Interview prep - who's panicking??

Ok, so... loads of people seem really confident for interviews.
Anyone else feeling like me? I'm massively stressed over just how much stuff we have to know! I'm applying to cam so in addition to all the work ex qs I'm likely to get loads on science.
So far I need to revise/think of/just look at:
- all the normal qs like why I want to be a vet, why I like the specific courses etc
- AS level stuff
- all the A2 topics until Christmas
- everything I've seen at work experience - and I'm really worried cause I didn't make that detailed notes at the time. Also, loads of cases you see some of but not enough to comment on? So in terms of interesting cases I haven't seen many, lots of the places I've been to have been small practices and any interesting cases never seem to come in when I'm there. Not that it hasn't been interesting - but not many specific examples of whole cases.
- everything in my personal statement :s-smilie:

- any common diseases like TB etc...
- all the vaccinations, wormings etc (I've heard we need to know these!)

Anyway, anyone else seriously worried?? :eek:

Reply 1

SilverstarDJ

Original post by MathsRox

Hi there, I wasn't confident for interviews but by my 4th one I felt a lot calmer. Try not to stress too much and do something before interviews to destress (perhaps read a book, listen to some music, whatever works for you). Before answering a question, pause for a bit to formulated an answer.

Cambridge will potentially ask you questions outside your syllabus - but they are more interested in your thought process than your actual answer!

- all the normal qs like why I want to be a vet, why I like the specific courses etc
- AS level stuff
- all the A2 topics until Christmas

Good. Cambridge was the only one that really quizzed my knowledge from A level stuff; most other vet schools will place more emphasis more vet related things - what you have seen, maybe some ethical scenarios.

- everything I've seen at work experience - and I'm really worried cause I didn't make that detailed notes at the time. Also, loads of cases you see some of but not enough to comment on? So in terms of interesting cases I haven't seen many, lots of the places I've been to have been small practices and any interesting cases never seem to come in when I'm there. Not that it hasn't been interesting - but not many specific examples of whole cases.

You don't need to know everything you've seen, but do be aware of COMMON problems/diseases and perhaps a case or two that you find very interesting. In an interview you can stear it towards something you want to talk about potentially.

You are not expected to know very technical stuff since that is what you'll learn at vet school!

- everything in my personal statement :s-smilie:

- any common diseases like TB etc...
- all the vaccinations, wormings etc (I've heard we need to know these!)

Yes, you might be questioned on these things.

I would also say that there is only so much you can prepare. Every interview is different and it is hard to know what interviewers are looking for specifically sometimes.

Hope this helps :smile:

EDIT: if it helps, try to ease the pressure of yourself. If it all goes tits up at interview you can always reapply - LOTS of people do and in some ways I wish I had a gap year too!

Reply 2

ABC05

OP, I am completely terrified! Especially for the data handling/numeracy stations with the whole new MMI format...there is a reason why I didn't do maths a level!! haha

Original post by SilverstarDJ

Hi there, I wasn't confident for interviews but by my 4th one I felt a lot calmer (...)

Thank you for the advice SDJ, I was wondering how you found your Liv interview seeing as you got an offer from it? Were you generally happy with how it went or completely surprised that you got an offer? Sorry about the weird q, but have heard stories about people coming out of interviews really very pleased and then not getting an offer (although I realise that they can't give offers to everyone, even if the interview does go really well!!) Or the other way around!

Reply 3

SilverstarDJ

Original post by ABC05

OP, I am completely terrified! Especially for the data handling/numeracy stations with the whole new MMI format...there is a reason why I didn't do maths a level!! haha

Thank you for the advice SDJ, I was wondering how you found your Liv interview seeing as you got an offer from it? Were you generally happy with how it went or completely surprised that you got an offer? Sorry about the weird q, but have heard stories about people coming out of interviews really very pleased and then not getting an offer (although I realise that they can't give offers to everyone, even if the interview does go really well!!) Or the other way around!

They are not expecting you to do complicated maths stuffs, certainly nothing of A level standard!

I had a very positive experience at Liverpool and I enjoyed it (as far as you can enjoy interviews). I think MMIs are a fair way of interviewing you vs panel interviews as most interviewers will get an impression of you quite soon, but the fact that multiple people assess you independently means that the overall score you get is more 'fair' in my opinion. And as a vet you will have to think quickly on your feet. Best advise I have is to forget about any previous stations (you can't change what you said so don't dwell on it during your interview) and focus on the current on in front of you. A lot of the questions were very open ended leaving the direction up to you.

Hope this gives you a better idea.

I have had other interviews which I think went well and I did not get an offer - it really depends what interviewers are looking for!!

Reply 4

MathsRox

Thanks for the replies! I just don't really know what level of detail they look for :/ like, if they ask about a condition you've mentioned, do they expect you to know all about the causes, symptoms, treatments etc or just have a general idea about some of that? If it's all in detail there's tonnes! I know we have to learn it all eventually but still...

Reply 5

SilverstarDJ

Original post by MathsRox

You should know about any conditions you've mentioned in your PS at the very least. Learning about a small number of conditions in a fair amount of detail shouldn't be too hard when you have to memorise hundreds more at vet school. You probably won't be expected to cite the different drug names to treat x for example, but you should know you use, for example, a long acting antibiotic to treat x. I was certainly asked about the causes of disease, symptoms, prevention and/or treatment for diseases I mentioned I was interested in (either in my PS or at interview).