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To those at Cambridge- how did you feel after your interviews?

How can you say thinking you have done well is a bad sign?You know you have done well if you get to most of the answers surely without constant help(ie my bad interview).

Sciences interviews are quite different from social sciences and arts interviews, where there is often no right or wrong answer. This may make it harder to tell if one has done well or not.

Reply 21

Hitomi777

2

What I liked about the interview was that the interviewers were really nice (one of them even complimented my jumper :smile:

), but the "subject" interview was bad for me as English isn't my mother language :frown:

Reply 22

BWCW

18

I felt pretty terrible - I wasnt confident with any of my interviews, just felt that one was 'better' than the other. I thought I'd just come off as really stupid, especially because it took me a good 5 or so minutes to answer some questions. I had high enough UMS to know I wasn't going to be rejected straight out, but I was convinced I was going to be pooled - incredible to be accepted then!

So don't worry if you feel not so great afterwards - you're naturally probably going to be hyper-critical of yourself, and go over the tiniest details - I know I did! Whilst struggling in your interview can sometimes be just that, other times it shows that you're really responding to their teaching, and being pushed beyond your comfort zone, which is what they're looking for. Good luck / hope it went well! :smile:

Reply 23

BP_Tranquility

5

I'd be quite interested in seeing NatSci responses :smile:

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Reply 24

Hitomi777

2

Original post by BP_Tranquility

I'd be quite interested in seeing NatSci responses :smile:

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Are you Bio or Phys. and which college? :P

Reply 25

BP_Tranquility

5

Original post by Hitomi777

Are you Bio or Phys. and which college? :P

Phys NatSci at Catz

Reply 26

opalescent

7

I thought that my subject interview went poorly, with my answers mediocre at best and absolutely disastrous at worst. However, I thought that my entrance test went really well...and so I was very flummoxed by my feedback, which said that I'd shone at interview but that my entrance essay, while demonstrating potential, had lacked structure and was sometimes incoherent. I did get an offer but was startled that my future supervisors' perception had been the reverse of my own!

Reply 27

Pilz

1

The thing is, there must be people who felt terrible about their interviews AND didn't get in. So I guess the conclusion is you really can't tell whether you'll get in from how you felt about it!

Reply 28

Ellie0

Hi, I'm fiz natsci at catz. I've felt really good just out of the interviews, though the more I think about it the less well I think it went. ButI'mststill optimistic :smile:

Reply 29

Pilz

1

I can't believe it - you guys were right!

After my interview at Churchill, I went through the biggest intellectual insecurity of my life, picking out all the silly mistakes I made in the interview. I spent a lot of time regretting the obvious things I've missed in the questions. I thought I'd be lucky to get pooled!

But what do you know, last weekend I received a letter from Churchill saying that I got an offer. :tongue:

Reply 30

TVIO

12

Original post by Pilz

I can't believe it - you guys were right!

After my interview at Churchill, I went through the biggest intellectual insecurity of my life, picking out all the silly mistakes I made in the interview. I spent a lot of time regretting the obvious things I've missed in the questions. I thought I'd be lucky to get pooled!

But what do you know, last weekend I received a letter from Churchill saying that I got an offer. :tongue:

Just glanced over the thread and I felt the EXACT same way about my interviews. Also got my offer from Churchill...Maybe Churchill gives particularly tough interviews. My thought process was that: Churchill didn't really like me, so they *might* pool me. But if they do then I'll definitely be rejected as I look quite bad on paper. So was 100% certain I'd be rejected.

Reply 31

Doones

21

It would be interesting to know on a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being "awesome") how well people THINK they did, and then compare to what their college actually scored them from their feedback...

I suspect there's a poor correlation!

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Reply 32

Glider Gun

3

To be honest, I thought my interview went really well. I was convinced I'd got an offer. This was for maths.

Reply 33

Hitomi777

2

Original post by Glider Gun

To be honest, I thought my interview went really well. I was convinced I'd got an offer. This was for maths.

I had the same for Bio Nat Science...

Reply 34

Kolasinac138

16

Original post by Glider Gun

To be honest, I thought my interview went really well. I was convinced I'd got an offer. This was for maths.

Usually the people who think they did well get rejected and those who think they did bad get in

Reply 35

Glider Gun

3

Original post by Kolasinac138

Usually the people who think they did well get rejected and those who think they did bad get in

I think there is actually very little truth to that. The situation is more like this: Most people think they did badly, because Cambridge interviews are in general very hard. Some of those will obviously get in, and they will tell people how awful they thought their interview went. Then everyone who thought their interview went badly will latch onto it, to keep their hope up. Then to prevent themselves from being put down by people who actually thought they did well, they'll discourage them into silence and self-denial by perpetuating the completely unfounded drivel that if you think you did well, you probably did badly and will get rejected. It's just a trendy thing to say that makes everyone feel better, so everyone mindlessly repeats it.

If you think you did well in your interview, you probably did. If you think your interview went badly, it probably didn't go brilliantly, but of course that does not mean an automatic rejection, since you do not know how well everyone else did in comparison.

Reply 36

Kolasinac138

16

Original post by Glider Gun

I think there is actually very little truth to that. The situation is more like this: Most people think they did badly, because Cambridge interviews are in general very hard. Some of those will obviously get in, and they will tell people how awful they thought their interview went. Then everyone who thought their interview went badly will latch onto it, to keep their hope up. Then to prevent themselves from being put down by people who actually thought they did well, they'll discourage them into silence and self-denial by perpetuating the completely unfounded drivel that if you think you did well, you probably did badly and will get rejected. It's just a trendy thing to say that makes everyone feel better, so everyone mindlessly repeats it.

If you think you did well in your interview, you probably did. If you think your interview went badly, it probably didn't go brilliantly, but of course that does not mean an automatic rejection, since you do not know how well everyone else did in comparison.

I was kind of half-joking there. Because I thought my interview was quite bad and I got rejected.

Seems like most people who are 'no hopefuls' get offers, though.

Reply 37

madaboutausten

3

Original post by Dalek1099

I have had two interviews one went really well the other not so well but one of the students said they had one good and one bad interview.How can you say thinking you have done well is a bad sign?You know you have done well if you get to most of the answers surely without constant help(ie my bad interview).I made quite a lot of mistakes in both interviews so don't be put off if you do and even got confused over a possible C3 graph(makes me think I should go over sketching graphs not one of my strengths).I think upon reflection even in the bad interview I was able to show mathematical knowledge and managed to get to some answers(probably not as many as everyone else though) although I had a lot of help so overall I think I have done well and will get an offer.