My Mechanical Engineerring Interview Experience

Hi all, dont often post on here, but thought id talk about what my interview day was like for those who have one coming up soon.

Firstly don't be worried about what to wear at all, most people come wearing formal clothing, with a few people in suits, however i dont recall anyone in jeans.

About 40 of us all gathered in a room at around 10.45 at which point they start by making each one of us stand up one at a time and introduce yourselves to the group, and also say something quickly about why you want to do mechanical engineering, they really made it quite formal.

After which we are spoken to by the admissions people who do about 2 hours showing us powerpoint presentations (with a 10 min break inbetween), which in all honesty wasn't very interesting, considering if you went on the mechanical engineering open day at imperial you would have seen it before as it is mostly the same presentation. They did give a chance for us to ask questions if we had any though.

They also told us briefly about what the actual interview would be about, mentioning that the interviewer will be asking you technical questions that are subject related, but mostly the point of the interview is for you to prove your interest to continue with mechanical engineering over the next 4 years of your life.

This was followed by lunch then a tour of the campus by 2nd year students where you are split into groups of 10 or so. This was quite interesting as they dont have any fixed tour route and baisically just take you wherever you want to go, it also seemed like they enjoyed it a bit as they got to go to parts of the uni they dont usually see and sneak around in places where they werent meant to be.

The tour groups are done by around 2.30 at which point everyone comes back to the main room. The interviews are set at 2.15,2.45,3.15 and 3.45 and you basically just go to the room on the timetable for the interviews which you get at lunch time. After your interview is done you are free to go home, so people left from about 2.45 onwards but others were wating for quite some time for their interviews.

My interview lasted about 25 min and i was just prompted to talk about stuff on my personal statement and we just really discussed what i have done in the past and why i want to study at imperial and what i believe imperial offers to me. I was expecting some maths/physics questions but want asked any. I was then told that i would be recommended for admission and should expect an offer of A*AA. I know this wasn't the case with many others as some people were grilled with Q's and come out crying really, it did however seem that the interviewers have made their mind up before you go into the interview room for quite a few people.

Most importantly don't worry about your interview, as the interviewers do give you a fir chance for you to demonstrate why you want to do the course and as long as you have something to talk about you wont have any problems.

I also spoke to others on other interview days and they said it was exactly the same as my day so i guess thats what to expect.

Thanks for sharing this and congratulations on the recommended offer.

How long before your interview did you get a response from imperial inviting you?