The Student Room Group

Scroll to see replies

It went really badly, the interviewers were lovely and encouraging though. I'm relieved it's over, but annoyed at myself for having a chance and blowing it.
Reply 2
Hm, it was alright overall... my written test totally sucked though, mehh :frown:
Good luck everyone :smile: i'm only in year 11, but want to apply to cambridge or oxford! haha.

what course are you all applying for?
What subject /college did you apply for?

SPS/Magdalene


Predicted Grades?

AAAa

How did your interviews go?

Both went fine, enjoyed both and had some really good debate.

What questions were u asked?

Nothing special tbh lol, or at least nothing unexpected.

How did you feel b4/after your interview?


Bit nervous before but nothing outrageous, as soon as I sat down in the interview room the nerves were gone. Afterwards I felt really upbeat knowing that I could learn so much from these people and that they were really nice.

What is your college like?

Old, beautiful, lurvely.

How did the Interviewers respond?

Very positively, they seemed genuinely interested in me and my views. Didn't stop them given them a rigorous examination though! :biggrin:
Reply 5
What subject /college did you apply for? Biological Natural Sciences at Downing

Predicted Grades? AAAAAa

How did your interviews go At the time I thought both of them went well, but over time I've started to look back and think "god that was awful". The second one (I hope!) was quite good as I was able to actually get to the answers in the end and I had no nerves, but I think the first one was quite disastrous - there were quite a few "I'm sorry, I don't know"s, which retrospectively I should have made attempts at :frown:

What questions were u asked? Quite specific questions; I had expected more variety. Some of them went deeper and deeper, while others didn't.

How did you feel b4/after your interview? Before my first interview I was so nervous I think I was almost shaking, but during the actual interview I felt oddly relaxed and a bit detached (?). I just felt really flustered really. Before the second one I was completely relaxed and was also relaxed during the interview.

What is your college like? The waiting room was absolutely beautiful and the people are lovely. I didn't look around too much though for fear of falling in love with the place and being disappointed in January.

How did the Interviewers respond? Both sets were very encouraging and very nice.


People, make sure not to discuss any specific questions/interviewers etc in the posts, just generic stuff.
What subject /college did you apply for? Philosophy / Trinity

Predicted Grades? AAAaa

How did your interviews go? Far worse than I had hoped

What questions were u asked? Difficult, unexpected stuff that in retrospect I could have answered had I been able to think.

How did you feel b4/after your interview? Quite nervous but not too bad - afterwards I actually found it rather funny how badly it went. Certainly, I took it better than some of the others there...

What is your college like? The Wren Library is absolutely breathtaking inside. The rest was also stunning. Quite a few rather unfriendly toffs though.

How did the Interviewers respond? The first two seemed a bit disappointed I think; the second I felt a bit patronised and I think I failed to make my point clear so she thought I was a complete moron.
Reply 7
Unfriendly toffs? Do you mean the students or the lecturers or the staff? You mean they actually showed they were disappointed?
TheMagician
Unfriendly toffs? Do you mean the students or the lecturers or the staff? You mean they actually showed they were disappointed?

Applicants.

They just seemed a bit like they couldn't push me so didn't bother after a while (and I still messed up, haha).
What subject /college did you apply for?
Vet Med/ Girton

Predicted Grades?
AAAA (Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Physics)

How did your interviews go?
1st one i think seemed to flow better than the 2nd-probably because I needed a lot less prompting.

What questions were u asked?
Mainly current issues stuff and biology/chemistry related qus. (Messed up a bit on the chemistry qu)

How did you feel b4/after your interview?
Before I was a nervous wreck, hands shaking and could feel my heart beating more strongly. Was a lot more nervous for the 1st - scared of the unexpected. After - now I'm just worrying about the letter that's going to arrive in early january!!

What is your college like?
Very gothic - BRILLIANT!!!

How did the Interviewers respond?
One interviewer didn't show much response, another said some of my answers were right but wanted more and more explanations after that. Did get a bit annoying after a while!
What subject /college did you apply for?
Corpus Christi, Law

Predicted Grades?
AAAa

How did your interviews go?
Humiliating, horrific, personally degrading.

What questions were u asked?
Simple, non intellectual questions which anyone with an IQ over 68 would have had no trouble reasoning with.

How did you feel b4/after your interview?
Before I felt excited, after, I cried for days and lay in bed, contemplating suicide :eek:

What is your college like?
Incredible, gothic, central and socially vibrant.

How did the Interviewers respond?
They were very ,very kind. Although they did a disconcerting amount of prompting in both of the interviews. On the whole I think they responded to me poorly.
Reply 11
What subject /college did you apply for? Medicine at Girton

Predicted Grades? AAAa

How did your interviews go? 1st Very good, 2nd almost perfect

What questions were u asked? 1st interview i was asked 3 main questions and loads of other question which all lead from the 3 main question.
2nd interview asked about what i learned from work experience and questions about biology and psychology

How did you feel b4/after your interview? Before i was kind of nervouse afterwards i was relieved

What is your college like? Very good to me but thats the only college i saw so i don't know what a good or bad college is like

How did the Interviewers respond? 2 people for each interview. 1st interview they seemed quite serious but also satisfied with the answers i gave. 2nd interview the 2 docotrs seemed quite happy and it was more like a converstion. i also made them laugh a couple of times.

ps i was only prompet a bit twice in both interviews which lasted 55 minustes together
Reply 12
Economics at Queens

AAAa

Interview: it went alright. i actually had a pretty good time, minus the nervous stuttering answer to why i wanted to study Economics (pretty crap answer as well..). my written test on the other hand.. Christ, i wrote so much bull**** :s-smilie:

Questions: quite technical stuff. some calculus, a lot of graphs drawn leading to a single graph and conclusion. some general risk and world economics question as well.

