The Student Room Group

Fast Stream 2012

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Reply 2000
Original post by undergradstudent
How do they assess whether you mix with diverse enough people? I'm just imagining an interviewer asking you to describe all your friends and any diverse things about them! :redface:


I suspect that this is something where older applicants such as myself would likely find it much easier to provide examples, and indeed where someone who's gone through the state education system and not ended up in one of the top unis may also find themselves better able to provide examples.

Saying that though, just having done a part time job in McDonalds or something ought to give you plenty of examples to use. And diversity isn't just about race or nationality, its also about socio-economic background, religion and so on.

In my instance just having kids at school brings me into contact with families from pretty much all over the world with all sorts of backgrounds. Of course where we live there is a tendency towards various professions, but some parents are chefs from Poland, the odd doctor from Iran, a Spanish IT project manager, Jewish families, Indian families, Japanese families, a whole swathe of families with one parent who's white British and one from say Croatia or British Asian, the Caribbean, Africa and so on...

It certainly makes it a challenge when you've got kids coming round for an after school play-date and tea that don't eat pork and have various allergies as my cullinary repertoire isn't exactly vast...


Of course I wouldn't suggest having kids as a way of increasing your chances at the FSAC, but so long as I remember it should help me at least this time around...
Original post by obamtl
I think indirectly, building productive relationships, vis-a-vis building a rapport with your group members before the activities start helps. The good thing is that IF your are not complacent, with a 16.2, you should do well next year. Many successful candidates have done it twice or more.


Agreed, but for disabled candidates it's not quite as straightforward as that. We get pulled out at the start to a separate room and our breaks differ to the main group. I turned up quite late to my FSAC, around 8:10 and the first time I met my group was at the Group Exercise itself. It was also the last time I saw anybody in my group if I recall correctly.
Original post by richardp2020
Agreed, but for disabled candidates it's not quite as straightforward as that. We get pulled out at the start to a separate room and our breaks differ to the main group. I turned up quite late to my FSAC, around 8:10 and the first time I met my group was at the Group Exercise itself. It was also the last time I saw anybody in my group if I recall correctly.

I agree with you, but luckily there was someone else in my group who was also disabled, and I had already met another person in my group before we were separated!
Reply 2003
Through for TiB. Have read my FSAC report - it is all accurate, and I do agree with it all. Made for interesting reading.
No more results today then? I'm going to be so devastated if I survive til the end then get a no. :frown:
Reply 2005
Original post by F6053721
No more results today then? I'm going to be so devastated if I survive til the end then get a no. :frown:


I know what you mean, but i'm still not expecting to get through after being rejected from HOP earlier in the process. The most frustrating thing is that I now know regardless of result that i'm this close to being successful, and in a way i'd rather have been a way off passing rather than being the likely borderline fail that i'm sure I am.
Original post by cha4zz
I know what you mean, but i'm still not expecting to get through after being rejected from HOP earlier in the process. The most frustrating thing is that I now know regardless of result that i'm this close to being successful, and in a way i'd rather have been a way off passing rather than being the likely borderline fail that i'm sure I am.


Feels like if get a no now, then I've gone through weeks of torturous waiting for nothing!
Reply 2007
Original post by HLS
Through for TiB. Have read my FSAC report - it is all accurate, and I do agree with it all. Made for interesting reading.


Congrats. When's your FSB? Mine is on the 17th.
Reply 2008
Original post by F6053721
Feels like if get a no now, then I've gone through weeks of torturous waiting for nothing!


When did you have your FSAC? Had mine on 31st January so I know the pain of the waiting process.
Original post by cha4zz
When did you have your FSAC? Had mine on 31st January so I know the pain of the waiting process.


Wow. I've only been waiting 4 weeks! That's long enough. I couldn't handle since January!
Has anyone who has been successful for HR found out what department they are assigned to?

For those waiting good luck hopefully this will be the lat week of waiting to hear!
Reply 2011
Original post by F6053721
No more results today then? I'm going to be so devastated if I survive til the end then get a no. :frown:



Original post by cha4zz
When did you have your FSAC? Had mine on 31st January so I know the pain of the waiting process.


Mine was on 12th Jan, I'll be devastated if I wait this long and then get a no!
Good things come to those who wait...hopefully :smile:
Well hopefully we'll know by the end of next week... maybe even at the start of next week!
Reply 2013
Original post by obamtl
Congrats. When's your FSB? Mine is on the 17th.


Mine's the week after. I am surprised I got through since the interview went terribly. I expect the next one will be similarly tough.
Original post by lovers in japan
Well hopefully we'll know by the end of next week... maybe even at the start of next week!


did you see my previous post? The woman at parity said if you were unsuccessful for DS and are waiting on HoP theres no point waiting and you should just take central dept because theyre only taking on a tiny number of people and only those who put HoP as number one choice :smile:
Reply 2015
About diversity:

I just wanted to say that even if it seems that everyone where you live, study or work is of a similar background to you, there will still be diversity in the group.

For example, they may

have married early

have a different family set-up from most

have children or not, if everyone else has

have disabilities (hidden or otherwise)

be lefthanded

be tattooed, dress differently

have practices that deviate from the mainstream (whatever they may be).



You can imagine that this is not anywhere near complete a list as you would compile of the diversities within your groups of colleagues, acquaintances etc, knowing them as you do. When I think of diversity, I don't just think of inner-city multi-culti type stuff, I think of all the ways in which people are different and individual. I would think that if you consider the mundane differences you may well be taking for granted, and how you adapt to them, you will present what anyone might perceive as a very credible answer to the diversity question.
Original post by ellie_flower
did you see my previous post? The woman at parity said if you were unsuccessful for DS and are waiting on HoP theres no point waiting and you should just take central dept because theyre only taking on a tiny number of people and only those who put HoP as number one choice :smile:

I rang them today and they told me to hold on for FSB. I haven't been told I'm through or anything but I was told to wait.
Reply 2017
Original post by Evidza
About diversity:

I just wanted to say that even if it seems that everyone where you live, study or work is of a similar background to you, there will still be diversity in the group.

For example, they may

have married early

have a different family set-up from most

have children or not, if everyone else has

have disabilities (hidden or otherwise)

be lefthanded

be tattooed, dress differently

have practices that deviate from the mainstream (whatever they may be).





I agree with your general meaning that diversity comes in many shapes and forms but I think if you answered the interviewers question by saying that you have experience with lots of people who are left handed he/she may not be too impressed :biggrin:
I've never been asked that question on either of the times I've attended the FSAC, I guess I've always opened the interview with the fact I've lived abroad though, so it's a given that I've encountered diversity. Based on that you could spend hours and hours gaining experience and the interviewers brushing it over like they did with me :biggrin:
Reply 2019
Ok, got an hour to shower, walk there and hopefully turn some paperclips into cuff links... Typically I left mine at home despite checking my bag umpteen times. So lesson learnt, write a packing list well in advance...

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