The Student Room Logo
Applying to Uni for 2024? Find your Uni here and chat with others! >>
Applying to Uni for 2024? Find your Uni here and chat with others! >>
Applying to Uni for 2024? Find your Uni here and chat with others! >>
This thread is closed

So you want to go to oxford? Tell me about a banana

Scroll to see replies

olly_springs
AHHHHH DON'T ANSWER THIS THREAD.

I went for a week at Cambridge on their 6th Form Law Conference and the Admissions Tutor said that people have lost their place at Cambridge before for posting comments about their interviews on TSR. So don't do it, or end up somewhere rubbish like UEA :smile:


Hmm...I've just become extremely interested, since I'm applying to go this year. Was it any good?
Reply 21
Avatar for dadude
dadude
OP
so how would one best answer a question like: tell me about a light bulb? for an engineering applicant like myself. Are there any impressions you would try to give when answering a random question like this.
Reply 22
Avatar for BJack
BJack
19
dadude
so how would one best answer a question like: tell me about a light bulb?


Well, how does a light bulb work? What are its advantages and disadvantages? Are there more efficient alternatives? Why don't we use those? These questions should all be fairly straightforward to answer, though one might imagine that in an interview it could be a bit more difficult to think of all these things.
Muppety_Kid
Hmm...I've just become extremely interested, since I'm applying to go this year. Was it any good?


Yea it was absolutely brilliant, one of the best week's I've had. It was entirely organised by students with no help from staff, so it was great fun. You've probably seen the timetable from last year, but the days were full of lectures from the lecturers which weren't at all boring and were really interesting, and in the evenings there was a debate and mock trial with a couple of QCs in the Cambridge Union. Oh and the first night we had a formal meal which was sooooo nice and posh :biggrin:.

Only downside was it was out of term time so not many people around.

Don't just apply, rip up all the applicants forms so you definately get a place. I can't recommend it strongly enough.
Reply 24
Avatar for puntoycoma
puntoycoma
Are Oxbridge Applications actually helpful? Should I consider them seeing as my school doesn't do any 'special' Oxbridge interview preparation, or are they a waste of money?
olly_springs
Yea it was absolutely brilliant, one of the best week's I've had. It was entirely organised by students with no help from staff, so it was great fun. You've probably seen the timetable from last year, but the days were full of lectures from the lecturers which weren't at all boring and were really interesting, and in the evenings there was a debate and mock trial with a couple of QCs in the Cambridge Union. Oh and the first night we had a formal meal which was sooooo nice and posh :biggrin:.

Only downside was it was out of term time so not many people around.

Don't just apply, rip up all the applicants forms so you definately get a place. I can't recommend it strongly enough.


Cool, I've decided I'll go for it and take a week off college. What the hell - I can copy the work up (or most likely do it in advance) and no doubt I'll have a great time. It sounds quite impressive to be able to say "yeah, I got invited to a Law conference at Cambridge last year...it was all right. :cool:" :p:
Reply 26
Avatar for hobnob
hobnob
14
I thought it was about time for Oxbridge Applications' annual press release about Weird Oxbridge and their Weird Interview Questions...:rolleyes:
Reply 27
Avatar for Scipio90
Scipio90
olly_springs
I went for a week at Cambridge on their 6th Form Law Conference and the Admissions Tutor said that people have lost their place at Cambridge before for posting comments about their interviews on TSR. So don't do it, or end up somewhere rubbish like UEA :smile:


That's unlikely, surely? Once they've given an offer, they'd have to go through a lot of bother to retract it, and I don't remember any rule which says you can't discuss your interview with other applicants.
Reply 28
Avatar for hobnob
hobnob
14
Scipio90
That's unlikely, surely? Once they've given an offer, they'd have to go through a lot of bother to retract it, and I don't remember any rule which says you can't discuss your interview with other applicants.

Well, but directly after the interviews (which is when people are most likely to be discussing them with other applicants) they wouldn't actually have gone through the entire process of giving out the offer yet. So technically it would be possible to "retract" an offer.
dadude
I would like to know whether such bizare questions are asked during interviews at oxbridge for which no preperation is possible. I am slightly worried after reading articles such as the following:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/education/universityeducation/3198006/Oxbridge-candidates-asked-Seedless-or-non-seedless-grapefruit.html

Its a recent article, amongst several, so do the media really lie so blatently or is there some truth there. Can people back up there opinion with some sort of proof or experience plz. thanks


Right, firstly, Oxbridge Applications clearly have no interest in debunking myths about Oxbridge. They only want to spread misinformation in order to flog their tawdry and dubious services. This article is a press release for them.

Oxbridge Applications is a company that offers "interview preparation". It costs several hundred pounds and provides a similar service to that which someone in your school will undoubtedly provide for free. Don't use them.

