OXBRIDGE INVITES...

Got your invite? Time to give yourself a large pat on the back: Oxbridge has concluded that you are “a realistic candidate”, which means a hardworking and high achieving student. Less than 60 per cent of Oxford applicants and just over 80 per cent of Cambridge ones are interviewed, usually but not always at their chosen college.
 

Still, only about one in five of those who applied will be offered a place, so how can you further improve your odds?  Here’s a to-do list:
 

·         Check that you can knowledgeably talk about all the subject-related interests, books or maths problems you have mentioned in your UCAS statement. Dons know when you’re bluffing.  
 

·         Make sure you can understand, define, spell and confidently use the main subject terms. You don’t want to muddle up history with historiography, or diffraction with diffusion on that stressful day.
 

·         Try to be up-to-date on key developments in the subject area you have expressed an interest in. What, for instance, do we now know about the Higgs boson?
 

·         Be aware that we live in a changing world, as questions may touch on new challenges which subject experts are wrestling with.
 

·         Get used to expressing your personal views on a topic clearly and to giving reasons for them.
 

·         Practise looking at a problem of any kind from more than one single, narrow angle. 
 

·         Try speculating on why a scientific method, literary device or economic policy may (or may not) work.

 

·         Lastly, think why your chosen subject is important to you, others or humanity in general.
 

For more detailed interview advice, see chapters 10 and 11 of OXBRIDGE ENTRANCE: THE REAL RULES. *

                  
                    * - Note that the alleged downloads of this book offered online are
                                           invariably old, outdated  editions. Avoid!