Visit Days and Interviews

Hey guys,

So I've applied for Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Cambridge, Imperial, Bristol, Southampton and UCL.

When I applied it said that interview would not be necessary for Bristol or Southampton but I've now been invited to both for a visit day and interview, or 'informal interview' as Southampton say.

Maybe I'm worrying for no reason but is the sudden want for interview due to them being unsure of my application? Everyone I know that has gone to these universities for similar degrees haven't had to have an interview.

If anyone else is in a similar position or was previously I'd love to hear from you!

Reply 1

Nymthae

16

Original post by FiFi-Ash

Hey guys,

So I've applied for Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Cambridge, Imperial, Bristol, Southampton and UCL.

When I applied it said that interview would not be necessary for Bristol or Southampton but I've now been invited to both for a visit day and interview, or 'informal interview' as Southampton say.

Maybe I'm worrying for no reason but is the sudden want for interview due to them being unsure of my application? Everyone I know that has gone to these universities for similar degrees haven't had to have an interview.

If anyone else is in a similar position or was previously I'd love to hear from you!

Usually, that sort of thing is done for a couple of reasons, but them taking that time for you there largely means you've been successful in getting an offer. They'd prefer you to come, but chances are they will still give you the offer (i.e. not conditional on your visit) anyway if you really can't make it.

They do it because:
a) they like students to come round the departments, as it gives them time to sell it. My housemate applied to our university as her fifth choice, no intention of coming here, but after being pestered into an informal interview/visit day she came, and she loved it. It does work for them converting applications into firms/insurances.

b) it gives you the chance to ask any questions or discuss expectations or problems at this stage. One thing I did in my informal interview was request actually that I wanted them to give me an offer for the standard course (where i'd actually applied for the year in Europe course originally). 'Lo and behold, my offer came back for the straight course - better for them then they can make an offer to someone else for a year abroad, as they only have few places. It can be a nice time to just ask about anything that might be bothering you.

I think Bristol actually do do proper interviews, so you will need to check here, but by the sounds of Southampton theirs is entirely an informal visit designed to sway you to going there.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 2

pink.flamingo

1

I'm not quite in the same position as you but did they ask for an interview through UCAS?

It could just be that they haven't got round to updating that bit of the website, or they have a lot of candidates with similar grade predictions this year and need to make sure they accept the right people.

I had an informal interview and if it's similar to what mine was then it'll just be a tour around the facilities with them trying to sell the University to you. Mine involved a quick chat with a professor, I think just to see if your personal statement stands up, but that was pretty much it.

I'm fairly sure that there'll be a lot of people in the same boat as you because (and I don't wish to offend) they probably wouldn't hold an interview for just one person, they tend to do days of interviews for a lot of people.

Try not to worry about it and good luck!

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