The "bizarre questions" that they state are provided with no context at all. And without any context, they do indeed seem bizarre. The interviewers aren't trying to catch you out. They don't want to throw you. Any seemingly odd questions will come after a long build up. You wouldn't walk into a Geography interview and immediately be asked "How does Geography relate to A Midsummer Night's Dream?" for example. The candidate had, no doubt, written about "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in his or her personal statement.

Sometimes, an odd question, like "Should we have laws for the use of lightbulbs" is designed to see how you form arguments. You would give a couple of arguments to support your point. The interviewer would then give some counter-arguments which you might then respond to. The idea of the exercise is to watch you try to formulate arguments to back up a point of view that you might not have considered before. Asking about abortion, or civil liberties or something might benefit a current-affairs aware candidate over a more talented one who didn't read the newspapers.

I don't think anyone is lying, but I don't think they're entirely truthful either. What subject are you applying for?
In a rare and surprising move, the guardian had this thoughtful and well-researched article about odd questions and Oxbridge: link.

I always complain when the Guardian slates oxbridge, but that is a helpful and balanced response to the Oxbridge Applications press release.

For anyone who wants to see interview questions in context, have a look at this produced by Emmanuel College, Cambridge: link.
yeah... I was asked whether a pen was a banana(?)
Reply 32
Avatar for hobnob
hobnob
14
Arrogant Git
In a rare and surprising move, the guardian had this thoughtful and well-researched article about odd questions and Oxbridge: link.

I always complain when the Guardian slates oxbridge, but that is a helpful and balanced response to the Oxbridge Applications press release.

Well, the article is called "Expect the Unexpected", after all.:biggrin:
Arrogant Git
In a rare and surprising move, the guardian had this thoughtful and well-researched article about odd questions and Oxbridge: link.

I always complain when the Guardian slates oxbridge, but that is a helpful and balanced response to the Oxbridge Applications press release.

Uhhhhh... you might like to read the Guardian article a bit further, and note that it's based on the same press release, and discusses Oxbridge Applications even more than the Telegraph article.

Posters here have pretty much reached the right conclusion - all the questions in Oxbridge Applications' "weird question" list were actually posed to applicants (or, at least, applicants have told OA that they were asked those questions), but obviously some of them are out of their rightful context, and are present mostly for their humour value. Obviously they are all actually sensible questions - Oxbridge interviewers have a vital job to do and no time to waste in an interview to do it in, so there is method behind all the madness. The point of the article, and a valid one it is, is to remind applicants that they must be prepared to think at interview, rather than just recite things they've learned.

(Usual annual disclaimer: I do web work for Oxbridge Applications on a project basis, but I'm not an employee and don't directly benefit from their interview preparation events.)
Reply 34
Avatar for hobnob
hobnob
14
ThePants999
Uhhhhh... you might like to read the Guardian article a bit further, and note that it's based on the same press release, and discusses Oxbridge Applications even more than the Telegraph article.

Well, obviously, but unlike the Telegraph article, it puts the weirdness of the questions into context by contrasting them with a sensible statement by the sensible Mike Nicholson about what interviews try to do. And that's what the press release-based newspaper articles usually fail to do, because it reduces the comedy value of just printing those questions without much further comment about how they might actually make sense in context.
ThePants999
Uhhhhh... you might like to read the Guardian article a bit further, and note that it's based on the same press release, and discusses Oxbridge Applications even more than the Telegraph article.


I read the article. They discuss the press release but only after allowing the admissions tutor the chance to put across why difficult questions were asked. Read the telegraph and guardian articles. Which one has more chance of making you hand over money to Oxbridge applications for your little dear.

In the guardian, the context of the questions is explored in much greater depth and Oxbridge Applications is emphasised as a service for candidates with "deep pockets". Besides, the important thing is the first couple of paragraphs.
I think I misunderstood your point - I was thinking you meant the entire article was a counterpoint to the press release. Sorry!

Still, I'd say the Guardian article does a better job of "selling" Oxbridge Applications, as it actually mentions what they do :smile: whereas the Telegraph one just mentions their preparation weekend in passing. (Note also the "free preparation days for EMA students" bit!)
I was asked NOTHING that wasn't social and political sciences.
I can't underline enough the fact that if you want to know about the whole interview process, the best information is on the university websites themselves. If you get information from the universities, it is guaranteed to be accurate and up to date. The universities are well used to the questions applicants have. They have provided thorough and reliable information with these in mind.

The universities have no hidden agendas. Newspaper articles and application assistance companies are involved in the business of selling newspapers/advice, convincing people to pay them for information etc. This may lead to claims that there are 'secrets' to uncover and general dramatisation of the whole process.

This page on interviews in Cambridge is excellent and has links to videos about the process and mock interviews: http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/interviews/index.html. There is even an email address provided for if you have a specific question that the site doesn't answer.

A lot of the colleges have information on their sites too.
The Torygraph lives in the 19th century. (And before any of you get funny, yes, I do live a couple of millenia before that. :cool:)

Related discussions

Trending

Latest