The Student Room Group

Post Assessments - Pre-interview Ask an Admissions Tutor

Hello all. Having discussed things with other colleges involved in TSR, we agreed to re-run the thread from the same time last year to try to offer reassurance and general advice to candidates between the admissions assessments and the interviews.

I can't discuss the content of the Admissions Assessments so please don't ask nor can I say for certain how colleges are going to be using them in their decision making.

The purpose of the thread is to provide general advice and reassurance about the process between now and the start of the interviews in early December, so if you have a query please do send it. I will try to answer as quickly as possible but please bear in mind that things are busy at the moment in Cambridge admissions offices so have patience and I promise to get back to you.

I can't answer on behalf of colleges other than Murray Edwards but I can provide some advice or at least a window into the way colleges behave so don't feel you have to be a Murray Edwards applicant in order to ask. A lot of the time, though, the answer will be 'email your college and ask!'

A series of short tips about how to prepare for your interviews will be going up on the Murray Edwards Instagram account over the coming days and weeks from interviewers, students and members of staff at Medwards so do check those out.

Thank you and best of luck in your preparations for interview.

Scroll to see replies

How do I prepare for maths interviews? Apart from solving maths puzzles, what other questions will come up (my other interests etc.)? What about personal statement, will admission tutors discuss things in my ps?

Thank you.
Original post by Andy Lau
How do I prepare for maths interviews? Apart from solving maths puzzles, what other questions will come up (my other interests etc.)? What about personal statement, will admission tutors discuss things in my ps?

Thank you.


Hello and thanks for your question. You've pretty much hit the nail on the head by suggesting Maths puzzles. There is unlikely to be much of a focus on your PS in a Maths interview (not true for many other subjects where it might well form a part of at least one of your interviews) or on your other interests. What the Maths interviewers will be interested in is how good and, crucially, how quick you are at Maths.

How can you prepare? The best preparation is to practise STEP questions, as this will help prepare you for STEP if you are accepted but also will help with the type of Maths that you might well get asked at interview or in your college test, if they have one.

I hope that helps and best of luck! :smile:
Original post by Murray Edwards Admissions
Hello and thanks for your question. You've pretty much hit the nail on the head by suggesting Maths puzzles. There is unlikely to be much of a focus on your PS in a Maths interview (not true for many other subjects where it might well form a part of at least one of your interviews) or on your other interests. What the Maths interviewers will be interested in is how good and, crucially, how quick you are at Maths.

How can you prepare? The best preparation is to practise STEP questions, as this will help prepare you for STEP if you are accepted but also will help with the type of Maths that you might well get asked at interview or in your college test, if they have one.

I hope that helps and best of luck! :smile:


Thank you! One more question, do interview questions focus more on pure maths? Or it’s half pure half applied? Just to make sure that I’m revising the right things!
Original post by Murray Edwards Admissions
Hello all. Having discussed things with other colleges involved in TSR, we agreed to re-run the thread from the same time last year to try to offer reassurance and general advice to candidates between the admissions assessments and the interviews.

I can't discuss the content of the Admissions Assessments so please don't ask nor can I say for certain how colleges are going to be using them in their decision making.

The purpose of the thread is to provide general advice and reassurance about the process between now and the start of the interviews in early December, so if you have a query please do send it. I will try to answer as quickly as possible but please bear in mind that things are busy at the moment in Cambridge admissions offices so have patience and I promise to get back to you.

I can't answer on behalf of colleges other than Murray Edwards but I can provide some advice or at least a window into the way colleges behave so don't feel you have to be a Murray Edwards applicant in order to ask. A lot of the time, though, the answer will be 'email your college and ask!'

A series of short tips about how to prepare for your interviews will be going up on the Murray Edwards Instagram account over the coming days and weeks from interviewers, students and members of staff at Medwards so do check those out.

Thank you and best of luck in your preparations for interview.


Best advice on preparing for Medical Interviews at Cambridge? :smile:
Original post by Andy Lau
Thank you! One more question, do interview questions focus more on pure maths? Or it’s half pure half applied? Just to make sure that I’m revising the right things!


No problem. You should naturally be prepared for both pure and applied questions.
Original post by XxxvatxxX
Best advice on preparing for Medical Interviews at Cambridge? :smile:


Think about why you want to become a doctor and how your experiences thus far have helped prepare you for it but also focus on your science, especially your chemistry and be prepared for some tough scientific problem solving.
In terms of the medicine interview, would there ever be a separate, general interview or is it always two science-based interviews?
What is the best way to prepare for an interview in the physical natural sciences? How many different topics is each interview likely to cover and will questions be asked on topics we have already covered in class (indicated by SAQ)?
How would you prepare for an engineering interview?