Moods lol?: i felt okay before and after. i do have a general feeling that i was pretty average, probably won't have much of a chance.

College: i'm an international, so i didn't get to check out. i hear it's beautiful though.

Interviewer: he was smiling loads (out of politeness?) and was very lovely all throughout. he even tried a few jokes, but all i could manage was a nervous giggle :frown:
Reply 13
History at Selywn

AAAAc

Interview:
History Test - my structure was absolutely shocking, my writing pretty much illegible. Oh god that was horrible.

General Interview - Saw my interview had two consequent John's on his list, he put down a tick next to my name, but it looked like the previous John's name to me, tried to correct him, realised I was wrong, ended up mumbling to myself like an mentally retarded alcoholic. THEN got attorney general and secretary of the treasury mixed up. :frown:

Essay and Source interviews went okay, made the interviewers chuckle at one point or another during each, and they seemed quite responsive. Managed to think of a decent question to ask at the end, which led to a discussion which over-ran the interview time, happy with that. Although the interviewer took me to a new place entirely with a question going across multiple A level topics, one of which I hadn't even looked at since 2006. And then he linked Martin Luther and MLK. what. the. f.

Moods: Felt horrible after test and general. Better after last two and the interview recognising me from our discussion on open day :biggrin: Nice to be intellectually challenged too.

College: Love the place now. Plus - the college have a couple big LCD's, pool, table football and a Wii! Awesome.

Interviewer: Happy with them all, got a laugh from all of them at one point or another. Felt quite relaxed, enjoyed the ridiculous thinking faces they pulled when I was talking though heh.
Reply 14
What subject /college did you apply for?

Natural Sciences (physical)/ Emma

Predicted Grades?

AAAAa

How did your interviews go?

First one (chemistry) - incredibly nervous and didn't really get what they were asking me for some of it. Answered some parts ok, but other peoples seemed to go much better

Second one (general= maths)- a bit better, but felt like I wasted a bit of time when one of the questions was more simple than I made it

What questions were u asked?

In the first asked about an article I had to read, in the second asked maths questions, then one maths/ chemistry question. No general questions at all!

How did you feel b4/after your interview?

Before the first i was shaking and after felt like it went really badly. Before the second I was more relaxed- After felt a bit better. Would have liked them both to last a bit longer.

What is your college like?

Great! I got lost and ended up exploring it a it and loved it even more! But there were so many other good applicants, so I don't think I've got a good chance.

How did the Interviewers respond?

The first 2 seemed a bit disappointed as I wasn't getting what they were actually asking and they looked blankly at me a couple of times! Second 2 were more encouraging with the problems
Reply 15
What subject /college did you apply for?
Natural Sciences (Physical) at Selwyn

Predicted Grades?
AAAA

How did your interviews go?
The first one went well, but the second one was an absolute disaster. I made too many silly errors which I would never have done in a written exam. At one point I even forgot how to expand brackets properly!

How did you feel b4/after your interview?
Before the interview I was quite calm actually, but after it I knew I'd blown a good chance.

What is your college like?
Selwyn is beautiful. And to top it off, they have a pool table hehe (not something I will be using since I have no chance of getting in, something that I would happily bet my house on.

How did the Interviewers respond?
My first interviewers were very nice, they laughed every now and again and it was really interesting talking to them. The next two would have been equally nice if I hadn't made so many ridiculous errors!
What subject /college did you apply for? Law, King's

Predicted Grades?AAA

How did your interviews go? Difficult, but not as awful as I thought

What questions were u asked? Had a text and got asked about that.

How did you feel b4/after your interview? Before I was nearly sick, afterwards I was fine. Felt I did my best

What is your college like? Lovely!

How did the Interviewers respond? A few questions they had to drag the answers out of me, but they were nice. Didn't really give alot away
Epitomessence
It went really badly, the interviewers were lovely and encouraging though. I'm relieved it's over, but annoyed at myself for having a chance and blowing it.

:frown: That makes the two of us.
Totally Tom
:frown: That makes the two of us.


Three of us.....

What subject /college did you apply for? English at Clare

Predicted Grades? AAA

How did your interviews go? One was amazing, one was laughably bad.

What questions were u asked? First interview was questioning things in my PS and discussing a poem. Second interview discussed my reading list and a prose passage.

How did you feel b4/after your interview? Okay before first, between first and second I felt horrid, after the second I felt mixed - happy about the second, and extremely upset about ruining my first one completely.

What is your college like? Beautiful.

How did the Interviewers respond? Good cop / bad cop. Two scary, two lovely.
Thinking back, I'm just glad all my interviewers at cambridge were really nice. They never really tried to make me more nervous at all. Did other people get this feeling at their interviews?

Latest