Interviews Guide 2011

8/2/2019 Interviews Guide 2011

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C L A S S E S A U C O U R S E S A

M U S I C R T U T O R I A L S P B

E A P I I P P G U I D E D H U I E

X S H M A T H E M E T D C S M R F

A S Y E P I V L A R U I L C L E H

M S S E T N I I T X T N I X L S N

S E I S I T S B B S O T F E E R H

G R C Q T E I R O O R E F N T E K

S E S U U R T A D X S R E C T V U

T H Y E D V S R L F A V C E E I Y

E I L S E I H I E O G I A S R S O

S S L T N E Y E I R S E M P S I P

T A A I Q W G R A D E W E O U O E

S C B O L E A R N Q N S R R R N N

S R U N D E R G R A D U A T E S D

H D S S C O L L E G E S A G Y L A

O U X S Z E F M K L E C T U R E Y

V U C A L E N D A R H U D C O Z S

Q A R S T U D Y O N G M R A C O H

X T O U R S L U N I V E R S I T Y

A S S E S S M E N T F O F T R L E

OXFORDIN

TERVIEWS


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Oxford interviews

This booklet aims to explain Oxford interviews

and the part they play in the selection procedure

for undergraduate courses. Please rememberthat the interview is just one aspect of your

application, as tutors will also consider your:

n examination results,

n predicted grades,

n personal statement,

n academic reference, and

n admissions aptitude tests or written work,

if they are required for your subject.

This booklet also gives advice on how you can

prepare for your interview, so that you will be

able to do your best.

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Purpose of the interview

The interview is designed

to assess your academic

abilities and, mostimportantly, your academic

potential. It provides tutors

with a valuable opportunity

to assess your potential

beyond your written

record. The interview allows them to evaluate your

understanding of and aptitude for your subject,

and to give you the opportunity to explain why

you are committed to studying it. Tutors make

their decisions based on your academic abilities

and potential, not your manners or etiquette,

appearance or background.

Applicants with disabilitiesOxford University welcomes applications from disabled students, makes reasonable adjustments to facilitate

their access to courses, and provides support and assistance throughout the interview process.

Details of any disabilities should be included in the UCAS application form. Students with disabilities

should also inform their Oxford college of any particular requirements well in advance of their interview, so

that any appropriate arrangements can be made.

Please refer towww.admissions.ox.ac.uk/guides for further information on sources of support available.


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For details of how to apply to Oxford, please see

www.admissions.ox.ac.uk/apply. The deadline

for applications is 15 October. Please note thatseveral subjects require you to take an admissions

aptitude test as part of your application and/or to

submit written work. To make sure that you can

prepare in good time and register for any tests that

may be required, please do check the details for

your subject at www.admissions.ox.ac.uk/tests.

ShortlistingMany excellent candidates apply each year, and

most of them have a good personal statement,

a glowing reference and are predicted top grades.

With so many applications for each place at

Oxford, it isnt possible to interview everyone.

Tutors review each UCAS* application, along

with any written test or written work required

for the subject, and then decide on a shortlist of

candidates who will be invited to interview.

For some courses, over 90% of candidates

are shortlisted. In other subjects, particularly thosethat are most heavily oversubscribed, a smaller

proportion of candidates will be shortlisted in

some cases, less than 50%. Sadly, this does

Applying to Oxford InternationalstudentsFor details of interview

arrangements for

international students,

please check

www.admissions.

ox.ac.uk/int, and see

page 4 for further

details.

elli homasHistoryI had been on two open days before I came for the interviews,

and my school had organised some mock interviews as well. In

my first Oxford interview I was asked about things I mentioned in

my personal statement, so I was very glad I had read everything

Id said I had! It also helped that I was comfortable talking about

the books and events that I had mentioned.

