- Interviews at Oxford and Cambridge
are slightly different interviews at other universities.
They're really really testing you
to see if you're the right person for that college.
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When they decide who to interview,
they're going to be looking at your predicted grades.
They're going to look at your personal statement,
your references, and for Cambridge,
the supplementary additional questionnaire as well.
And if you are invited,
these interviews happen the first set of interviews
and they happen the first three weeks of December.
These are interviews within the college
that you have applied to or the college
you've been allocated to if you've made an open application.
And the subject tutor, the director of studies,
the person in the college who is actually responsible
for the teaching of that course within the college
is going to be the person leading the main interview.
You may get a second interview or a third interview
with the general director of studies,
the general admissions tutor for that college as well.
The exact details are going to vary every so slightly
depending on which college and which subject
you apply to.
So keep it between one and three interviews,
and they could last between 20 and 45 minutes.
You could have a more academic and subject-based one,
and then you might have a more general one as well.
If you get invited for interview,
you will be given details of exactly what to expect
so it won't be a surprise when you arrive there on the day.
Some subjects are gonna ask you to do a written test
on the day, and that will be the same day
as you have your interview.
The main interview, the subject, the academic interview,
is more gonna be like a conversation about the subject.
It's really gonna be in the style of tutorials
or supervisions at Oxford and Cambridge.
So that the admissions tutor can really see
whether you're going to be suited to academic life there.
The questions are gonna be based around your subject,
but they're not always going to be straightforward.
And the admissions tutor isn't going to expect you
to have covered this in school.
They're not going to expect you to know
what the answer is straight away.
They're interested in talking through the problems with you.
They're interested in how you get from point A to point B.
So your thinking, your logic,
how you work things out in your head
is what they're really really interested in.
How you apply logic, how you bring in different bits
of your wider subject knowledge,
and maybe apply slightly different things,
things that you hadn't thought go together before,
to solving one problem.
If you don't understand something,
then just ask the tutor to explain it to you.
This isn't a test on how well you know everything.
It's more logic, it's more can you think things.
They know people are gonna come
from very very different backgrounds,
have different education experiences,
so it's not about how much you know
because your grades will show that.
This is all about your thinking, your logic,
how your mind works and what you are like as a person.
Something that may not come through in your grades
or in your personal statements.
The questions aren't going to be trick questions.
They're not designed to trip you up,
but they are going to be tricky questions.
You're going to need to show that you can apply logic,
bring different things together,
and that you can adapt to changing situations,
that you can adapt quickly and assimilate new information
and deal with it without getting flustered.
They can ask you questions about the subject
you've applied for, the wider subject area,
or things you've written in your personal statement.
So it's a really good idea to go over
your personal statement again,
look at any notes you've made from your work experience,
look at any notes you've made
that you've passed on to your teachers about things
that you're really really interested in.
And it's really important you don't lie
in your personal statement.
The interview style is going to be very very similar
to the teaching style within the college.
So not only is it a chance for the college to see
whether you're suited for it,
but whether you are suited to it as well.
It's gonna be very very intense,
possibly very very intimidating situation.
And if you are accepted to the college,
you're going to be going through these tutorials,
supervisions, weekly basis,
and if you don't like it,
now is the time to work it out.
They may ask you to stay for more than one day
for the interviews.
For Oxford they may send you for a second college
for an interview if you might be reallocated
and placed somewhere else.
They may send you to a certain college
if they're oversubscribed to that subject
or if they think you're a good candidate
but not quite the right fit for the college.
Oxford do it all in one day.
Cambridge put you into pool system
and do a second interview day in January.
Being put into the pool or being sent
to a different college for an interview
doesn't give you any indication about which college
is going to offer you a place,
whether you're going to get a place or not,
or where you're going to end up.
Depending on how long you're expected to stay,
most colleges will offer you accommodation
and meals and some circumstances they will reimburse
you for travel as well.
If you're an overseas student,
there are lots of overseas locations,
lots of overseas tutors who do the Oxford and Cambridge
interviews over there.
Down below I'm gonna link to a load of books
that I think are really really good preparation,
not necessarily ones that are aimed at getting
you into Oxford or Cambridge,
because those are a bit general,
everyone's going to have read those,
but ones that are more about thinking outside the box,
approaching things in different situations,
and give you really really good insights
into the type of questions and the type of thinking
they are going to expect from you at interview.
So good luck guys.
It's gonna be really really tricky,
but if you get in, it's all going to be worth it.
Ouch.
This is why in some videos I have unexplained scratches.
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