This discussion is now closed.
Check out other Related discussions
- How To Get An Oxford Engineering Offer: Chapter 3 - Super-curricular and Resources
- After ESAT: Imperial Interview Invites
- Cambridge 2024
- Oxford Demystified - Engineering
- How to get screened into Rols royce graduate scheme
- Imperial Mechanical Engineering
- biomedical engineering interview at imperial
- Degree apprenticeships Interview - eee
- BAE systems 2023 - Aerospace engineering degree apprenticeship
- Imperial Engineering Offer
- Degree apprenticeships 2025
- Pre CAS interview
- what supercurriculars should I be doing?
- Leonardo 2022 Graduate Schemes
- For interviews in Nat Sci
- Barhale Ltd - Assessment Centre Advice Please.
- ESAT discussion and questions for Design Engineering course at Imperial College.
- supercurriculars for engineering + general tips and advice?
- Oxbridge personal statement
- SMC Prep
Engineering Interview Questions/Problems.
Hi
I was wondering what type of questions you are usually, if at all, given in university engineering interviews (by questions I mean problems, eg mathematical, to solve).
By the way I am thinking about Chemical Engineering but I would imagine that since engineering is new to most people at university level questions for any engineering discipline will be based around maths/physics.
Thanks in advance
I was wondering what type of questions you are usually, if at all, given in university engineering interviews (by questions I mean problems, eg mathematical, to solve).
By the way I am thinking about Chemical Engineering but I would imagine that since engineering is new to most people at university level questions for any engineering discipline will be based around maths/physics.
Thanks in advance
Scroll to see replies
I went for a civil engineering (Meng) interview at Cardiff and it was almost like a chat. I'm sure they called it an "informal interview" though. Anyway I planned extensivly for it and I think I came across quite confident. Questions likely to be asked are:
Why this uni?
why chemical engineering?
Then they may ask you something about your interests, hobbies and work experience that you stated in your personal statement.
I wouldn't worry about it at all and its very doubtful they will ask you any maths/physics based questions though they may ask you if you enjotyed these subjects.
O and my best tip of all time is ASK QUESTIONS! It makes you look interested in the course/ university, plus it bulks out the interview and give your vocal cords a rest from all the prepared sentances you have.
Hope to have given you an insight a little. And good luck!
Why this uni?
why chemical engineering?
Then they may ask you something about your interests, hobbies and work experience that you stated in your personal statement.
I wouldn't worry about it at all and its very doubtful they will ask you any maths/physics based questions though they may ask you if you enjotyed these subjects.
O and my best tip of all time is ASK QUESTIONS! It makes you look interested in the course/ university, plus it bulks out the interview and give your vocal cords a rest from all the prepared sentances you have.
Hope to have given you an insight a little. And good luck!
Depends on the uni. Most will just ask you simple questions about A Level work at most. They will all ask you the normal interview questions i.e. why this type of Engineering? why this uni? what do you see yourself doing in 10 years? Oxbridge aside, 99% of the time an interview = an offer
My experienes:
Sheffield didn't interview me
Manchester and Warwick interviewed me but didn't ask technical questions
Bristol asked me a question about capacitors which I messed up. Still got an offer though
Imperial asked me about my Physics coursework and some Maths (volumes of revolution)
Cambridge gave me 30 minutes of academic torture
My experienes:
Sheffield didn't interview me
Manchester and Warwick interviewed me but didn't ask technical questions
Bristol asked me a question about capacitors which I messed up. Still got an offer though
Imperial asked me about my Physics coursework and some Maths (volumes of revolution)
Cambridge gave me 30 minutes of academic torture
shyopstv
Oxbridge aside, 99% of the time an interview = an offer
Oxbridge aside, 99% of the time an interview = an offer
Agree.
From what I remember, questions I was asked:
1) Why this university?
2) Why Engineering?
3) What do you see yourself doing in 5 years time?
4) Asked me stuff on my UCAS statement and told me to elaborate on certain things, in particular my A-level Design and Technology project.
Before any interview, know your UCAS statement, the university, the course you applied for, and some things to say about the future...and you'll be fine.
Like someone said before, think of some generic questions to ask. Admissions like enthusiastic and interested students.
If you can't show interest in your course and don't know why the hell your at the interview, then you could get declined!!
Yep, what everyone else said.
I wasn't asked any technical questions and i applied to some pretty good unis for engineering. Bristol, Nottingham, Southampton, etc
Manchester gave me an offer even though i diddn't turn up to the open day.
I think you will only be asked academic questions at oxbridge and possibly imperial. I know at bristol they sometimes do, but it all depends on the interviewer and the department.
You basically need to remember.
1) Why you want to study the course
2) Why you want to study at that uni
etc
I wasn't asked any technical questions and i applied to some pretty good unis for engineering. Bristol, Nottingham, Southampton, etc
Manchester gave me an offer even though i diddn't turn up to the open day.
I think you will only be asked academic questions at oxbridge and possibly imperial. I know at bristol they sometimes do, but it all depends on the interviewer and the department.
You basically need to remember.
1) Why you want to study the course
2) Why you want to study at that uni
etc
Essentially it depends on the University you are applying to. I had applied to Cambridge, Imperial, Nottingham, Loughborough, Bath and Manchester. Save for the latter 2, I was interviewed at the other 4, from only Imperial and Cambrdige asked anything technical.
The main question that I was asked was
1) Why this course?
2) Why this University?
and that was really it and this was very similar to a lot of the Engineers from my school - heck one guy who went up to Nottingham for an interview ended up listening to a violinist with his interviewer on the guys computer because my mate had stated that he was a keen violinist.
My Imperial interview was semi-difficult. The interviewer was just trying to see how my mind ticked and did a question about water flowing through pipes for about 5 questions - asking about different principles and such. He then asked me two simple calculus questoins and that was it.
The Cambridge interview wasn't extremely nice. They asked me 2 Pure questions, 2 electricity questions and 2 mechanics questions. They weren't too bad, come to think of it.
The main thing in these interviews is that you should be relaxed and calm. You're probably going to end up pressuring yourself more than you need to so don't worry if you mess up - the interviewers know that this may be your first interview which can be a daunting experience so don't panic if everything doens't go how you'd like it to - it doesn't matter whether you get everything right in an interview - they are normally looking to see how you go about solving problems and thinking around them.
The main question that I was asked was
1) Why this course?
2) Why this University?
and that was really it and this was very similar to a lot of the Engineers from my school - heck one guy who went up to Nottingham for an interview ended up listening to a violinist with his interviewer on the guys computer because my mate had stated that he was a keen violinist.
My Imperial interview was semi-difficult. The interviewer was just trying to see how my mind ticked and did a question about water flowing through pipes for about 5 questions - asking about different principles and such. He then asked me two simple calculus questoins and that was it.
The Cambridge interview wasn't extremely nice. They asked me 2 Pure questions, 2 electricity questions and 2 mechanics questions. They weren't too bad, come to think of it.
The main thing in these interviews is that you should be relaxed and calm. You're probably going to end up pressuring yourself more than you need to so don't worry if you mess up - the interviewers know that this may be your first interview which can be a daunting experience so don't panic if everything doens't go how you'd like it to - it doesn't matter whether you get everything right in an interview - they are normally looking to see how you go about solving problems and thinking around them.
The only academic interviews were Durham and Cambridge.
Durham asked me to sketch cos and cos2 graphs then discussed the difficulties of making a multi-layer PCB with surface mount components. They rejected me by the way.
At Cambridge it was some mechanics questions to do with forces on a big chunky metal yo-yo. Such as why it sometimes rolls the opposite direction to what you pull it in, and considering moments. Then working out the resistance of a load of resistors soldered together to form a tetrahedron shape. I didn't know any of the answers straight away but luckily the guy interviewing me helped me without trying to make me feel like a fool!
