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So you want to go to oxford? Tell me about a banana

ThePants999

(Usual annual disclaimer: I do web work for Oxbridge Applications on a project basis, but I'm not an employee and don't directly benefit from their interview preparation events.)

One can't work for a company, on whatever basis, and then call people who use their services unethical, without being hypocritical or unethical oneself. :curious:

Reply 41

ThePants999

14

jismith1989

One can't work for a company, on whatever basis, and then call people who use their services unethical, without being hypocritical or unethical oneself. :curious:

Eh???

I don't call people who use their services unethical. In fact, I fully encourage it!

Reply 42

faber niger

17

ThePants999

Eh???

I don't call people who use their services unethical. In fact, I fully encourage it!

Ah, sorry. I couldn't be bothered to read your post -- I just assumed from your disclaimer postscript that you didn't agree with the company's services, with you ever-so-slightly distancing yourself from them. :o:

Reply 43

Scipio90

Guardian article

"I heard about a person who was asked whether they wanted to sit on a hard of a soft chair."

How is that weird? Surely something like "that chair's a bit uncomfortable, do you want a cushion" is just meaningless pre-interview settling-in?

Reply 44

Supergrunch

10

These questions all sound perfectly reasonable to me.

Reply 45

hobnob

14

Scipio90

How is that weird? Surely something like "that chair's a bit uncomfortable, do you want a cushion" is just meaningless pre-interview settling-in?

And not everybody feels comfortable sitting in a squishy armchair during an interview either, so it's only a polite question to ask.

Reply 46

gladebayor

6

I think these questions are perfectly logical. Gives you an opportunity to show how well you can think on your feet and maintain your composure. The article makes a good point about students nowadays stressing too much about their exam grades and not broadening their horizons.

Now can I please get an interview..

Reply 47

ThePants999

14

jismith1989

Ah, sorry. I couldn't be bothered to read your post -- I just assumed from your disclaimer postscript that you didn't agree with the company's services, with you ever-so-slightly distancing yourself from them. :o:

Ahhh, I see :smile:

The "I work for them..." bit is in the interests of full disclosure, and the "...but I'm not involved with their events" bit is a vain attempt to head off the inevitable "well of course you'd say that" retorts when I argue in their favour :smile:

Reply 48

olly_springs

9

Scipio90

That's unlikely, surely? Once they've given an offer, they'd have to go through a lot of bother to retract it, and I don't remember any rule which says you can't discuss your interview with other applicants.

Ok you're call, go ahead. And by the way this is before offers had been officially given because they didnt want people finding out what would be in their interviews.

Reply 49

fumblewomble

2

If you discuss your interview in detail with other applicants they may use that knowledge to prepare and perform better than they otherwise would have done. This means that they may get in when other better candidates don't. Not good for the university.

Reply 50

tigrrmilk

11

actually, one that's getting picked up on, this:

How does Geography relate to A Midsummer Night's Dream? (Geography, Oxford)

that was a guy at my school, the other oxford applicant. that was because he did drama AS and that was the play he took part in. he got in, so...

Reply 51

Mook

9

hobnob

And not everybody feels comfortable sitting in a squishy armchair during an interview either, so it's only a polite question to ask.

I seem to recall having a bit of a comfy chair/hard stool dilemma in my second interview and so ended up lingering awkwardly in the doorway for a moment or two before my tutor kindly told me where to sit anyway. :smile:

Reply 52

The Kenosha Kid

"Did you have any trouble finding the college?"

How dare they ask such insane questions! I stormed out, went to university in America, and never looked back!

Reply 53

Teebs

16

The Kenosha Kid

"Did you have any trouble finding the college?"

How dare they ask such insane questions! I stormed out, went to university in America, and never looked back!

Unfortunately it wasn't in fact the college you stormed out of, but a friendly coffee shop in Bicester used to dealing with lost applicants.

Reply 54

*pitseleh*

20

This amused me:

A survey conducted by Oxbridge Applications of more than 4,000 students who went through its training last year reveals the sort of questions that this year's hopefuls should be ready for:

• Talk about a light bulb (engineering, Oxford)
• Would you rather be a novel or a poem? (English, Oxford)
• How many monkeys would you use in an experiment? (experimental psychology, Oxford)
• What would you do if you were a magpie? (natural sciences, Cambridge)
• Should we have laws for the use of light bulbs? (law, Cambridge)
• Is there such a thing as an immoral book? (French and Spanish, Cambridge)
• How does geography relate to A Midsummer Night's Dream? (geography, Oxford)
• If I were a grapefruit would I rather be seedless or non-seedless? (medicine, Cambridge)

That's all they got from 4,000 applicants? I'm not saying they never re-use questions at all, but I'd be prepared to bet (judging by the recent interview conversations I've had with my course-mates, and so on) that most of those 4,000 applicants had no bizarre questions to report whatsoever.

Reply 55

Huw Davies

11

I can see obvious utility for pretty much all of these. The EP one isn't bizarre at all! Though I suppose monkeys are inherently funny. The medicine, natural sciences and english ones are only "bizarre" to the extent that they're phrased in a first\second person perspective. The french\spanish and engineering ones are entirely un-bizarre too. I can see the law one making sense in context quite easily, and the geography one as an allusion to their PS.

This is a pretty disappointing "best of bizarre" from a trawl of 4,000 people!

Reply 56

ThePants999

14

Errr.... that's because very few people do get asked bizarre questions! So a small list from 4,000 people is what'd you'd expect.

The full list, by the way, is here: http://www.oxbridgeapplications.com/Portals/0/PDFs/OddQuestions2007.pdf

Reply 57

hobnob

14

ThePants999

Errr.... that's because very few people do get asked bizarre questions! So a small list from 4,000 people is what'd you'd expect

Yes, I believe that's the point he was making... But the problem with most newspaper articles based on the Oxbridge Applications press releases (an probably the press releases themselves) is that they tend to dwell on those few supposedly bizarre questions, so readers get the impression that bizarre questions are the norm rather than the exception in Oxford and Cambridge interviews. And that's misleading.

Reply 58

LH123

17

I think a bizarre question can be a blessing in disguise, if you manage to come up with something good then it may make them think more of your intelligence. :biggrin: