How to prepare for Imperial chemistry interview?
I'll hopefully be applying to study chemistry (with medicinal chemistry) at Imperial, and I know they require an interview. There's obviously no guarantee that I'll even get one, but I'd like to be well-prepared just in case. I've had a few questions on my mind for a while now, so I'd really appreciate it if anyone could help me out
1. How much would the interviewers expect me to know? Would they assume I'm familiar and comfortable with the entire A level chemistry course? I'm currently in year 13, self-taught and studying from home, and I'm currently doing the transition metals topic (Edexcel spec). So I'm technically not too far from the end, though I suspect year 2 organic chemistry will take me a while to finish - organic is definitely the branch that I find most difficult
I'm quite worried that I won't have covered everything before a potential interview. 2. This is sort of linked to my first point, but would they expect much beyond the spec knowledge? If so, are there any specific books or resources you'd recommend I take a look at?
3. I've seen people recommend Olympiad past papers - should I give them a go, even though I haven't even finished my course yet?
4. What is the interview actually like? Their website says it lasts about 20 minutes, but I was wondering how that time is usually split. Would I be answering chemistry questions for most of it, with just a few minutes spent discussing my personal statement? How deeply would they explore any specific topics I mention in my statement that I find interesting? I'm a little concerned that the (very limited) knowledge I have might not hold up under detailed questioning. Is the whole experience quite formal, or is it more relaxed?
5. Any general tips or advice?
Thanks so much in advance!
EDIT: Just to clarify - I'm not looking for specific interview questions or anything that shouldn't be disclosed, as I understand that would be a breach of the code of conduct. Apologies if that wasn't clear in my original post.
@Meriium, it may also be worth contacting admissions yourself and asking these questions. None of your questions are breaching code of conduct and they should be able to give you some up-to-date insight on what to expect.
For what it's worth, the purpose of an interview is to explore your strengths, potential, and motivation for studying Chemistry. They don't expect you to know everything - what matters is curiosity and a willingness to learn. After all, there'd be no point in studying if you already knew everything. It's also an opportunity for you to ask the interviewers any questions you have about studying at Imperial.
Be prepared to discuss anything from your personal statement. Again, you don't need to know everything but make sure you are able to hold a conversation. If you're not really fascinated by something in your PS but you've made it sound like you are, remove it. They interviewers will pick up on your lack of enthusiasm quickly, and it won't come across well.
As for Olympiad papers, perhaps they would be worth looking at just to see how you work through unseen questions and how you react when you see something you haven't quite covered. Chemistry^3: introducing inorganic, organic and physical chemistry is usually recommended as further reading.
If something is unclear, don't hesitate to ask the interviewers for clarification. Their goal isn't to intimidate you or discourage you from the course, but to create a comfortable environment so they can understand you as both a student and an individual. Allow them to support you.
Reply 2
1.
It's hard to give a precise answer. My understanding is that generally they try to give you an interviewer who either teaches or researches areas of chemistry close to those you have highlighted on your personal statement (though my interviewers certainly did not do either of these). I do recall being asked content that would have come up in some of the later topics on the Edexcel A level syllabus (topics 17 and 18, predominantly), but it does depend on who interviews you. Additionally, some topics are very unlikely to be asked, especially since those doing alternative qualifications like Scottish advanced highers and international bacc will cover entirely different syllabi to those doing A levels. I doubt NMR would come up, for example.
2.
I don't believe so. They absolutely could ask you stuff beyond the A level syllabus, but the point is more that they want you to figure out the answers given what you have already learnt. For example, an interviewer could absolutely ask you to draw a mechanism for the reaction between iodomethane and ethanethiol (a reagent you won't have encountered at A level) in order to predict the product formed, but you should be able to recognise that iodomethane is a halogenoalkane and thus can undergo nucleophilic substitution and that ethanethiol should be a nucleophile as the sulphur must have lone pairs (that, and ethanethiol has a similar structure to ethanol, which is a familiar reagent).
3.
Absolutely. They have been recommended with good reason - they get you to use what you have learned to solve problems that go beyond the A level syllabus. Hence, they provide the sort of insight you need into how best to think about some of these questions. Personally, I'd say 2 - 3 of the newest papers is the max number I would do for your interviews, though.
4.
Expect to spend virtually all of it answering chemistry questions. Don't be remotely surprised if they open with a question like "why did you apply to Imperial?" and/or "why chemistry with medicinal chemistry?" or give you a question on your personal statement as a sort of icebreaker, though.
5.
Give 5hyl33n's post a good read, as she's covered basically everything. I would say her recommendation of chemistry3 is good, though it isn't a necessity and reading beyond the first few chapters seems excessive.
Reply 3
Reply 4
1.
It's hard to give a precise answer. My understanding is that generally they try to give you an interviewer who either teaches or researches areas of chemistry close to those you have highlighted on your personal statement (though my interviewers certainly did not do either of these). I do recall being asked content that would have come up in some of the later topics on the Edexcel A level syllabus (topics 17 and 18, predominantly), but it does depend on who interviews you. Additionally, some topics are very unlikely to be asked, especially since those doing alternative qualifications like Scottish advanced highers and international bacc will cover entirely different syllabi to those doing A levels. I doubt NMR would come up, for example.
2.
I don't believe so. They absolutely could ask you stuff beyond the A level syllabus, but the point is more that they want you to figure out the answers given what you have already learnt. For example, an interviewer could absolutely ask you to draw a mechanism for the reaction between iodomethane and ethanethiol (a reagent you won't have encountered at A level) in order to predict the product formed, but you should be able to recognise that iodomethane is a halogenoalkane and thus can undergo nucleophilic substitution and that ethanethiol should be a nucleophile as the sulphur must have lone pairs (that, and ethanethiol has a similar structure to ethanol, which is a familiar reagent).
3.
Absolutely. They have been recommended with good reason - they get you to use what you have learned to solve problems that go beyond the A level syllabus. Hence, they provide the sort of insight you need into how best to think about some of these questions. Personally, I'd say 2 - 3 of the newest papers is the max number I would do for your interviews, though.
4.
Expect to spend virtually all of it answering chemistry questions. Don't be remotely surprised if they open with a question like "why did you apply to Imperial?" and/or "why chemistry with medicinal chemistry?" or give you a question on your personal statement as a sort of icebreaker, though.
5.
Give 5hyl33n's post a good read, as she's covered basically everything. I would say her recommendation of chemistry3 is good, though it isn't a necessity and reading beyond the first few chapters seems excessive.
Thank you for the detailed insight - I really appreciate it. I'll have a go at a few of the latest Olympiad papers, for sure. Also, I tried drawing out that mechanism you mentioned and managed to get it right
Reply 5
No problem. The products I presume you deduced were the thioether CH3SCH2CH3 and hydrogen iodide, which would be correct.
Good to see you were able to approach that mechanism without much difficulty. I would quickly go over the mechanisms for nucleophilic addition and electrophilic substitution if you can, though I imagine it may be annoying to go a bit out of sequence and skip straight to topics 17 and 18 from topic 15.
Reply 6
Good to see you were able to approach that mechanism without much difficulty. I would quickly go over the mechanisms for nucleophilic addition and electrophilic substitution if you can, though I imagine it may be annoying to go a bit out of sequence and skip straight to topics 17 and 18 from topic 15.
Yes, I'll get right on that. I've actually been looking forward to learning about benzene and some new functional groups, so I honestly don't mind skipping topic 16 for now. Thank you again
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