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anyone got interview from cambridge so far?

branng

Subject: Natural Sciences, Physical
College: St John's
Date: 25th October, 9:25 AM

Uhmm, BAD.
I'm an international applicant and I chose to be interviewed in Singapore, so we (me and my buddies) were interviewed first. Mine just went plain bad. My interviewer was a Pure Mathematician and knew close to nothing about science and scientific developments. It started off good, with a 5 minute general component, but as he launched into the some differentiation maths question the neurons in my cranium disintegrated at 10^9 neurons/second. I hardly did that question at all, he did about 90% of it. I actually managed to solve the problem later that night, and it was actually pretty easy. We went onto another maths question based on the previous one; much easier this time, although it did take me much longer than I should've. That was about all the time we had; I left the room, bitter and disappointed.

I went in expecting a panel of interviewers and was surprised to see only one interviewer. I went out expecting to be called for a second interview; turns out there isn't one. So yes, BAD perfectly sums up that day (which also happened to be my 17th Birthday). It'll take a friggin' miracle for Cambridge to give me an offer now.

most peole that got to cambridge, form what i heard from the open days didn't have a good impression of their interview, they don't mind you making mistakes in your interview, because if you cruised through it, then they are asking questions that are too easy, plus they like to see how you can correct a problem. and also, most people remember the things that went wrong and make a bigger deal out of them than it really is.

i haven't got an interview yet, just sent my SAQ yesterday.

anyone applying for King's please post if you have an interview.

Reply 21

Womble548

Me too, I got the interview date the day after the SAQ stuff. Also applied to Bristol (Interview 10 nov), Bath, UCL, Imperial and Warwick.

All high ranked but I decided to gamble and go for it!

Reply 22

priya

14

Freddy C

most peole that got to cambridge, form what i heard from the open days didn't have a good impression of their interview, they don't mind you making mistakes in your interview, because if you cruised through it, then they are asking questions that are too easy, plus they like to see how you can correct a problem. and also, most people remember the things that went wrong and make a bigger deal out of them than it really is.
.

true in most cases, but one of my friends here said his interview went like a dream.and he's here now.so i guess it just depends

Reply 23

Bumblebee3

8

priya

true in most cases, but one of my friends here said his interview went like a dream.and he's here now.so i guess it just depends

I suppose it falls into a number of categories:

a) People who know they've done badly and don't get in
b) People who think they've done well (because in reality they weren't being pushed) and don't get in
c) People who thought it went badly and got in
d) And people such as your friend who recognised that they were being pushed and handled it easily.

I fell into the 3rd category, as most people who receive offers do, I think.

Reply 24

Adhsur

15

Haz

I suppose it falls into a number of categories:

a) People who know they've done badly and don't get in
b) People who think they've done well (because in reality they weren't being pushed) and don't get in
c) People who thought it went badly and got in
d) And people such as your friend who recognised that they were being pushed and handled it easily.

I fell into the 3rd category, as most people who receive offers do, I think.

OMG! HAZ!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

Remember me?!

(or am I being completely loony and think you are someone else, in which case I apologise)

Reply 25

Adhsur

15

Haz

I suppose it falls into a number of categories:

a) People who know they've done badly and don't get in
b) People who think they've done well (because in reality they weren't being pushed) and don't get in
c) People who thought it went badly and got in
d) And people such as your friend who recognised that they were being pushed and handled it easily.

I fell into the 3rd category, as most people who receive offers do, I think.

Oh god.

I didn't get in and I thought it went well. Why didn't I get "pushed"?

Reply 26

Helenia

20

I think there should be a new category of "people who didn't have a clue how it went" which is exactly what I felt. It wasn't horrendously bad or fantastic, I genuinely didn't have the first idea which way it had gone.

Reply 27

Alaric

1

I suggest that you ask questions about how things work if you get a bit confused, they're usually teachers after all and if you just accept that you understand nothing and don't follow it up they won't be impressed. If they see you don't understand but you're keen to find out why then it makes you a lot more attractive. People tend to forget they aren't looking for people who know it all already, because they don't exist, they're looking for people they can teach and who'll learn best. If they think you'll sit in supervisions like a lemon then Cam wouldnt be a good place for you anyway.

...and rushda, if you weren't being pushed then you should have pushed them...

Alaric.

Reply 28

Adhsur

15

Alaric

...and rushda, if you weren't being pushed then you should have pushed them...

Please tell me how.

Don't want the same thing to happen again! I was just answering my way through the questions, no problem. :redface:

Reply 29

Alaric

1

Adhsur

Please tell me how.

Don't want the same thing to happen again! I was just answering my way through the questions, no problem. :redface:

My two favourite generic questions:

"Is that how/why .... works?"

