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To those already at Cambridge University - did you make any mistakes at interview?

If so, were this serious/minor and so on? I just think it may give some people here worrying about interviews a little confidence boost prior to 'Judgement Day'. I am bound to make at least one mistake, hopefully not a serious one however. By mistake i mean, you may pause for uncomfortably long, or not know the answer to a question, or forget a particular passage of a book you said you had read. Any stories out there?

Thank you.

Reply 1

Gourdman

Mine were major. In a discussion on entropy and protein folding I concluded that proteins cannot fold up. At all. Absolutely impossible. (It isn't) And I said that the phosphate probably doesn't break in the hydrolysis of RNA (it does). And I started talking about friendly bacteria.

Reply 2

alex_hk90

19

Obviously I can't give any specifics but the short answer is yes, I got a question completely wrong.

Reply 3

The West Wing

18

I thought mine went as well as it possibly could have if I'm being honest, and I felt very good about it afterwards despite it being extremely tough.

Reply 4

jcb914

11

I remember being asked what I was currently studying in Economics (even though I'm doing Law..) and replied with "I can't remember". I just went completely blank. Not my best moment.

Reply 5

Supergrunch

10

Some minor ones to do with assigning curly arrows and giving a slightly confused explanation of MRI, but nothing too major. However, I think you'll find that some interviewers expect people to make errors, so you shouldn't necessarily have cause to worry if you do.

Reply 6

Good bloke

19

Tyler Durden

If so, were this serious/minor and so on? I just think it may give some people here worrying about interviews a little confidence boost prior to 'Judgement Day'. I am bound to make at least one mistake, hopefully not a serious one however. By mistake i mean, you may pause for uncomfortably long, or not know the answer to a question, or forget a particular passage of a book you said you had read. Any stories out there?

Thank you.

Judging from this question, I suspect you seriously misunderstand the Oxbridge interview. It is not intended to elicit correct answers for the most part, but to understand how you think and whether you can connect evidence together in order to arrive at and argue a conclusion.

Reply 7

Fillette

14

Gourdman

Mine were major. In a discussion on entropy and protein folding I concluded that proteins cannot fold up. At all. Absolutely impossible. (It isn't) And I said that the phosphate probably doesn't break in the hydrolysis of RNA (it does). And I started talking about friendly bacteria.

Oh dear, that is bad. Probably you were brainwashed from watching too many yakult ads!

Reply 8

jcb914

11

The West Wing

I thought mine went as well as it possibly could have if I'm being honest, and I felt very good about it afterwards despite it being extremely tough.

I'm the complete opposite. I came out thinking I had completely screwed up and was sure I would get a rejection. I thought I answered the questions vaguely and without any substance and that I just completely lacked any intelligence. So...there is hope if you think things have gone wrong :smile:

Reply 9

jcb914

11

Good bloke

Judging from this question, I suspect you seriously misunderstand the Oxbridge interview. It is not intended to elicit correct answers for the most part, but to understand how you think and whether you can connect evidence together in order to arrive at and argue a conclusion.

Whilst that is true, there are ice-breaker questions or questions in passing which are just to ease you in/develop the conversation. Falling at these, if they really aren't that hard, isn't too impressive.

Reply 10

MichaelScofield

1

thought lnx was asymptotal

Reply 11

Fillette

14

Good bloke

Judging from this question, I suspect you seriously misunderstand the Oxbridge interview. It is not intended to elicit correct answers for the most part, but to understand how you think and whether you can connect evidence together in order to arrive at and argue a conclusion.

You are right- you aren't "for the most part". At my history interview- I was asked a lot of questions about the Reformation and dates, sort of like a test.
These were integrated in to the overall debate-type format though.
You never get fired lots of questions like a speed-test.

Reply 12

Good bloke

19

jcb914

Whilst that is true, there are ice-breaker questions or questions in passing which are just to ease you in/develop the conversation. Falling at these, if they really aren't that hard, isn't too impressive.

Of course, but candidates are not expected to and account is taken for nerves at that stage. For the meat of the interview, though, most candidates will be given questions until they reach the limits of their capability; in other words, most people will feel they do badly at some point.

Reply 13

MichaelScofield

1

I remember being asked what I was currently studying in Economics (even though I'm doing Law..) and replied with "I can't remember". I just went completely blank. Not my best moment.

The exact same thing happened to me, although the subject in question was alot more similar to my proposed course.

Reply 14

lavalse

10

yep, half of one of my interviews was entirely based around poem i'd been given to analyse an hour beforehand. i got in, gave my little interpretation and then they slashed me. and said that i'd completely misunderstood it, and when i continued trying to come up with other ideas they sat there shaking their heads!!! twas bad.

apart from that the rest of the interview was great, and my second interview was amazing. i loved every bit of it! although i did make one mistake about a piece of arabic grammar, but i was applying for ab initio so it wasnt a big deal

Reply 15

faber niger

17

Good bloke

Judging from this question, I suspect you seriously misunderstand the Oxbridge interview. It is not intended to elicit correct answers for the most part, but to understand how you think and whether you can connect evidence together in order to arrive at and argue a conclusion.

I hope so, because I would think that I'm much better at the latter than the forum. I may of course not be good enough in either area, however.

Reply 16

smurfling

I'm at Oxford but I made so many mistakes at interview I CRIED the whole evening in mortification, my tutors laughed at me several times. I got into my first choice college though :smile:

Reply 17

*Joanna*

12

Yes. I told him that a teeny tiny bug had a circualtory system. And in another interview I talked about pineapples like they have feelings.

Reply 18

Gottfried Leibniz

Yes, I failed to bludgeon my interviewer to death just as I was about to leave.

Reply 19

Shadow of a Dream

I had the most horrific interview ever - and this is sadly not melodrama on my part (won't go into specifics - the problems all lay with my nerves/complete unawareness of what to expect, not with my interviewers, who were, and still are, lovely). But I (bizarrely!) still got an offer - so there is hope, no matter how badly you think you've done (I was convinced, to the point that I've never been more certain of anything, that I'd been rejected). So please don't panic, all who are off for interview soon - just do your best, and I'm sure you'll all be fine :smile:

To those already at Cambridge University - did you make any mistakes at interview?

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