the equivalent:</p><ol><li>Course 2A, Latin only</li><li>Course 2B, Greek only</li></ol><p><strong>Mods and Greats</strong></p><p>The degree has two sets of exams: one after five terms, called Mods, and one after twelve, called Greats. Mods focuses on language-based work, literature, translation and prose composition, with a little philosophy, philology and ancient history, and it culminates in ten three-hour exams that are often thought among the hardest in the world. Greats then opens things right up. You're allowed to study archaeology, modern and classical philosophy, ancient history, all kinds of literature, even the impact of classical texts on modern poetry. Having that range inside a single degree is genuinely thrilling.</p><p><strong>The weekly reality when you start</strong></p><p>When you begin, you typically write one essay a week, around 2,000 words with a considerable reading list, while also preparing books of Homer and Virgil so you can translate them freely. There's language work on top, especially for 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B students, who usually get intensive teaching so they can compose and translate Latin and Greek. You're expected to do significant amounts of work in the holidays too, mostly reading original texts. So it's fairly hard: a weekly tutorial, often one-on-one with a tutor, a language class or two, a smattering of lectures, and a lot of work in your own time, including over the vacations. But the texts you'll be reading are excellent. In your first couple of years you focus on Homer and Virgil, two of the most outstanding epic poets of all time, and later you can study anything from Byzantine literature to post-Kantian philosophy to gender in the ancient world. It's a brilliant, difficult degree that lets you stay a generalist for a while inside the specialised UK degree system.</p><p><strong>What's special about it, beyond the name value</strong></p><p>The real value is that it introduces you to different modes of thinking. It trains you to think as a philosopher, a historian and a student of literature. Ancient Greece and Rome were particularly fertile centres of intellectual and military activity, which makes them fascinating in their own right. So beyond being intrinsically worth studying, Classics gives you a rich, wide-ranging set of skills: close analysis, problem-solving, imagination, clarity, and joy.</p><p><strong>A typical week</strong></p><p>After your first term, expect to research and write two different 2,000-word essays each week, in two different areas. On top of that you'll have weekly tutorials in each subject you take, usually one-on-one or two-on-one with tutors, and you'll be reading through the set texts constantly in your own time. You'll only have one or two lectures a week, and most of your time will be spent in a library.</p><p>Outside academics, Oxford is what you make of it. There's an enormous range of societies you can join. A large one is the Oxford Union, which invites top-quality speakers each week and is apparently a good place to network. I've focused more on the thespian side of things, mostly writing and producing shows, especially musicals. I also play football each week for my college team, and there's a huge variety of sport on offer, right down to Quidditch.</p><p><strong>What about international students?</strong></p><p>If you're wondering whether you'd fit in coming from abroad, there's a decent number of Korean, Chinese and Singaporean students, though I couldn't give you an accurate figure. It's certainly enough that it's completely normal, and an Asian student wouldn't remotely stand out. In my year, an Asian undergraduate won every available prize in Mods.</p><p><strong>Careers after Classics</strong></p><p>Truthfully, Classics equips you for just about every career that doesn't require a specialised degree, like becoming a doctor. Classicists often do law conversions and become lawyers, frequently go into teaching, and also head into business, the public sector, NGOs and similar. Oxford requests that you don't do internships or take jobs over the holidays, on the grounds that your vacation work shouldn't leave time for it, though it's not uncommon for people to flout that. Heavy recruiting during your degree is more of a US phenomenon than a UK one.</p><p><strong>What it's like living in Oxford</strong></p><p>Beautiful, expensive, enjoyable, with great facilities, colleges often have endowments larger than some entire universities. You can cycle everywhere. It can be isolating if you don't involve yourself in extra-curricular life, so it's worth throwing yourself in. Food varies. Most people live in student houses at some point, though some colleges, like Magdalen, let you live in all the way through. Everything is old, pretty and made of stone, and there's a lot of grass.</p><p><strong>Final thoughts</strong></p><p>Classics at Oxford is demanding and wonderfully wide-ranging, and the beginner routes mean you don't need Latin or Greek to start. If you're drawn to a degree that keeps you a generalist a little longer and trains you to think across several disciplines at once, it's hard to beat. If you'd like help applying, including the from-scratch language routes, Oxbridge Solution can guide you through it.</p>