Hi, I'm Amaka
and I'm Savanna, and we're going to talk to you about what to expect at your interview.
Your interview at Cambridge will be exploring your
understanding and knowledge of your chosen subject area.
Your interviewers are trying to see how you think and how successful you'd be on your degree.
You should have already had a think about how you're going to set up and
tested your tech in preparation for the interview.
Have a look at our other video for more advice on how to prepare.
On the day join the interview at
the specified time using the link sent from your College.
Okay, so now we're set up let's get started.
You will enter a digital waiting room and the interviewers will let you in when they
are ready.
There will be one, two, or three interviewers and there may also be an observer who will have their camera and microphone off.
You should expect your interview to be a challenging academic discussion.
And so we're going to actually talk about species and factors that affect sort of where
they are in the world. And so if you could just start us off to get us sort of thinking in the
right area with some ideas about factors that affect where a species might thrive.
So I guess some factors to think about would be the biodiversity in the area,
and considering what other species might be around, and
the weather as well, what nutrition there is around to allow species to thrive.
Make sure you listen carefully to the questions and feel free to ask your
interviewers to repeat the question or clarify if you don't understand.
I'm sorry do you mind repeating that please?
No of course let me, what I might do is just share my screen
to give you a diagram which might help.
You may be asked questions about any pre-submitted work you sent in as
part of your application and about things you included in your personal statement.
So Amaka, I've been reading your personal statement and I see
that you have interests in economics and psychology.
Thinking about how that relates to computer science and in particular,
a problem the world has a moment spam email and phishing email.
Why do you think there is so much
spam email and phishing emails flying around in the world at the moment?
The interviewer may share information using the
chat function, screen share or interactive whiteboard.
For science-based subjects you'll probably be asked to work through a series of problems.
Okay, so this is what I think is for the intermediary. Can you see that?
Okay yeah. And do you think that intermediate would be stable?
No it wouldn't be stable. There's
too many carbon bonds, the number of carbon bonds would make it unstable, so you need
to break the carbon chlorine bond and take out the chlorine to make it a more stable intermediary.
So could you sketch down what the next steps would be in this mechanism
and what the final product would look like?
So I think what would happen is,
so this is what I've drawn. I think for the mechanism and the final reaction.
Okay yeah, I can see what you've done there,
that's good, great thank you.
For the arts, humanities and social science subjects you may be given a passage of text to read
or other material relevant to the course you've applied for.
In all your answers, show your working or talk through your thought process, so the interviewers
can assess your critical thinking skills.
Because it's a technical interview we are going to be asking you to write things on paper with a pen and paper,
and I know you've got a webcam there, so if you can possibly tilt your webcam
down now so that we're looking at the piece of paper that you might write on.
That's absolutely fine, okay, and we'll tell you if we can't quite see what you're writing. We'll
tell you to just move down a little bit and don't worry about the fact it's upside down
that's no problem at all.
If we then combine that
with what you said earlier about the factors that determine whether a species can thrive,
can you think of any things that might be important or might have helped
a particular fish be successful in the Caribbean?
I guess it would need obviously the right
ecosystem around it, a good source and regular source of food as well as
the correct temperatures of the water, and so they'll be able to thrive there.
I guess as well you could think about pollution levels. Obviously around Florida,
it's a quite populous area and that could affect the water quality and therefore affect how
a different species maybe might thrive more in that area compared to the indigenous species
there due to the changes from pollution. Could be something to consider.
Even if you are unsure of the answer talk through what you do know and the interviewers will give
you pointers to help you in the right direction.
It's a good idea to have a pen and paper available for making notes or to use if the whiteboard function doesn't work.
Remember, the interviewers want you to do well. They'll take notes during your interview
to help them remember you and your answers. If you have technical difficulties at any
point during the interview, stay calm and explain what's happening.
Try reconnecting and if that doesn't work call the College admissions team.
You should have their contact details to hand just in case.
That's all for now. You can expect to hear from us around about mid-January, and with a follow-up,
but otherwise thank you very much for your time and we hope you have a good day.
Thank you Savanna. Thanks, bye. Bye.
Okay, so at the end of your interview you'll have time to ask any questions
if you have any but don't worry if you don't.
The main things to remember are to be yourself, to talk through your thinking, and to show enthusiasm for your subject.
We wish you the best for your interview, good luck.