What would you look for?

I have heard lots of stories of oxbridge tutors using seemingly strange and unusual methods of selecting apeople to make offers to from letting their cat decide, to selecting anyone who uses a word they dont know and have to look the meaning up of. I'd like to see what methods people can think for if they were faced with the problems of selecting people. (Please lets keep this thread amusing, :rolleyes:

I think we all agree that the fairest way is for the best applicants to get in :cool:

) My first suggestion would be

Method: throw all the applications towards the bin and only select from those that dont go in. ....

Explanation:I wouldn't want unlucky people in my college!#go away# :biggrin:

Reply 1

thomasjtl

9

Well, the computer scientists picked should just be the the ones on top of the pile- that's the most efficient algorithm i can think of.

Reply 2

xxOoliexx

History students should be selected on the aesthetic merits of the hats they create out of their....HAT papers....that IS what they're for, isn't it?

Philosophy students who reply 'Yes' the the question 'Have you got in to this university?'. Because there is nothing worse than a pretentious wordy philosopher who can't give you a direct reply. So there. :biggrin:

Reply 3

DumberChild

Engineering applicants are ordered to fix the hole in the roof.

The sole one who actually manages to gets in!

Reply 4

7589200

18

For Medics hmm..... rank by 1/(no. of obvious ucas-pleasing extra curriculars)

Reply 5

hobnob

14

hellohello12

For Religious Studies you have to be a God.

You mean you'd accept all applications which got an "Oh my God" type of reaction from you? :p:

Reply 6

CavemanCaveman

Accept the lawyers who will only answer your questions whilst charging for their time to the nearest 15 minutes...

Reply 7

Jerby

For linguists, start speaking in a made-up language of your devising. Intonate a "sentence" as if it were a question. When applicant fails to respond, shout nonsense with increasing volume, complete with enraged facial expressions and flapping arms. Then, give places to those that didn't faint.

Reply 8

leannemarie

11

Jerby

For linguists, start speaking in a made-up language of your devising. Intonate a "sentence" as if it were a question. When applicant fails to respond, shout nonsense with increasing volume, complete with enraged facial expressions and flapping arms. Then, give places to those that didn't faint.

Haha that actually sounds quite like a languages interview.

Reply 9

Abra

14

The Geologists who managae to find the oldest rock in Oxfordshire with a time limit of 1000 years will win.

Athena

Geographers should be given a map to get to their interviews, and whoever gets least lost gets the place :p:

I have to admit this 1 is good!!

Reply 10

thomasjtl

9

Human Scientists should, as a basic entry requirement, be human.

Is the same expected of computer scientists?

Reply 11

Lidka

13

For English, tell the applicant to wait in the study whilst the tutor nips to the loo. Leave them for 10 minutes, and if they haven't picked a book off the shelf and started reading it by the time you come back, they're not in.

Alternatively, have a sign on the door with an apostrophe placed incorrectly. The really good ones won't be able to help correcting it. :p:

Reply 12

mousy

14

Lidia

For English, tell the applicant to wait in the study whilst the tutor nips to the loo. Leave them for 10 minutes, and if they haven't picked a book off the shelf and started reading it by the time you come back, they're not in.

Alternatively, have a sign on the door with an apostrophe placed incorrectly. The really good ones won't be able to help correcting it. :p:

Haha i like this.

Reply 13

ukgea

6

Take the Architecture applicants for a stroll around town, and point at every building you see and ask them "When was this built?" The ones who guess closest get in. A very objective and fair system.

Reply 14

thomasjtl

9

No - they should bring in the college's faulty old PCs and get each CS interviewee to fix one! It would save a fortune in tech support.

NO NO NO NO NO! Compscis don't fix computers- we design abstract systems that don't break in the first place. Honestly.

Reply 15

Catsmeat

13

Maths applicants should be asked, quite simply;

"What number between 1 and 10 am I thinking of right now?".

Engineering applicants should be asked to design, from a pile of old materials, the means to travel to their interview (the coridoor leading to it having been filled with sharks and water and mines).

Reply 16

hobnob

14

'Death of a Joyce scholar'

Engineering applicants should be asked to design, from a pile of old materials, the means to travel to their interview (the coridoor leading to it having been filled with sharks and water and mines).

So how will the interviewers get out of the room again if no suitable candidate shows up?

Reply 17

Jerby

hobnob

So how will the interviewers get out of the room again if no suitable candidate shows up?

Naturally there's a pile of scrap in the room as well, and the dons should definitely be able to invent something.

Reply 18

Catsmeat

13

Exactly...that's how they would get the job, you see.

Reply 19

hobnob

14

Jerby

Naturally there's a pile of scrap in the room as well, and the dons should definitely be able to invent something.

Good point... That's probably how they got to the interview room in the first place. :biggrin:

Experimental Psychology: "Now I want you to try and find out what I want to ask you."

What would you look for?

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