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How to get better at interviews?

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(edited 10 years ago)
Hello!
I felt this way to begin with; you'll be surprised at how many people applying do - especially those that are applying for subjects that aren't taught at school (for example: Medicine, Law, Vet Med). However, Cambridge are ready for people to feel like that. It is scary - talking to the world's leading scholars in your subject, but the best thing is, is to relish it. How many opportunities do you get to speak to such knowledgable people about a subject you truly enjoy? The advice I'd give you is as follows:
a) Practice talking about your subject to your family. Try and explain some basic principles/ideas, and get some conversation going. You'd be surprised if you get talking about something your family can relate to, you can get some good debate going - which is similar to what you'll do at interview.
b) See if your teacher would have a discussion with you about a topic you're studying at lunchtime in an informal setting. If its History, look at different arguments, different perspectives etc.
c) Read, read, read! Extra-curricular reading was CRUCIAL for my application. It allowed me to bring in knowledge that I wasn't taught, but was really relevant to where the conversation lead. Coming across as well read and genuinely interested in your subject is a really desirable asset (I have found) in the interview process.
d) Stay calm. It all sounds a lot scarier than it is. I was so scared, but once I was in that interview room it was fine. It was scary, but after a few minutes you just feel like you're having a fairly informal, important chat with some nice people that like the same things you do. The key thing that I remembered is that they needed to meet me. They want to get to know who I was and what I was interested in - and that what I put on my UCAS/SAQ wasn't rubbish.

My last word of advice is, if you still really, really don't think you can handle on the spot grilling Oxbridge may not be for you. Interviews are also essentially a taster of what a supervision(Cambridge)/tutorial(Oxford) will be like. Bi-weekly, or sometimes more, these discussions really bring the subject alive and make you challenge your own ideas on the spot. This will be, without doubt, a huge part of the Oxbridge experience. If this isn't something you like doing, Oxbridge may not be the best for you. That isn't saying that you aren't good enough for Oxbridge, its saying that everyone is different, and have different styles of learning. Personally, I love discussing my subject, but I know others who like to keep a distance from their teachers/lecturers and just like to listen.

I hope I've been of some use! I wish you all the best with your university endeavours. x

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