HELP - Cambridge Interview - HisPol

I had my Cambridge interview for History and Politics earlier this week and cannot stop thinking about them.

My politics one was largely okay but my interviewers seemed visibly tired and weren’t particularly engaged, I think I answered most of the questions well but they were rather abstract (not conceptual but seemingly unrelated to the course).

My history interview is the one I can’t stop thinking about. We started with my submitted application which was largely okay (though I didn’t say anything noteworthy) and then moved onto a source. My interviewer had to hold my hand all the way through a very really quite simple source and I got the date of a key (please let me stress key) historical event significantly wrong; I don’t know how to describe it but I don’t think it could have been interpreted as a gaffe.

Most of the time I was plodding along and for the rest of the time I was drowning and making an academic fool of myself.

[For context I have A*A*A and a good personal statement.]

Please don’t sugarcoat it, I’ve tried my best not to think about it, I know nothing I do now can change anything, I know people who think they did bad can get in, I know nothing anyone says to me affects the chances of me getting in (particularly considering that decision has most likely been made).

I think what I’m asking for is honesty. How bad is it ?

Thank you in advance for any and all responses.

Reply 1

Stiffy Byng

As you have observed yourself, you are asking a question that only those who interviewed you could answer. You will either receive an offer in January, or you won't. If you do, great! If you don't, the experience is just one of the many experiences in life of a thing not turning out as you hoped it to do. In years to come you will probably have a mixture of outcomes you wish for and outcomes you don't wish for, in many contexts.

I will not suggest that getting into Cambridge or not getting into Cambridge is other than a big deal. It is a big deal. It is a significant life event. But whichever way the decision goes, life will continue and it will involve ups and downs.

All that you can do now is try to enjoy the holidays, and wait. Maybe try to be busy on something, to make the waiting more bearable.

Good luck to you and all applicants.