Law interviews @ oxford

Haineko

What are they like? what kind of questions do they ask you?

There's not a special difference between interviews you will get at either.
See therefore my response to the same question on the Cambridge forum:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=5615513#post5615513

Reply 2

Athena

6

You could look at these profiles: http://oxbridge-admissions.info/profiles/profiles-show.php?w=221
http://oxbridge-admissions.info/profiles/profiles-show.php?w=207

They were both sucessful candidates. There are more profiles on the site for both Oxford and Cambridge, so it's worth a browse.

Reply 3

CrystaLite

I heard that the questions you get asked can really vary depending on the tutor who interviews you.

Some choose to give you a passage to read (probably something that you have never seen before) to analyse and then discuss at the interview, some give you different "legal" scenarios to discuss possible solutions to (i.e. If a cyclist is travelling in the opposite direction in a one way road and gets hit by a brick dropped by a builder overhead, what can he do?), some might choose to ask only general questions such as why this college, why this uni, why law, or perhaps discuss current affairs which are related to Law etc.

In this sense its very difficult to "prepare" for an interview. But many have suggested reading newspapers (in particular The Times on Tuesdays) to pick up the terminology and keep up to date with current affairs etc. Also, this could be of help to you when preparing for the essay part of the LNAT.

Reply 4

The Oxford law course is unique in that its titled Jurisprudence.
You should, therefore, understand what this means in terms of how studying law at Oxford is different to studying law at other universities and hence why the course interests you/why you want to study there.

CrystaLite

In this sense its very difficult to "prepare" for an interview. But many have suggested reading newspapers (in particular The Times on Tuesdays) to pick up the terminology and keep up to date with current affairs etc.

It is difficult to prepare for the interview specifically because of the breadth of what they can ask you. But you should be prepared to answer questions like "Why...Law?Oxford?jurisprudence?this college?"
When answering such questions you really need to project confidence and interest.

The Times Law Supplement on Tuesdays (if thats what you are referring to) should be read selectively, if at all, to prepare for the interview.
Some articles by the likes of Gibb and Pannick are good but, in the most part, the supplement is really aimed for people that practice law.

Reply 5

Athena

6

I know some of the people I met at interviews were asked "Is torture ever acceptable?" and asked to create laws about defining what a dwelling is, what a lie is, etc. These may seem simple, but they aren't - for example, if a tramp sleeps and eats in a doorway, is that a dwelling? Should lying be illegal, and if so, where do you draw the lie? What if the lie protects someone? What about parents who tell their children Santa exists?

Reply 6

hmmm - the questions really need thinking. I think the hard part is coming up with a good answer on the spot.

Reply 7

WokSz

hmmm - the questions really need thinking. I think the hard part is coming up with a good answer on the spot.

It is hard to answer Oxbridge law interview questions on the spot. However, remember that the answer that you give doesn't have to be perfect. If you are given a "law" scenario then you should discuss all the elements of the question and cite both sides/more than 2 sides of an argument of what could result. Oxbridge Law interviewers are interested in your style of thinking: whether you cover most/all the points, whether you can spot points that are rarely noticed and whether you can develop substantiated arguments/p.o.v based on them.

Reply 8

another quick question: after doing the LNAT, how long does it take to get your result?

Reply 9

*embers*

In my interview I was given a passage to analyse (which contained a fairly long judgement) and was given a section from the theft act from another country and given various scenarios, and I was asked to decide whether they amounted to theft and why. It took aggges for my LNAT result to come through, I sat it in October, and recieved the result in Jan or even Feb if I remember...the LNAT website tells u when they issue results
:smile:

Reply 10

*embers*

my interview was Teddy Hall by the way, Im sure it was different elsewhere

Reply 11

but does Oxford, or any university for that case, mind if you do the LNAT the same year you apply?

double post

You have to do the LNAT in the year you are applying.

Reply 14

Nutter

14

kizer

double post

You know there's a "Delete Post" function, don't you? :p:

Reply 15

You have to do the LNAT in the same year that you are applying to Oxford.
They base who they interview, soon afterwards, on results.

Reply 16

yeah but say I do the LNAT in September 2006 and am applying the same year for the 2007 academic year, will they wait for the results of the LNAT before giving me an answer?

Reply 17