Durham asked me to sketch cos and cos2 graphs then discussed the difficulties of making a multi-layer PCB with surface mount components. They rejected me by the way.
At Cambridge it was some mechanics questions to do with forces on a big chunky metal yo-yo. Such as why it sometimes rolls the opposite direction to what you pull it in, and considering moments. Then working out the resistance of a load of resistors soldered together to form a tetrahedron shape. I didn't know any of the answers straight away but luckily the guy interviewing me helped me without trying to make me feel like a fool!
thefish_uk
Then working out the resistance of a load of resistors soldered together to form a tetrahedron shape.
Haha, the classic Cambridge engineering interview question, most people can not do it the 1st time, thats why its so popular.
thefish_uk
ketch cos and cos2 graphs then discussed the difficulties of making a multi-layer PCB with surface mount components....
At Cambridge it was some mechanics questions to do with forces on a big chunky metal yo-yo. Such as why it sometimes rolls the opposite direction to what you pull it in, and considering moments. Then working out the resistance of a load of resistors soldered together to form a tetrahedron shape.
At Cambridge it was some mechanics questions to do with forces on a big chunky metal yo-yo. Such as why it sometimes rolls the opposite direction to what you pull it in, and considering moments. Then working out the resistance of a load of resistors soldered together to form a tetrahedron shape.
Do you think they actually wanted correct, accurate answers though, or were they looking to see if you were thinking smart and looking at the right sorta stuff, roughly?
Yes I understand that the better unis only want the best, and that knowing the answers may go some way to showing your extreme (and rather sickenig) dedication to engineering, but blimey, I just hope they realise that not all great engineers knew that stuff before uni!!
Imperial actually asked me no technical questions at all.. the guy was basically like... I'm not here to put you on the spot so relax and let's have a chat... which was a pleasent surprise considering I'd applied for EEE (quite highly regarded). However my colleagues who applied to Imperial for EEE and Aeronautical got questions on further math (sketching graphs of inverse hyperbolic functions damn) and something about an image being formed on a mirror, respectively.
At Cambridge I got a basic calculus one - sketching the graph of a function, and a mechanics one on forces on a pulley + inclined plane which was tough given I hadn't started mechanics at the time.
At Cambridge I got a basic calculus one - sketching the graph of a function, and a mechanics one on forces on a pulley + inclined plane which was tough given I hadn't started mechanics at the time.
I would definitely expect a curve sketching question, newtons laws/gravitation/orbits are regulars, something to integrate (worst case scenario would be substitution and you can't see what you should substitute, or a integration by parts and you don't recognise it as such, doubt most places would be so harsh though). You can expect a fictitious scenario, i.e. in my Cambridge one my interviewer asked me to walk him through all the engineering considerations that need to be made when designing a bridge, a very broad question aimed at seeing how you think. Electronics/electricity is obviously a good one, but usually only on the basics but you'd be surprised how many people trip up on those.
For chem eng, I'd expect a question on thermodynamics, nothing too complex but you should have covered 1st law in physics A-level, maybe one to see if you can apply newtons laws to continuum mechanics (i.e. fluid flow), its easy but that you need to consider mass flow rates and so momentum=mv becomes mom = m[dot]v (m[dot] is mass differentiated w.r.t. time). Remember not everything comes in the form of a mathematical question, it might just be drawing diagrams and talking about it and righting down bare equations without the algebra.
The big one they can give you if they want to stretch you is deriving the escape velocity of earth starting with the universal gravitation law F=GMm/r^2. The key is to spot that this can be written in differential form from dW = F dr, sub F in, integrate between radius of earth and infinity, and then equate the remainder to eqn of K.E. (= 0.5mv^2), rearrange, substitute in values and bada bing, out pops V. This is a classic because it draws in a lot of aspects of maths and physics together, which is what engineering is at the end of the day.
I suspect most of the above would be irrelevant unless you have an Oxbridge/Imperial interview, I've heard Imp are making a move into doing Oxbridge type interviews, though back in my day it was just simple state Newtons laws, why engineering, why Imperial blah blah.
For chem eng, I'd expect a question on thermodynamics, nothing too complex but you should have covered 1st law in physics A-level, maybe one to see if you can apply newtons laws to continuum mechanics (i.e. fluid flow), its easy but that you need to consider mass flow rates and so momentum=mv becomes mom = m[dot]v (m[dot] is mass differentiated w.r.t. time). Remember not everything comes in the form of a mathematical question, it might just be drawing diagrams and talking about it and righting down bare equations without the algebra.
The big one they can give you if they want to stretch you is deriving the escape velocity of earth starting with the universal gravitation law F=GMm/r^2. The key is to spot that this can be written in differential form from dW = F dr, sub F in, integrate between radius of earth and infinity, and then equate the remainder to eqn of K.E. (= 0.5mv^2), rearrange, substitute in values and bada bing, out pops V. This is a classic because it draws in a lot of aspects of maths and physics together, which is what engineering is at the end of the day.
I suspect most of the above would be irrelevant unless you have an Oxbridge/Imperial interview, I've heard Imp are making a move into doing Oxbridge type interviews, though back in my day it was just simple state Newtons laws, why engineering, why Imperial blah blah.
Basically I applied to Cambridge (Pembroke), Imperial, Manchester, Nottingham & Birmingham to do Chemical Engineering. The only university which had a proper interview was Cambridge, and then it was 3 proper interviews and the TSA. The Manchester person asked me a little about what I was studying in Physics but other then that it was just a chat.
Basically for a Cambridge interview I now know that you should revise mechanics and gravitational physics heavily and then the knowledge that you've picked up by memory from your lessons should suffice for the other questions. Wont ask you anything in real detail about Chemistry, might ask you to describe something or give you a choice of something and your reasoning behind that choice. Just be confident and try not to pause too long before answering. TSA is pretty straightforward, do the practice one before and you'll be fine. I got pooled and rejected but I think it was my TSA, rather than interview performance that caused that. If I knew what I'm telling you know, I would have had a much better chance of getting an offer. As it is I'm very, very happy going to Imperial.
Basically for a Cambridge interview I now know that you should revise mechanics and gravitational physics heavily and then the knowledge that you've picked up by memory from your lessons should suffice for the other questions. Wont ask you anything in real detail about Chemistry, might ask you to describe something or give you a choice of something and your reasoning behind that choice. Just be confident and try not to pause too long before answering. TSA is pretty straightforward, do the practice one before and you'll be fine. I got pooled and rejected but I think it was my TSA, rather than interview performance that caused that. If I knew what I'm telling you know, I would have had a much better chance of getting an offer. As it is I'm very, very happy going to Imperial.
Following on from what others have said:
Also be prepared for general engineering questions that are just set to see how you think about problems. If you're interested in music they might talk generally about the design of a musical instrument- why is it designed the way it is? How is it designed? Could you think of way to reduce costs? Would this have an impact on the quality of the design? All these questions could be applied to anything that is on your general section of your PS- sports, hobbies, activities.....
The key thing is to make sure that you show your interested, that when you pick something up you do actually have thoughts of what the engineering is behind the object. The interviews are not there to catch you out, they are there to try and engage with you on subject that you are interested in. Show then that you are interested.
Hey, though all of that is basically what has already been said
Also be prepared for general engineering questions that are just set to see how you think about problems. If you're interested in music they might talk generally about the design of a musical instrument- why is it designed the way it is? How is it designed? Could you think of way to reduce costs? Would this have an impact on the quality of the design? All these questions could be applied to anything that is on your general section of your PS- sports, hobbies, activities.....
The key thing is to make sure that you show your interested, that when you pick something up you do actually have thoughts of what the engineering is behind the object. The interviews are not there to catch you out, they are there to try and engage with you on subject that you are interested in. Show then that you are interested.
Hey, though all of that is basically what has already been said
I got asked "things" at my Sheffield and... i cant remember where else, but somewhere else DID ask me questions lol...
At sheffied the guy asked me how an aircrafts wings design enable it to takeoff and fly. At the other uni (cant remember which!) i was asked about why a cricket bat is the shape that it is. Oh, and i also got asked about how a combustion engine works and what the difference between a turbocharger and a supercharger is, however, that is because i applied for automotive + mechanical engineering.
I think if you just read up a little on the subject of your course, you cant go wrong. If you dont know the answer to something, then say you dont, instead of waffling on about utter *******s!
At sheffied the guy asked me how an aircrafts wings design enable it to takeoff and fly. At the other uni (cant remember which!) i was asked about why a cricket bat is the shape that it is. Oh, and i also got asked about how a combustion engine works and what the difference between a turbocharger and a supercharger is, however, that is because i applied for automotive + mechanical engineering.
I think if you just read up a little on the subject of your course, you cant go wrong. If you dont know the answer to something, then say you dont, instead of waffling on about utter *******s!
jonas123
Cambridge interviewed me, had a maths test and some questions on the principles of flight (eek!)
Bristol interviewed me, only question was 'What is a good idea?'
Imperial interviewed me, asked me about archimedes' principle and something else very easy.
Bristol interviewed me, only question was 'What is a good idea?'
Imperial interviewed me, asked me about archimedes' principle and something else very easy.
What was the maths test like? Principles of flight seems easy
What is a good idea? One that generates revenue?
Am I supposed to have covered Archimedes' principle?
lapsaJ
What is a good idea? One that generates revenue?
What is a good idea? One that generates revenue?
One that is safe, cheap to build and ultimately will make appropriate returns on intial outlay of capital. Engineering considers technical and commercial aspects of work.
Am I supposed to have covered Archimedes' principle?
Its not that hard a concept really, upward force = weight of fluid displaced, use Newton's laws to work out any forces.
LBC213
One that is safe, cheap to build and ultimately will make appropriate returns on intial outlay of capital. Engineering considers technical and commercial aspects of work.
Its not that hard a concept really, upward force = weight of fluid displaced, use Newton's laws to work out any forces.
Its not that hard a concept really, upward force = weight of fluid displaced, use Newton's laws to work out any forces.
Yeah, I looked into it - seems alright. It's just, will I be likely to get asked things like this that I haven't covered? (not sure if we cover it in the start of A2)
lapsaJ
Yeah, I looked into it - seems alright. It's just, will I be likely to get asked things like this that I haven't covered? (not sure if we cover it in the start of A2)
No. You won't get asked anything you haven't covered. In such cases, they will present the information to you on the spot and see how you handle it and apply it to a set question.
Related discussions
- How To Get An Oxford Engineering Offer: Chapter 3 - Super-curricular and Resources
- After ESAT: Imperial Interview Invites
- Cambridge 2024
- Oxford Demystified - Engineering
- How to get screened into Rols royce graduate scheme
- Imperial Mechanical Engineering
- biomedical engineering interview at imperial
- Degree apprenticeships Interview - eee
- BAE systems 2023 - Aerospace engineering degree apprenticeship
- Imperial Engineering Offer
- Degree apprenticeships 2025
- Pre CAS interview
- what supercurriculars should I be doing?
- Leonardo 2022 Graduate Schemes
- For interviews in Nat Sci
- Barhale Ltd - Assessment Centre Advice Please.
- ESAT discussion and questions for Design Engineering course at Imperial College.
- supercurriculars for engineering + general tips and advice?
- Oxbridge personal statement
- SMC Prep
Latest
Trending
Last reply 1 month ago
Should I study at a good uni or do a degree apprenticeship at a "bad" uni?Last reply 1 month ago
Is it a good idea to do two entrance exams for uni? What should I do???
