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Are interview prep day from companies like Oxbridge Applications worth the money?

I'm applying for Cambridge this year and I need some help with the interview. I'll go through it with my teachers but is a course with Oxbridge Applications for interview preparation (for £300!) worth the money, or is it a rip off?

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Rip off

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd

Rip off

This...especially since no amount of mock interviews can prepare you for the real thing. The Oxbridge interviews are deliberately made to be unpredictable so that the interviewers can see how you think - not how well you deliver rehearsed answers. :wink:

Reply 3

Vinchenko

Original post by AJP

So you know where I'm coming from with this- I have a place at Cambridge starting in 2 weeks, and I didn't go to one of these interview prep things. The thing is, my interviews - the first set at least - were hugely confrontational, and very different to the practice ones I'd had at school. I think it really depends on what subject you want to go and do, I probably had the most argumentative type since I was applying for Law. Largely, it's to show your critical thinking and logic type skills in a quick-fire situation, and also really whether you're very personable, since they have to teach you for 3/4 years! You can't teach any of these skills.

IMO, the only advantage you'd get from doing one of these things is to make you a bit less nervous at the very quick-fire and tough interview style which lots of schools aren't great at. Then again, you don't want to be confident or anything, since then you'll make mistakes and so on, and I'm sure that these courses aren't THAT good, and probably inflate people's chances a bit since, well, they're paying.

In short: probably won't do much harm, probably not worth the money, if anything will just make you more confident - but that's not necessarily a good thing. If I had unlimited time and money and was doing it all again, I might go, but with a very sceptical eye, and questioning everything I was told. In the real world, I'd probably not, I have better uses of my time!

Reply 4

Extricated

The interview prep will be (more than likely) a simple combination of confidence boosting skills and a learning of rehearsed answers. The Oxbridge interviews are very unpredictable and are based solely on academic merit. Sure, the interview prep may help you for the general interview, but academic merit is what they are looking for, and no amount of interview preparation is sufficient to compensate for that. Although I would say it's good for boosting confidence, it certainly is not worth the £300 so I would much rather arrange a mock interview with a teacher (preferably one that is in your subject area and you don't know that well)

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 5

ian.slater

Original post by AJP

Maths, NatSci and Engineering interviews are mostly solving problems, sometimes with preparation. In these subjects it's wise to prepare with a technically competant person who gets how the game works. You don't prepare for the interview; you practice solving problems.

If this is your subject area, PM me and I'll tell you a bit more - I do some practice interviews with students.

The only commercial offering I've heard of focussed on general interview technique, with cameras and so on. I doubt these are of value.

You have probably already looked at http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/interviews/ - Cambridge take trouble to make their process transparent.

Reply 6

Derek_the_Sheep

Original post by ian.slater

You have probably already looked at http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/interviews/ - Cambridge take trouble to make their process transparent.

Similar for Oxford, interview videos etc.: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/how_to_apply/interviews/interview_videos.html

I've no experience of what the paid-for"interview prep" courses offer, but I have been to a few "Oxbridge days " at schools, where the school has employed an outside company to "do interviews". The ones I saw got it utterly wrong: their version of a interview was to ask some obvious general questions ("tell us why you want to do this course") and then let the "applicant" deliver a prepped statement uninterrupted. Anyone whose been though in Oxbridge interview will tell you it's not like that at all! As others above have said, the interviews are subject-specific and technical; the interviewers will take you quickly out of your comfort zone and see how you cope, and how you cope discussing things with them. Unless someone at the interview-prep company is a real expert in the subject, they simply won't be able to do that.

:sheep:

Reply 7

chinaberry

Considering most people who got in didn't have something like that...if you have to pay £300, are you right for Oxbridge? You're not meant to be manufacturing something which isn't there. They want to see you talking about something how you'd do it naturally, not trying to tick all the boxes.

Reply 8

physicsfuntimes

I know a few people who went to some prep days and they didn't seem hugely blown away by the help given. A bit of practice, but not much on top of what our school had done (which was minimal anyway). I back up what others are saying... waste of money, especially if you don't have it to spare. The interviews are unpredictable and often more based on thinking and working things out, than actual knowledge or technique.

Reply 9

mrt23498

Original post by AJP

yeah rip-off.

St Mary's Calne had them over and they invited some of the near by schools to participate for free.

So I went to it. I didn't find mine particularily useful. I applied to Medicine for Oxford and comparing the interview I was given compared to the four interviews at Oxford. They were lot different.

So if you had the opportunity to go in free like I did then it's worth it, but paying £300 is definitely not worth it or even £15. I guess it helps you start thinking on your feet.

Reply 10

Rascacielos

The admissions tutors warn against it. A bit like admissions tests, you can't really "prepare" for them because they're designed to be a test of pure skill. It's not always your knowledge that leads to success in an interview - it's the person who's most suited to the course and unique style of learning at Oxbridge, and you can't learn that from any course. Chances are, you'll be given a text to read before your interivew and you have absolutely no idea what that is until you're given it. So, the best thing you can do to prepare is read some books/articles on your topic, which might come in useful in a discussion and give depth to your answer, as well as showing an interest in your area of study. Also, every time you read something, try to think critically about its points and arguments - are the points supported/well-reasoned? If not, why not? Do you agree with the points? If so, why? Or can you offer an alternative hypothesis? How can you link the issues raised in the text to things you've learned at school, or current affairs? How can you apply what you've learned at school to this particular text? What do you think the author is trying to say? Why is he/she saying it? Those are the sorts of questions you'll be asked in your interview, so make sure you're asking yourself about them when reading a text. If you do that, it'll come more naturally in the interview, but you can do that in your own time - you don't need to pay someone to "teach" you.