"How does that link to ...?"

It involves having a broader understanding of the subject, but if you can link together seemingly seperated ideas then it conveys interest and (possibly) intelligence.

The other thing I find fun is playing devils advocate with myself. If the question is too ambiguous you answer it one way and then back track and give arguments for exactly the opposite. You'd have to transition between them quickly in an interview situation to stop them thinking the first answer is your final answer though. Again it's about the way you think and it's showing them that.

Think about how many academic questions are "compare and contrast" or "list the advantages and disadvantages of". There's rarely one clear answer, so don't only give them one :smile:

A.

Reply 30

Adhsur

15

Alaric

My two favourite generic questions:

"Is that how/why .... works?"

"How does that link to ...?"

It involves having a broader understanding of the subject, but if you can link together seemingly seperated ideas then it conveys interest and (possibly) intelligence.

The other thing I find fun is playing devils advocate with myself. If the question is too ambiguous you answer it one way and then back track and give arguments for exactly the opposite. You'd have to transition between them quickly in an interview situation to stop them thinking the first answer is your final answer though. Again it's about the way you think and it's showing them that.

Think about how many academic questions are "compare and contrast" or "list the advantages and disadvantages of". There's rarely one clear answer, so don't only give them one :smile:

A.

Absolutely fantastic - I did NONE of that for my last interview.

Thanks I'll remember that.

Reply 31

Arcadia

Subject: Social and Political Sciences
College: Clare
Date: Thursday 9th December 11:30

Just got the letter now, very excited but very nervous too! Is anyone staying over night when they go for interview?

Reply 32

Bumblebee3

8

Adhsur

OMG! HAZ!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

Remember me?!

(or am I being completely loony and think you are someone else, in which case I apologise)

Hey Rushda,
tis I! btw Aleric is right - push them! Also it could be that they were pitching questions based on your personal statement so make sure you can develop what you've said there without prompting. If you think it's going *too* well then you need to scale up the level a bit and show them what you can do - as Aleric said, work it into the conversation. I should imagine that method would work particularly well for philosophy, lots of seemingly random links to be made! Good luck xx

Reply 33

Zarathustra

2

Gemini

Zarathursta- In my interview pack it says that if you've got your interview over two days or a long journey there, you can have overnight accommodation and meals! (all free as well). Thats only for Clare, but I guess the other colleges must be similar.

Cool,
Does that go for the parent/whatever who drives the "long journey there", or are they abandoned to their fate?
((Sorry, I'll stop asking inane questions after that))

Btw everyone, had a "careers session" ( :rolleyes:

)at school today with an admissions bloke from Bristol Uni, and he kept going on about how at Bristol (and Oxbridge, apparently) interviews you're likely to be asked to apply your subject knowledge to current affairs or something. He did a mock interview with a pretent Theology applicant and was trying to get them to apply what they'd done at A-level to the ethics of the situation in the middle East...interesting but looked hard. Just thought I'd warn incase it does come up

:smile:

ZarathustraX

Reply 34

blissy

15

Zarathustra

Cool,
Does that go for the parent/whatever who drives the "long journey there", or are they abandoned to their fate?
((Sorry, I'll stop asking inane questions after that))

It didn't when I had my interview. Ended up costing rather a lot to get there, get accommodation for them for two nights etc etc.
edit: after my "long journey" I had an exam at 6pm on th evening I arrived. Not quite what I was expecting.

Reply 35

Gemini

Snap! I've applied to most of those places as well, though instead of UCL I've got Royal Holloway - mainly for a backup.

I'm going to the Bristol open day too but mine's on the 17th instead. The only other place I've heard from is Royal Holloway, who also want to interview me as well. So that at least three interviews to go to :smile:

Zarathustra- Doesn't say anything about parents at all in my pack, they seem to encourage you to go by train/bus. I'm surprised they haven't mentioned it, because quite a lot of people must be brought down by parents. They're probably trying to encourage people to not bring their parents with them, so they're not overwhelmed with people to try and find space for. Maybe you could ask your college?

Reply 36

platinumki

10

Subject: vet med
College: Clare
Date: wed 8th

whooopeee - three days off school! :biggrin:

Ah, the joys of staying in Scotland. We should all meet up.

Reply 37

Alaric

1

platinumki

whooopeee - three days off school! :biggrin:

Ah, the joys of staying in Scotland. We should all meet up.

/me has a 9-month lease so I don't need to vacate my room until next July...
So I might be staying a bit later than other people at interview time. Then again my parents might want to see me and get me to go to Mull for christmas, I don't know yet when that'll be happening.

If I'm around I'm up for getting you poor applicants a bit tipsy :wink: