Post Assessments - Pre-interview Ask an Admissions Tutor

OP

Original post by Ainur123

Can a bad bmat score rule someone out of a place at Cambridge? If Cambridge interview most people, why do they wait for bmat scores to call for medicine interview? (especially if it's true that only a super bad bmat would otherwise prevent someone from obtaining an interview)

On it's own, no, a poor BMAT score is not going to rule someone out of a place but they will need to show strength elsewhere in the application.

The reason why we wait for BMAT before sending out interview invitations is because we do not wish to give students the impression that we thought the rest of their application was strong or weak. We know that the interview and application process is stressful enough without opening up a whole new window of anxiety about when exactly you heard you were getting an interview and what tat might mean for how we are assessing the application.

I think I've said this elsewhere but there tend to be three types of medicine candidate at this stage - those we're going to interview regardless of BMAT; those for whom we want to see what BMAT says before making a decision about interviews; and those whom only a good BMAT score will ensure that they get an interview. Letting candidates know which group they fall into at this stage would be counter-productive for both them and us, hence the wait.

Reply 61

OP

Original post by bateaux

Hello! I have applied for MML, and I was wondering if you knew if there are any available practice papers for the admissions test, outside those already listed on the course page, I would really like to get some more practice in! Also, what would you say would be the best way to prepare for an MML interview?

No, sorry, we don;t have any secret extra papers that we only give out to those that ask! :wink:

Seriously, though, we've only been running the assessments for two years and so there isn't a huge amount of information. We're committed to ensuring that everything we have is made available publicly for applicants and potential applicants to engage with.

Best advice for the interview - practise your language/s as at least part of one of the interviews will be in the language/s for which you're applying. Re-read your PS and essays and be prepaed to talk about the aspects of your chose language's/s' culture that most interested you at this stage. Keep an eye out for those countries in the news.

Best of luck! :smile:

Reply 62

OP

Original post by ImprobableCacti

Are subjects without admissions assessments likely to give interview invites sooner than subjects with?

Yes. We started sending out interview invitations for at-interview assessment subjects on Friday and will continue this week. We probably won't be sending ones for pre-interview assessment subjects until at least the middle of this week and final decisions will be made on them early next week. Other colleges may be doing things slightly differently timetable-wise but not massively.

Reply 63

ImprobableCacti

15

Original post by Murray Edwards Admissions

Yes. We started sending out interview invitations for at-interview assessment subjects on Friday and will continue this week. We probably won't be sending ones for pre-interview assessment subjects until at least the middle of this week and final decisions will be made on them early next week. Other colleges may be doing things slightly differently timetable-wise but not massively.

Great! Thank you!

Reply 64

OP

Original post by Potato09

Best way to practise for an AMES (Chinese) interview?

As with other Humanities interviews, re-read your PS and essay/s, engage with short articles discussing your subject, think about China in the news and be prepared to talk more about what aspects of Chinese language, culture and history interest you.

Reply 65

OP

Original post by southpacific

Is it normally possible to change the interview date if I e-mail the college? I'm international. My friend (also having an interview) and I will have to travel together as she's under 18, but we have different interview dates!

At this stage it is going to be very difficult to change the date of your interview. Colleges are organsising hundreds of interviews and are dealing with teams of four interviewers who often have very busy schedules, so we can't easily schedule a single interview for a subject on a different day from the one/s agreed on. There's no harm in asking (and it won't damage your chances if you do ask) but it will be hard for us to accommodate the request.

Reply 66

OP

Original post by themight

What about the ECAA results?

They should arrive with CAO any minute and will then be passed onto colleges as soon as possible.

Economics, Nat Sci and Engineering arrive today. As the largest pre-interview subjects , their marking has been prioritised.

Reply 67

username3515346

9

Original post by Murray Edwards Admissions

By 4pm Friday 17 November.

So should English applicants expect a rejection/interview invitation next week?

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 68

OP

Original post by user20167

So should English applicants expect a rejection/interview invitation next week?

I would expect so, yes. You *might* get one earlier but I would expect you to receive one next week.

Reply 69

bateaux

12

Original post by Murray Edwards Admissions

No, sorry, we don;t have any secret extra papers that we only give out to those that ask! :wink:

Seriously, though, we've only been running the assessments for two years and so there isn't a huge amount of information. We're committed to ensuring that everything we have is made available publicly for applicants and potential applicants to engage with.

Best advice for the interview - practise your language/s as at least part of one of the interviews will be in the language/s for which you're applying. Re-read your PS and essays and be prepaed to talk about the aspects of your chose language's/s' culture that most interested you at this stage. Keep an eye out for those countries in the news.

