The Student Room Group

Do you think more universities should interview?

I applied to five unis, and I already have offers from Sheffield, Liverpool and Birmingham without interviews. If I'd chosen five unis that didn't interview, I could have written total *******s on my PS and still got five offers. Sheffield hasn't even asked for verification of my grades, so in theory I could have made them up too (though maybe verification happens later).

I think that all universities should interview applicants, to test that they actually write the truth on their PS, that they are actually as passionate as they say they are and they're truly intelligent and not just very good at remembering and regurgitating stuff in exams.

What do you think?
Original post by nerdcake
I applied to five unis, and I already have offers from Sheffield, Liverpool and Birmingham without interviews. If I'd chosen five unis that didn't interview, I could have written total *******s on my PS and still got five offers. Sheffield hasn't even asked for verification of my grades, so in theory I could have made them up too (though maybe verification happens later).

I think that all universities should interview applicants, to test that they actually write the truth on their PS, that they are actually as passionate as they say they are and they're truly intelligent and not just very good at remembering and regurgitating stuff in exams.

What do you think?


All universities will verify your grades one way or another before you enroll in uni, and faking them is taken very seriously.

As someone who has seen the admissions process from both sides, I do think that more interviews would be nice in theory. However, it's not something most universities can do in practice. Oxford and Cambridge can do it because, A) they need to give out less offers because the vast majority of those they offer to will firm them and B) they're smaller universities.

Some universities admit 1000s of students each year, and have to over offer on every course because they will make lots of offers to students who ultimately chose to go elsewhere. The logistics of interviewing everyone would just be impossible and would impact on the experience of students already at the uni.

It's also worth bearing in mind that unless a course is really popular/competitive, if you have the right grades, and your PS and reference are ok, you're very likely to get an offer, as unis are very keen to get as many students as possible these days. So in these cases, interviews are a bit redundant.
Reply 2
Your grades will be verified by the time registration happens, or possibly even if/when you firm the university. Otherwise, they aren't that bothered about processing your grades if you're not taking the offer.

Interviews are good, so yes, as above, in an ideal world it would be nice. It isn't practical however.

The exams/assessment process of pre-university qualifications probably should be tighter, to get over the "they're truly intelligent and not just very good at remembering and regurgitating stuff in exams." part. I don't think it needs "passion" to be successful, technically. An interest in doing well/some interest in the subject is about all that's necessary. I like my subject, but I wouldn't ever have considered myself passionate (and right now i'm rather looking forward to finally finishing my degree and getting away from most of it).

If you've got grades in hand already it's not really surprising you get quick offers through - your grades meet or exceed the requirements, your PS isn't complete rubbish, and you've shown some vague possible interest in going there by applying. They're not necessarily expecting you to take the offer(s) [especially when your grades are already much higher than the requirements] so they're not that bothered about chucking them out. Now they effectively can take as many as they want over certain grades it's not really that much to them.
(edited 9 years ago)
I'm not really sure if most universities have the resources to interview all of their candidates.
Reply 4
Original post by Nymthae
Your grades will be verified by the time registration happens, or possibly even if/when you firm the university. Otherwise, they aren't that bothered about processing your grades if you're not taking the offer.

Interviews are good, so yes, as above, in an ideal world it would be nice. It isn't practical however.

The exams/assessment process of pre-university qualifications probably should be tighter, to get over the "they're truly intelligent and not just very good at remembering and regurgitating stuff in exams." part. I don't think it needs "passion" to be successful, technically. An interest in doing well/some interest in the subject is about all that's necessary. I like my subject, but I wouldn't ever have considered myself passionate (and right now i'm rather looking forward to finally finishing my degree and getting away from most of it).

If you've got grades in hand already it's not really surprising you get quick offers through - your grades meet or exceed the requirements, your PS isn't complete rubbish, and you've shown some vague possible interest in going there by applying. They're not necessarily expecting you to take the offer(s) so they're not that bothered about chucking them out. Now they effectively can take as many as they want over certain grades it's not really that much to them.


I wasn't surprised really, I just think it's a bad move on the part of the universities. I would have thought an interview is a helpful way to get the best people from your applicant pool.

As for passion, I guess you're right. Passionate was probably the wrong word, interested or committed would be better.
(edited 9 years ago)
No, I personally don't think so. I don't think they would be more reliable than using previous achieved grades, and for most universities, I don't think it would represent good value for money.
Reply 6
Original post by nerdcake
I wasn't surprised really, I just think it's a bad move on the part of the universities. I would have thought an interview is a helpful way to get the best people from your applicant pool.

As for passion, I guess you're right. Passionate was probably the wrong word, interested of committed would be better.


An interview doesn't guarantee the candidate will pick you though, so you're probably still going to make X offers in Z candidates. It is why some departments operate using the post-offer visit days though, to try and show the department off to you (i.e. Chemistry at Sheffield does this, which arguably again isn't up there as one of the most competitive subjects). They have a better conversion of offers to firms and insurances with the post-offer days, and they do include small interviews, but from an admin perspective I imagine it's much easier to just send out a load of offers and then try and lure the ones in who are willing to be lured, as it were. In the case of the Chemistry department, they feel the resources are worth what they get from it.

I don't think formal interviews would help much for most places. It's pretty necessary in terms of the Oxbridge situation, with the time/material intensity, as some people really don't hack it, but after that I wouldn't be too concerned if I were an admissions tutor. It's pretty difficult to scout out the 'required' skills or knowledge in a short space of time.
Original post by nerdcake
I applied to five unis, and I already have offers from Sheffield, Liverpool and Birmingham without interviews. If I'd chosen five unis that didn't interview, I could have written total *******s on my PS and still got five offers. Sheffield hasn't even asked for verification of my grades, so in theory I could have made them up too (though maybe verification happens later).

I think that all universities should interview applicants, to test that they actually write the truth on their PS, that they are actually as passionate as they say they are and they're truly intelligent and not just very good at remembering and regurgitating stuff in exams.

What do you think?


If all universities had the resources, then it would be great - at top unis, most candidates will have 4 As at AS, high GCSE grades and good predicted grades, so apart from the personal statement there's little to distinguish the candidates. While there are tests such as the LNAT, an interview would show the real person, and in courses with a huge number of applicants per place this is really necessary. However most universities simply do not have the resources.

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