BOSWORTH College opened its doors to 10 other local schools to host presentations from Kathryn Dillon (Schools Liaison Officer) from Pembroke College, University of Cambridge. The presentations were aimed at year 12 students interested in applying to Oxford or Cambridge, and year 13 students who have applied.
The first presentation, aimed at Year 13 students who have completed their UCAS applications, was based around what to expect at interview. She hoped to demystify the interview process by explaining what the interview would be like, giving some subject specifics and then answering any questions students had. She stressed that the interview was not the ‘be all and end all’, that it was just part of the application process, and that all parts of the process are equally important. Next, she highlighted the key things that they would be looking for at interview; they want to see that students have the aptitude to take the subject further and are motivated, open to new ideas, a flexible thinker and a critical thinker.
So, what should students expect? How will the interviewers assess if they demonstrate the attributes above? Firstly, Kathryn stated they are not trying to ask trick questions in the interviews or trying to trip students up, they will just be looking for further clarification. There will most likely be an interactive test, this will be so interviewers can gauge the level of interest, aptitude and knowledge. Interviewees shouldn’t expect to get all the answers right, it is designed to be challenging and not straightforward.
Each interview will last 20 to 40 minutes with between one and three academics. The interview is designed to emulate the supervision sessions students have at Cambridge. Kathryn explained that students should always ask for help or clarification, as the academics want to encourage questions, they are happy to offer definitions to words or further clarification on things. They want to see if someone works well in a tutorial style session, to see if it suits their learning style.
At Cambridge the interview will be over one day and 80 per cent of applicants will be interviewed, so they will see four candidates for every place and applicants will only be interviewed by one college. At Oxford, the interview may be over two or three days and 60 per cent of applicants will be interviewed, so they see three candidates for every place and applicants may be interviewed by several colleges.
To prepare for the interview, wider reading is very important as is keeping up to date with current news and affairs, re-reading everything, turning up ready to engage and discuss and remembering not to panic.
The common pitfalls are under-preparing or over-preparing and not engaging critically with the material, as well as demonstrating a lack of clarity and a lack of flexible thinking.
The academics will be playing devil’s advocate and will try to challenge, so applicants should be open to other opinions.
Top 5 Tips
1 Think out loud
2 Think critically
3 Don’t give pre-rehearsed answers
4 Be confident and be yourself
5 Don’t panic
Kathryn went on to re-iterate how ‘thinking out loud’ was the most important tip, explaining that while many of us are used to reading and writing around the subject, we possibly don’t talk about it enough, so to practice talking to friends, family and teachers about the subject to get used to speaking your thoughts.
Then students were shown an example question for Humanities and Science and were asked to give their thoughts and opinions on them. From these examples students were able to show that they can construct an argument, listen to others’ ideas and to rethink their ideas, and to consider other approaches when discussed.
In a nutshell, the universities are looking for committment to getting to the answer or the truth. Kathryn ended with a reminder that the interviews are designed to be intellectually challenging.
For more details about Bosworth College, telephone 01604 235090 or visit the website www.bosworthcollege.com