Best of luck! :smile:

Thank you!

Reply 70

fcmcmurray

9

Hi,I was just wondering if you'll be updating the Murray Edwards twitter page when the interview invitations have been sent out as you did last year? I know that I'd like to see updates as to when things come out, although I don't think it would make me any less nervous.Thanks!

Reply 71

Ainur123

4

HI, how far can an interview compensate for a bad bmat? (and how far can bmat compensate for a bad interview?)

Also would someone with 5.5 in s1 and s2 still have a chance of receiving an offer?

thank you :smile:

Reply 72

jmbang18

2

Hi, I've applied for Economics at Newnham and I was wondering if I should focus more on practicing my maths or economics related areas in preparation for my interview. Furthermore, I am also curious if my ECAA scores will make a huge difference when selecting candidates for an interview or not... Thank you for your help for trying to reassure students!!

Reply 73

OP

Original post by fcmcmurray

Hi,I was just wondering if you'll be updating the Murray Edwards twitter page when the interview invitations have been sent out as you did last year? I know that I'd like to see updates as to when things come out, although I don't think it would make me any less nervous.Thanks!

Hello and thanks for the question. Yes, we have started to do that and Catherine, our SLO, will be updating the page daily with the subject in which interview invitations have gone out.

Reply 74

OP

Original post by Ainur123

HI, how far can an interview compensate for a bad bmat? (and how far can bmat compensate for a bad interview?)

Also would someone with 5.5 in s1 and s2 still have a chance of receiving an offer?

thank you :smile:

The answer to your second part is yes, plenty of people are successful with scores of around 5.5. in Section 1 and Section 2.

For the first part, we're looking at more than just BMAT and the interviews - we're looking at everything and we want as much data as we can. Very few candidates are strong in everything and most candidates have areas of strength and weakness and one can certainly be accepted with parts of your application (be they BMAT, interviews, GCSEs or anything else) that are weaker than other parts.

Reply 75

OP

Original post by jmbang18

Hi, I've applied for Economics at Newnham and I was wondering if I should focus more on practicing my maths or economics related areas in preparation for my interview. Furthermore, I am also curious if my ECAA scores will make a huge difference when selecting candidates for an interview or not... Thank you for your help for trying to reassure students!!

You're welcome, glad to be of help. Obviously I can't speak for Newnham and how they will handle their interview decisions but I think that there is a general sense that the pre-interview assessments are more used positively than negatively - as a reason to interview a candidate if they've done well than to rule them out if they've done badly. We are trying to avoid using the assessments as the sole reason for why a candidate is not called for interview.

As for the interviews themselves, the two areas are clearly related and any maths that you do in the interview will be relevant to an economics-type problem. I would say that they are probably most concerned about Maths at this stage (as, in the end, Maths is a compulsory subject at A Level or equivalent if you want to study Economics, and Economics isn't) but you should be thinking about your maths and, indeed, your other subjects in relation to how they can be applied to the study of Economics.

I hope that helps and best of luck.

Reply 76

Najung

7

Hello Murray Edwards Admissions! (It is my second time asking you a question after summer holiday)

I took my NSAA, and I am waiting for the interview decision. I just have a question about natsci (biological) interview.
I didn't take IB biology (which is obviously a disadvantage), but I studied more than half of the syllabus by myself and noted this fact on COPA. I am just a bit worried that if my interviewer asks me a bunch of biology specified questions, it is very probable that I would not be able to answer at all and not perform my best.
Will the interview be specified to my interest (like chemistry/biochemistry that I've written on my PS/COPA) and will the interviewers consider my choice of subjects in IB options?

Reply 77

OP

Original post by Najung

Hello Murray Edwards Admissions! (It is my second time asking you a question after summer holiday)

I took my NSAA, and I am waiting for the interview decision. I just have a question about natsci (biological) interview.
I didn't take IB biology (which is obviously a disadvantage), but I studied more than half of the syllabus by myself and noted this fact on COPA. I am just a bit worried that if my interviewer asks me a bunch of biology specified questions, it is very probable that I would not be able to answer at all and not perform my best.
Will the interview be specified to my interest (like chemistry/biochemistry that I've written on my PS/COPA) and will the interviewers consider my choice of subjects in IB options?

Hello and welcome back! :smile:

The interviews may involve some elements around your own interests but some will be questions that are asked of everyone. If you do get questions on biology that you find hard, then remind your interviewers that you haven't done biology in the IB and they will then hopefully give you more help with it and expect to see different things from your answer (i.e. how quickly you respond to the help that they are giving you).

Reply 78

themight

8

When can we expect to get invitations for Economics?

Reply 79

OP