I tried to put it off, but I just can’t stop thinking about how poorly my interviews went- and how much I tried to prepare for the wrong things!
Thinking about it, I don’t think there’s much they can give me credit for. I’m going to talk about the second one because the first makes me cringe internally whenever I think about it (yes it was that bad). We talked about some difficult questions in my personal statement which I wasn’t expecting at all, and then quickly we moved onto the extract, which I actually had a lot of fun talking about with them, especially when they challenged me. But then, at the end I fumbled again and messed up on a basic logic question (that all my other friends could answer when I asked them afterwards). I felt like once I did so, I was unable to win them over and they clearly seemed quite eager to finish the interview afterwards (well, it was time anyways I am just being pessimistic..)
But I’m not distasteful about my bad interview- I just really wish Oxford outlined overall what they are looking for in a law student, rather than telling them how the interview would work. I found that both the mock interviews on YouTube, as well as the Uni admissions interview book I bought, were both entirely unrealistic and were not similar to my interview at all. In fact, there was nothing that resembled my interview and I found the process quite unfair. But I want to break this cycle for those applying next year- they deserve to know what these interviews are really about. So regardless of whether you’ve gotten accepted/rejected:
1. For anyone who has also had a law interview, how did yours go? (Without reference to details in the extract etc)
2. What would you say the interviewer was looking for in you?
3. What tips would you give for anyone preparing for an interview?
Here’s mine:
1. Already answered
2. I would say they were looking for logical thinking (basically, just reading the extract really carefully, and then thinking about what every single word means in a certain scenario). Also, they were looking for a good comprehension of the extract and ability to apply the law to different scenarios. They want to see someone rational, calm, eloquent, and who isn’t too bothered by their mistakes I would guess.
3. Most important- expect the unexpected. They can literally ask you anything!!! Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think there’s no way one could prepare for ‘logical thinking’ other than reading the extract carefully, (very, very carefully) making sure to outline your thinking process by starting from the very bottom, and not jumping to conclusions. Don’t try to answer the questions after they immediately ask you, even if you think the answer is obvious. And I would say please read the extract in depth before the interview because they use it quite a bit. If you don’t have an extract for your interview, don’t expect to be asked about your personal statement, or even the questions like “if you crossed a red light at night with no one there would it be legal” I literally spent ages preparing for these but instead I was asked about applying a piece of law I had never heard of before to different scenarios (it was hard to say the least). Again, expect anything, and to prepare just do what you enjoy doing and reread your personal statement, nothing more- they like to see well rounded, thoughtful and passionate students, that’s all! Just be yourself- there’s no quota to fill
Hopefully some more people respond so that there’s a diverse range of opinions on how the interviews work, rather than just the existing resources. If anyone has any more questions, I’m happy to answer them. Good luck
