Hi, my name is Luke, and I am a finalist in the four-year course from Hartlepool in the north-east of England. I originally applied for French and German, but once I realised that I did not need to have prior knowledge of Latin or Greek, I switched to Classics. I am glad that I made this change in subject at Christ’s - a particularly rewarding place to study Classics at Cambridge, with a number of supervisors working in a broad range of fields. Though I have decided to take papers in literature alongside an art historical thesis for my final year, Christ’s has provided me with more comprehensive supervision than almost any other college could offer. Whether it’s Carrie for art and archaeology, Gábor for philosophy, or Henry and Matt for literature and textual criticism, the fellows and supervisors at Christ’s offer an unparalleled breadth of experience
With regard to my experience as a four-year Classicist, I would also recommend Christ’s in the strongest possible terms. Though the Faculty’s reading groups and language classes remain useful in the prelim year, I found that I made the most progress in the ancient languages through the small-group teaching arranged by Christ’s, and this is not something that every College will arrange to the same extent. If you are in doubt about taking the four-year degree, know that Christ’s is a safe bet for high-quality language supervision.
I would also like to talk briefly about the financial support available to Classicists at Christ’s. I received full funding from Christ’s to go to Rome for five days, having never visited the classical lands before, and there are very few colleges that will offer this level of financial support to undergraduates. If there were any other reason to apply here apart from the intellectual stimulation that Classics at Christ’s offers, this would be it.