Is PS often used in these interviews?

What skills or personality traits etc are you looking for?
Hi! If I do end up getting an interview I will have a "general" interview (Selwyn, NatSci). Could you describe what could come up, for example could the personal statement come up? I don't have a typical background so should I expect to be asked questions about this?
I am sorry if this question is tricky, the word "general" itself is vague and probably suggesting the possible broadness of the interview. If you have any info on those types of interviews I'd be happy to hear :smile:
Thank you!
Reply 11
Hi,

Please see my post https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5041956
what is your advice on what I should do now (or if I should do anything)?
(edited 6 years ago)
Any tips for preparing for a (hopeful) economics interview?
Will I be asked questions about biology in a medicine interview even though I don't have it as a subject? I have done a lot of reading on it (which I have mentioned in my PS) but I don't have the detailed knowledge you get from studying it as a subject in school. Or am I only going to be asked questions on physics, chem and math as those are my subjects? Also, how much of the interview is about work experience/ personal statement and how much is on science questions? Should I revise physics and chemistry or just try to relax before the interview?
Original post by eimzky
In terms of the medicine interview, would there ever be a separate, general interview or is it always two science-based interviews?


Colleges do things differently. Some will have a separate general interview, where they will focus more on your suitability to become a doctor, while others will incorporate that element into one or both of the scientific interviews.
Original post by Murray Edwards Admissions
Hello all. Having discussed things with other colleges involved in TSR, we agreed to re-run the thread from the same time last year to try to offer reassurance and general advice to candidates between the admissions assessments and the interviews.

I can't discuss the content of the Admissions Assessments so please don't ask nor can I say for certain how colleges are going to be using them in their decision making.

The purpose of the thread is to provide general advice and reassurance about the process between now and the start of the interviews in early December, so if you have a query please do send it. I will try to answer as quickly as possible but please bear in mind that things are busy at the moment in Cambridge admissions offices so have patience and I promise to get back to you.

I can't answer on behalf of colleges other than Murray Edwards but I can provide some advice or at least a window into the way colleges behave so don't feel you have to be a Murray Edwards applicant in order to ask. A lot of the time, though, the answer will be 'email your college and ask!'

A series of short tips about how to prepare for your interviews will be going up on the Murray Edwards Instagram account over the coming days and weeks from interviewers, students and members of staff at Medwards so do check those out.

Thank you and best of luck in your preparations for interview.


Best way to prepare for an Economics interview?:smile:
Original post by black1blade
What is the best way to prepare for an interview in the physical natural sciences? How many different topics is each interview likely to cover and will questions be asked on topics we have already covered in class (indicated by SAQ)?


You should revise material from what you've done in class but you're unlikely to be asked it the way you are at A Level, so the material might be the same but the setting might be different.

You should expect questions on Maths, Physics and Chemistry (assuming you've done both of the latter at A Level) but as for how many different tpics you might cover, that will vary from candidate to candidate and interview to interview.
Original post by GausIsTheBoss
How would you prepare for an engineering interview?

Is PS often used in these interviews?

What skills or personality traits etc are you looking for?


Maths and Physics questions will form the basis of an engineering interview. You might find this website helpful in preparing. The PS might be used as a jumping off point but is unlikely to be a major parrt of the interviews.

We're not looking for specific personality traits, people are different and there are lots of different types of people who make successful engineers. We want to know that you're good at Maths and Physics!
Hello there,
Someone mentioned to me that there may have been a change to the compulsory pooling requirements, is this true? Particualrly for Post-A Level?
Thanks a lot.
Original post by IcedArizona
Hi! If I do end up getting an interview I will have a "general" interview (Selwyn, NatSci). Could you describe what could come up, for example could the personal statement come up? I don't have a typical background so should I expect to be asked questions about this?
I am sorry if this question is tricky, the word "general" itself is vague and probably suggesting the possible broadness of the interview. If you have any info on those types of interviews I'd be happy to hear :smile:
Thank you!


It will probably (though not definitely) be with a scientist of some description and may well focus about things on your PS. It will still have an academic focus but I can't tell you more as I'm not at Selwyn! :smile:

Latest