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Interview performance

rachelcee

RIGHT...now where does hedonism come into my argument? can we just stick to the solipsism...defend the solipsism you used in your argument because as i proved it is completely baseless if you are using it to attack my argument.

my argument the straw man argument? UMMM.. what i suggest you do is stop attacking me for misrepresenting your argument and actually rebutt my argument instead of misrepresenting mine.

and by the way, you are not the intelligent reader. intelligent people do not say 'I don't care what you think'. that is what 8 year olds say. i still can't believe you said that.

anyway, i shall be the sensible person and stop wasting my time arguing over the worth of passion on an internet forum. rebutt me all you like, i will not reply after this post.

It is blatantly obvious to anyone with a brain cell why you are wrong. Since you aren't going to read the posts anyway, I won't bother to continue with the argument.

Reply 81

**MidnightMia**

ninety_nine

sorry to reclaim the thread :tongue:

but...

..of those of you had interviews/offers, how much did they ask you about ECs? i know loads of people make a big deal about oxbridge liking extra cirricular activities but i'm sure it's only a 'desirable' quality they want and would never substitute for things like academic performance and entry exam results?

Interview time spent on my ECs and work experience? = 0%

Altho that might have been because I talked about them pretty effectively in my personal statement.

EDIT: Also their opinion on ECs is well summed up by what the Balliol admissions tutor said in one of her talks i.e. for example if you were even a musical genius all it would mean would be that you could use the piano downstairs. :p:

Reply 82

sugar_cane

14

Didn't spend any time whatsoever on my ECs. In one of my interviews the only thing they seemed to look at was the fact that I was doing Maths and Further Maths, they didn't even take a look at my other subjects! (I've got an offer for Economics and Management).

Reply 83

Zhen Lin

12

Didn't discuss extracurriculars, or indeed, anything personal at all in my interviews, and it was only one paragraph in my personal statement.

Reply 84

Jimny

Discussed EC's for about a minute. The rest was all Maths.

Reply 85

harr

15

I had two subject interviews and one general. In the general one I was asked a few questions about what ECs I might do at Cambridge if I got an offer, but apart from that I had no questions about ECs not related to Maths.

Reply 86

allymcb2

8

*MidnightMia*

Interview time spent on my ECs and work experience? = 0%

Altho that might have been because I talked about them pretty effectively in my personal statement.

EDIT: Also their opinion on ECs is well summed up by what the Balliol admissions tutor said in one of her talks i.e. for example if you were even a musical genius all it would mean would be that you could use the piano downstairs. :p:

Or an organ scholarship. Unless you were applying for music, in which case one would hope it would get you a place. :wink:

Reply 87

**MidnightMia**

allymcb2

Or an organ scholarship. Unless you were applying for music, in which case one would hope it would get you a place. :wink:

Good point. There are choir ones too at ChCh. :smile:

But you get my point.

Reply 88

All at once

10

in my 'general' interview we talked quite a bit about ECs, but in my subject one it was more like a couple of mins max. i liked it this way because it made it less like an interview and more of a chat.

Reply 89

complexsimplicity

4

We didn't speak about ECs in any of mine...lucky really seeing as I don't have many lol

Reply 90

ninety_nine

OP

12

Rudrax

Mine didn't ask about my Extra cirriculars but did ask about what subject I was most enjoying (I said History) which lead onto a nice debate about the legal system of Nazi Germany lol.

niiice, gawd i wish i had done history! so much scope for further discussion and debate! did you have many ECs to fall back on in the event that they did? :smile:

Reply 91

ninety_nine

OP

12

Mel16

Out of 5 interviews I got asked one question about one of EC activity I'd put on my form and that was just an aside at the end of the interview - just 'out of interest', the tutor said. I think unless it's very firmly linked to your subject, they really do not care.

thanks, out of curiosity was the EC they asked about linked to your subject or a random one?

Reply 92

Mel16

7

ninety_nine

thanks, out of curiosity was the EC they asked about linked to your subject or a random one?

Utterly random (creative writing vs Computer Science). I think the interviewer was just curious.

Reply 93

Rudrax

12

ninety_nine

niiice, gawd i wish i had done history! so much scope for further discussion and debate! did you have many ECs to fall back on in the event that they did? :smile:

A couple: debating + basketball mainly

Reply 94

Q.E.D

12

The only even slightly non-academic questions were- did you find the place alright? and why Classics? And neither are even vaguely about ECs...

Reply 95

TheOtherZoe

I was asked LOADS about my ECs! Especially in my first interview, where I described, in excruciating detail, a doss of a mental health awareness course I had completed in year 12... I used ACTIONS to explain the day where we had to dance with socks on our hands. To their credit, the interviewers seemed riveted by my movements. I was also asked about my various musical activities and book groups cited on my PS, as well as being quizzed on what I'd do if I was offered a place... But it seems that a fair few of the above posters are doing sciency subjects, which is probably quite different :smile:

x

Reply 96

GerardT

My general interview was basically a Psychology interview, really. At one point one interviewer asked me my opinion on the author of a book I had read. I said that I liked his work but that he got too emotionally involved in his topics (for a journalist, that is), to which he smiled and said "yes, my thoughts exactly".

That's about the closest I came to touching EC's, really. I got the impression they found them distracting from the 'real' stuff - i.e. the academics.

I got zilch on ECs.

Nope not even a mention of EC's at all, I think it is kind of a misconception that 'oxbridge' give a damn about them (when unrelated at least). Oh, and OP don't let not great AS grades stop you from applying - Oxford never even knew I had AABB I believe, lol. Not sure if that is changing next year though...