Proven tips for nailing your Oxbridge interviews
Interviews are an important component of the application process at Oxford and Cambridge.
However, one may ask why exactly the universities go through so much hassle to interview thousands of applicants a year when they already ask them to provide so much information (grades, references, personal statement, additional non-UCAS forms).
The reason?
Oxford and Cambridge rely heavily on close contact teaching, i.e. ‘tutorials’ for Oxford and ‘supervisions’ for Cambridge. These are one-hour sessions where the student discusses their work with an academic.
So, the academics want to make sure that the applicant is well-suited to such a method of teaching, enjoys challenging discussions, and deals well with situations in which their thinking is challenged.
The interview process at Oxbridge is handled by the college you apply/are allocated to, instead of the universities themselves conducting interviews in a centralised manner.
In other words, you will be staying at a college while you will be interviewed.
How to prepare?
Interviews are a genuine opportunity for you to shine and display your intellectual depth. Fortunately, it is not that difficult to be well prepared. Here are some key tips to keep in mind:
Go through your personal statement and try to think hard about all the implications of what you have written there. I made the mistake of writing plenty of sexy catchwords like ‘historiography’ and ‘subjectivity’ in my PS without thoroughly thinking about the different ways how they could be analysed and dissected. At the interview I was in for a proper grilling. Nevertheless, my predicament could be easily avoided by thoroughly thinking about everything you have included in your PS, concluding what is your personal opinion about them, and how you would justify such an opinion in a coherent and rigorous way.
Place yourself in the position of the interviewer. Remember that the interviewers always want the applicants to do as well as possible and they will definitely not ask you unanswerable ‘trick’ questions. However, one’s PS is only 500 words long and that usually gives the interviewer a lot of opportunities to ask you questions on it. Think about yourself as if the only things that you knew of your own life were based on the PS. What would you want to learn/know more about?
Reach out to a mentor. PA Finland has a substantial mentor pool both at Oxford and Cambridge. They will be very well placed to give you mock interviews and help you at any point of your application journey.
How to dress?
Some people like to dress formally. However, wearing a suit is usually not necessary. Smart casual would be the best guideline I’d give.
Travel to the UK
When booking flights, remember to schedule in enough time both before and after the interview so you will be able to travel to and from the airport without being in a rush.
Accommodation
Colleges accommodate applicants free of charge. You will also usually receive dining vouchers so you will be able to eat free of charge at the college’s dining hall.
At Oxford, the interview process takes several days so you will be offered 2-3 nights of accommodation. At Cambridge, the interviews typically take place during a single day and the applicants are offered only a single night of college accommodation (you would arrive the night before your interview).
Common tasks during an interview
Going through one’s personal statement. As mentioned above, discussing your PS will very likely take a substantial chunk of the time allocated for the interview. To make a good impression on the interviewer(s), make sure you know what you are talking about in your PS.
Going through one’s written work. There is some college to college variation in this but typically most colleges will ask you to send 1-2 examples of written work (e.g. timed essays, coursework). You will be well placed to work towards your own success in this interview component as you will have complete discretion over what to send them. Thus, make sure to send the college something that you know will provide a good basis for an engaging discussion. NB! In many cases this will NOT be an essay on which you will have received your best marks.
Analysing material that is handed out before the interview. I was given a handout to read before my first interview on a topic previously unknown to me. The interviewers usually do not expect anyone to have pre-existing knowledge on the material as the gist of the exercise is to see how one deals with new information- this might be a problem sheet for STEM applicants or an essay/primary source for prospective Arts students. As this is the most unpredictable component of the interview my best advice would be simply to try to relax and do your best. Remember that everyone else will be in the same position.
‘Tutorial interview’. This is sometimes there so the interviewers would get an opportunity to get to know you ‘as a person’. To prepare, think about what interests you outside school. Have you worked/volunteered somewhere interesting etc? Do you have any post-graduation plans or dreams?