The thing is, everyone who gets an interview at Oxbridge is pretty much academic enough to get a place there. But they can't offer a place to everyone - they simply don't have enough space. So the admissions tutors have to make a really tough decision to reject those people who they would often like to make an offer, but simply can't because of numbers. If you get an interview, you can be really proud of yourself - if you get an offer, obviously you'll be even happier. But if you don't, then that's probably not because you're not clever enough, it's simply because the admissions tutors didn't think study at Oxbridge was right for you. And it's not the end of the world if you don't get in because you don't need to go to Oxbridge to "succeed" - whatever that word means to you.

Good luck :smile:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 11

Octohedral

No. I've met the CEO of Oxbridge Applications and he is highly charismatic, did PPE at Oxford, and quite clearly saw a gap in the market for making money out of other peoples' stress. That doesn't mean it won't have some impact, but it's a business that piggy-backs the Oxford/Cambridge image to gain huge amounts of money.

The interviewers know people are nervous, and they are used to seeing people who are clearly 'polished' interviewees - they will see through it. My experience was that they tried to make it as natural as possible, so as long as you talk they can judge you on who you are, not how confident you sound.

The interviews are there for a reason, and even if there was a way around them, it's not necessarily the best thing either for that student or the tutors. Save your money. :smile:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 12

deFossard

Rip off. Mock interviews don't really teach you very much anyway. They're just useful for helping you defend your own arguments/personal statement/submitted essay in front of a stranger. Your school should organise that for you easily enough.

Reply 13

Wookie42

A sibling of mine works for them at the moment so I hear some interesting stories! While its obvious that the prep will at least slightly improve your chances of getting in, the amount of money you have to hand over in return is pretty crazy - there are people who literally ring up and book in for everything (thousands of pounds) which is just ridiculous to me since you either have the edge or you don't, money can only do so much in a situation like this.

If I were you I'd try and find a current or ex-Oxbridge student to see if they'll talk things through with you and give you some tips, since in essence, that is all anyone at Oxbridge Applicants will be able to offer you. I do have to say though, that anyone saying things like this:

"The interview prep will be (more than likely) a simple combination of confidence boosting skills and a learning of rehearsed answers."

Has no idea what OA have to offer. I'm not suggesting that spending tons of money will guarantee anything, but its slightly more than a case of rehearsing past questions etc - there's a reason everyone who works there is an Oxbridge grad you know :smile:

Reply 14

soutioirsim

Original post by mrt23498

St Mary's Calne had them over and they invited some of the near by schools to participate for free.

Haha! I was invited to that too :biggrin:

I turned it down in the end. I wanted to be as natural relaxed as possible in my interviews and I knew that if I did have a mock, then I would of focused/obsessed too much on the negatives.

Reply 15

probably not

Original post by Wookie42

...its slightly more than a case of rehearsing past questions etc - there's a reason everyone who works there is an Oxbridge grad you know :smile:

so? while people who've got into oxford or cambridge seem to act as if they know have the secret of exactly how oxbridge admissions works, the admissions process itself is pretty opaque from a student's perspective - they're just not engaged with it at all, save for having spent three days three years before doing it.

it's very sweet how everyone with a 2.i from oxford and cambridge think they're amazing, but there's a big disconnect between guessing what's desirable to people who admit undergraduates, and how to go about making potential undergraduates maximise that, and actually knowing and assessing it...

Reply 16

Wookie42

Original post by probably not

I don't think they claim to know the system inside out, but I wholly agree with you! I didn't mean for my post to come across as Oxbridge grads = know everything about the application process, and re-reading it I don't think it does :confused:

All I mean is, Oxbridge grads have been through the system and know which qualities admissions tutors may be after - that certainly doesn't mean it will help them on interview, however the interview process is only a small part of what Oxbridge Applicants offer and those 3 days isn't everything an Oxbridge applicant has to get through, lets not forget that.

Original post by probably not

it's very sweet how everyone with a 2.i from oxford and cambridge think they're amazing, but there's a big disconnect between guessing what's desirable to people who admit undergraduates, and how to go about making potential undergraduates maximise that, and actually knowing and assessing it...

If that was part of a response to my post, I'm confused. Most Oxbridge grads I know are some of the modest people I've met believe it or not, I suppose it depends what kind of circles you mix in.

Reply 17

Tortious

Original post by Wookie42

If that was part of a response to my post, I'm confused. Most Oxbridge grads I know are some of the modest people I've met believe it or not, I suppose it depends what kind of circles you mix in.

It may be a case of a "vocal minority". :wink:

Reply 18

probably not

Original post by Wookie42

All I mean is, Oxbridge grads have been through the system and know which qualities admissions tutors may be after

this is the bit i dispute - they know the first but don't know the second. you can't generalise from your own experience.

If that was part of a response to my post, I'm confused. Most Oxbridge grads I know are some of the modest people I've met believe it or not, I suppose it depends what kind of circles you mix in.

nah, it's really just the same point again - the assumption that from having gone through the interview process you know what admissions officers are looking for, which is basically "me and people i know"

Reply 19

Gridiron-Gangster

I was thinking of attending a private consultation with Oxbridge Applications as I'm a mature student applying for Land Economy at Cambridge. I'm put off by the price (£240) and on top of that I would have to travel down to London so that increases costs etc.

I wouldn't mind the interview preparation days too much seeing as I'm not at school/college I won't have any other opportunities.

But is it really worth attending for this private consultation? I mean I'm worried if I don't go I'd be harming my chances of success.