GOT AN OXBRIDGE INTERVIEW ?

 

If that letter with the college arms is an invite to your Oxbridge interview, feel free to congratulate yourself. Oxbridge has concluded that you are “a realistic candidate”, i.e. a hard-working and high achieving student. Just over half of Oxford applicants are interviewed, partly on the strength of pre-interview test results. At Cambridge, the proportion is over 70 per cent. Since  applicants vastly outnumber places, many of those turned down are excellent students, too, and will doubtlessly shine elsewhere.

 

Having named the day for the lucky ones, meanwhile, Oxbridge dons hope to be presented with the fruits  of real academic effort. While an ability to do well in tests, think coherently and express yourself counts for much, wise applicants therefore raise their  game a little further. Here are some of the best ways to do so:

 

·       Try to re-read any book(s) you mentioned in your UCAS statement, this time focusing on methods rather than findings or facts. How exactly did Gregor Mendel discover the genetic basis of heredity? How might you research the lives of illiterate, long deal people?

 

·       A student aiming for a course requiring him or her to solve maths problems may want to practise explaining how they arrived at the solution. It is not enough to just present the interviewer with it.  

 

·       Make sure, too, that you can understand, define, spell and confidently use the main subject terms. You don’t want to muddle up a reactant with a reagent on that long, stressful day.

 

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

 

·       What can be helpful, too, is a willingness to speculate when faced with an unfamiliar scenario. The idea is to draw on what you know, but also use your imagination (or an appropriate calculation) . What would have happened if Churchill had died in 1939? Why might an economic theory not work in real life?  

 

Lastly, keep in mind that a good answer to an interview question often requires you to look at a problem from more than one single, narrow angle.

 

You’ll find links to articles which will help you give such academic answers   in my tweets @oxbridgentrance. For advice on how to do well in all aspects of the interview, read  OXBRIDGE ENTRANCE: THE REAL RULES*, available for next-day delivery from Amazon.

 

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*   As Oxbridge entrance rules frequently change, applicants need to read the current, 2014 edition of this guide. The alleged downloads of this book are at best extracts of old. outdated editions. Avoid!