Everyone has a different experience when it comes to their Oxford interview. Although, it's important to note that most universities don’t require an interview to be admitted - it's only the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the UK place huge emphasis on the admissions interview.
While there may be some horror stories - and most of those are greatly exaggerated for dramatic effect! - most of these interviews are much more enjoyable than you would first imagine. By sharing the experience of my Oxford Geography interview, I hope to demystify the process and share some tips for your next interview!
Just a quick note on the Oxford application process: we submit a 4000-character ‘personal statement’, similar to the Common App Personal Statement, and the selected candidates are then called to interview at one of the 35 Oxford ‘colleges’.
Preparation
Here are the key things I did to prepare in the weeks leading up to the interview:
Reminded myself of the key geographical topics I had learned in class. This wasn’t intense, exam-style revision – it was more of a general recap to make sure that I wouldn’t get stumped by a simple question.
Made sure that I had some facts and figures to support the claims I made in my personal statement. I imagined that I was the interviewer and asked myself difficult questions on the topics that I mentioned in my statement.
I spent time practicing how I would approach figures that I might be presented in the interview - maybe a graph, a table, or even a map. I found figures online and tried to make sense of them without any other context, asking myself interview-style questions like: why might there be an increase in this year, what factors would lead to a high concentration in this region, and so on.
Finally, I kept up to date with recent news. Although this may seem unnecessary, Geography can be found everywhere. From natural disasters to economic policies, I researched the stories that seemed relevant and tried to find a geographical angle with which to view it.
The Interview
I had two interviews over two days and stayed the night in the College where I was interviewing. There were three interviewers in both interviews, but one professor tended to take the lead while the other two sat back and listened.
Here are the key things I did in each interview:
Treated them like a conversation between a group of curious people. This helped to break the ice and allowed me to settle into a flow.
I wasn’t afraid to say I didn’t know the answer, and made sure to try to reason through the problem instead of sitting back and giving up. The professors want to know how you think – if you don’t know the answer, actively engage with them as they guide you through the problem.
Took time to think about my answer before speaking. There is nothing worse than speaking with no clear direction – I made a point, elaborated on it, and then stopped once I had finished answering the question.
Overall, my interview experience taught me two key things: preparation is essential, and interviews are much more enjoyable once you change them from interrogations into conversations.
If you'd like to learn more about how Oxbridge interviews are conducted - or even try a mock one yourself - don't hesitate to book one with one of our experts!
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