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Girl humiliated at Cambridge interview!

Reply 20

cchilstonev1

1

Witches_Rave

Imagine turning up and being asked whether you knew who Adolf Hitler was or not. That's hilarious :rofl:

I honestly didn't know who Joseph Stalin was until less than a year ago.

Reply 21

Indievertigo

15

hobnob

Reading the Guardian, apparently. :p:

I asked for that haha :rofl:

5am is insomniac style lateness, perhaps that is so. Or maybe they were up about to go out for an early morning jog. :giggle:

Reply 22

missygeorgia

18

Jesus, is nobody allowed to criticise Oxbridge without being called a 'bitch' who 'can't handle it'?

Reply 23

Chewwy

17

burningnun

I'd have said yes, even thought I don't!

actually made me lol. good post :smile:

Reply 24

FadedJade

15

missygeorgia

Jesus, is nobody allowed to criticise Oxbridge without being called a 'bitch' who 'can't handle it'?

Of course they are. But that article is clearly very biased without any knowledge of the style of a Cambridge interview.

Reply 25

Norfolkadam

18

Surely the idea is that she should have defended herself. If she can't do that then maybe she didn't belong at Oxbridge. If she was humiliated then that is a bit bad but it was in private and distressing for a bit but then she sold it to the papers and made a huge fuss about it. Grow up.

Reply 26

Lady Venom

14

Media spin. Old article. Get over it. She obviously wasn't what Oxbridge were looking for.

Reply 27

Advanced Subsidiary

18

I hate Camebridge and Oxford. Even if I get distinctions I still wouldn't apply to these uni's. They are soooo rude!!!! and the students are rude too.

Reply 28

rkd

12

Absurd

Do you realise that this article was written in 2001?

And about a 1997 interview.

Reply 29

samanthaelizabeth

Profesh

In Eton, someone got buggered, once. His name was Boris Johnson.

Lol...just made me smile :smile:

Reply 30

KwungSun

13

Guys I think we're overstretching our complacency with the inherent "toughness" of Cambridge interviews here. This story is certainly not news worthy, but neither is it appropriate for a Cambridge interview to degenerate into a barrage of personal insults. There's a difference between asking tough questions and being condescending in an effort to humiliate an applicant. If I was in that kind of interview I would have left after two minutes (only to return an hour later with a few hoods armed with baseball bats to take the place apart of course).

Reply 31

AWZC

13

Advanced Subsidiary

I hate Camebridge and Oxford. Even if I get distinctions I still wouldn't apply to these uni's. They are soooo rude!!!! and the students are rude too.

Of course no ones stereotyping here :rolleyes:

Reply 32

hobnob

14

thisisyesterday

I think it highlights the sad truth about the elitist element of Cambridge, and how social background will determine whether or not you get in.

So I'd say that is newsworthy, yes.

How was that a story about elitism and social background? :confused:

To me it just reads like the story of someone who messed up her interview, because she misinterpreted everything her interviewer said or did as a personal attack and/or an attempt to patronise and humiliate her, when he was probably just trying to draw out an applicant he perceived as unusually shy and defensive and get her to argue her points as she would be expected to in supervisions. I really don't see what's so terrible about being told you're talking gibberish when you are.
It's regrettable that she experience the whole thing so negatively, of course, but she was at least partly responsible for it, because she let the whole situation unsettle her so much and because she clearly had the wrong idea of what an interview would be like if she was expecting to be complimented on her GCSE results and asked "so, what are your favourite books, then?".
And as for her refusal "to give Oxbridge even a second look", for postgraduate study that's really nothing to be proud of, it was just an incredibly childish and stupid reaction.

Reply 33

Hopefull

9

I am a firm believer in 'No smoke without fire' It may well be the case that she was not cut out for it etc etc but all too often we hear of people ridiculed at interviews such as these.

Lets be honest it is probably not the most news worthy piece but imagine if that was your daughter (or son) who had gone there, would your opinion be the same?

Reply 34

Agneisse

1

KwungSun

Guys I think we're overstretching our complacency with the inherent "toughness" of Cambridge interviews here. This story is certainly not news worthy, but neither is it appropriate for a Cambridge interview to degenerate into a barrage of personal insults. There's a difference between asking tough questions and being condescending in an effort to humiliate an applicant. If I was in that kind of interview I would have left after two minutes (only to return an hour later with a few hoods armed with baseball bats to take the place apart of course).

IMHO the problem is not with her interview (which, assuming that what 'happened' was not taken out of context and blown up, her anger is valid), but more with how she felt the need to write this article four years after said interview that reeks of bitterness. Big surprise, lots of Oxbridge 'rejects' still do well elsewhere. It's not the end of the world.

Reply 35

CatatonicStupor

15

Hm. Who was googling "Oxbridge elitism" early on this morning to create a lovely rant on TSR? :p:

Alls I can say is, if you can't grow a pair for an interview, don't apply to Uni, regardless of where you apply - you're meant to show you have a brain and can think on your feet, not just run off tail between your legs when told you're wrong.

What makes me laugh is: "her immediate attention was drawn to my GCSE results and A-level predictions" - what? So you cared that the first thing the interviewer did was question your credentials; your right to be there. Silly woman. I went to an interview once, and the first thing the interviewer did was ask me something related to what I was applying for - on the spot straight away. Obviously, (though it didn't appear as obvious to Tracy whatsherface did it), if you have an interview, it usually means you're among the "best" candidates they've asked to see, and they should whittle you down to get the ones who will 'flower' the most in their three/four/five year course...

UGH. What a waste of an article. Oh well - it was in the Guardian, home of all the "trendy lefties".

Whatever!

The whole scoffing at Essex thing is pretty disgusting, really.

Reply 38

thisisyesterday

14

Okay so let's say this example is a bad one. Are people really denying that ox-bridge admissions aren't riddled with snobbery and elitism, generally speaking?

Reply 39

The West Wing

18

thisisyesterday

Okay so let's say this example is a bad one. Are people really denying that ox-bridge admissions aren't riddled with snobbery and elitism, generally speaking?

Generally speaking, no. There is a provision for this to not affect overall admissions, namely that people get interviewed by two different people and the overall decision to admit somebody is taken by a third person, overseen by a fourth - each more senior than the former.

Girl humiliated at Cambridge interview!

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