In my other interview, the tutor was looking at my written

work, and commented, So, you wrote this essay on Fascist Italy,

and you mention the Church Then the rest of the interview

was spent following a tangent: I was encouraged to make

intelligent guesses, and to think of examples from areas that

I did know about to illustrate what I was saying.Of my two interviews the first one was really nice and

I thought the second was absolutely terrible. I came out

thinking theres absolutely no way Id got in! However, I was

delighted when I was offered a place.

mean that some candidates will be disappointed as

their applications will not be considered beyond the

shortlisting stage. However, shortlisting means that

those candidates who have been identified as having

the strongest ability and potential may have more than

one interview, increasingly at more than one college.

For more detailed information on the percentage

of applicants shortlisted for each course please

refer to our Undergraduate Admissions Statistics

leaflet. This can be downloaded from

www.admissions.ox.ac.uk/statistics.

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* UCAS is the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, whichprocesses all applications to UK institutions of Higher Education.www.ucas.com

GregSmolonski


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Before your interview

Towards the end of November or in early Decemberyou will receive an email or a letter indicating whether

or not you have been invited for interview. If you have

been invited, the letter will include practical details of

your interview and further information.

Please note that you will probably be interviewed

at the college to which you applied, or the college

to which you were allocated, if you made an open

application. However, in some cases your application

may be referred to another college. This can happen if

a college is significantly oversubscribed for your subject

that year, and will be made clear in the letter inviting

you to interview.

In some subjects all candidates will automatically be

interviewed at a second college. For other subjects, you

may be offered the opportunity to have an interview

at a second or even a third college. This does not

necessarily mean that you will not be offered a place

Have I been shortlisted?

dina JubrailLa

A couple of hours before my interview I was given part of a House

of Lords judgment on a homicide trial to read and analyse. The

interview was focused on the text in hand, which then provided a

springboard for wider discussion.

The questions were initially fairly subjective. I was asked to give

my own definition of manslaughter (based on what Id just read

in the judgment) and examples of different situations in whichthe offence may be committed. We then moved on to the policy

behind the charge in question: the justification of holding liable for

manslaughter someone who had prepared a syringe of drugs for

the victim, but had not administered it. I was encouraged to use

analogies from everyday life to explain my reasoning, and I really

felt the tutors were keen not only to assess how I thought but also

to ensure I enjoyed the experience.

The interview was very well structured, which enabled me to

organise my thoughts and evaluate to the best of my ability. The

teaching style at Oxford is about exploring and testing ideas and

theories: the best advice I can give is to think every thought out

loud, which will show your analytical process, and allow you to

benefit from a debate with leading academics.

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NasirHamid

at the first college or that this college is no longer

considering your application. This system is in place

so that you are given the best possible chance of

gaining a place.


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What should I consider before my interview?

We recommend that you:

n think about the obvious questions that are often

asked at the beginning of an interview to help

you settle down, and think how you might answer

them. Think specifically about why you want

to study at Oxford and why you have chosen

this particular subject. Please be aware that the

tutors may decide not to ask you these questions.

However, it is still a good idea to bear in mind

your motivation for studying your course.

n read widely around your chosen subject, including

newspaper articles, websites, journals, magazines

and other publications that relate to your subject.

n find examples of your subject in the wider world,such as taking an interest in the scientific or

economic theories that underline news stories.

n take a critical view of ideas and arguments that

you encounter at school or college, or in the

media think about all sides of any debate.

n be prepared to show some background knowledge

of the subject, if you are applying for a course

not normally studied at school or college, such as

Medicine, Law, Biochemistry or Oriental Studies.

However, you will not be expected to have a

detailed understanding of specific or technical

topics. For example, you may be asked what

role your subject plays in society and how you

came to be interested in it. For these subjects,

the topics for discussion are likely to allow you

to demonstrate the skills needed by an Oxford

undergraduate: the ability to use information

to construct your own opinions, the willingness

and ability to analyse and, in the sciences and

mathematics, an aptitude for solving problems.

n be sure to revise material you have studied for

your AS-levels (or equivalent qualification),

particularly for science subjects.

n re-read any written work that you have

submitted, and think about how you might

expand on what you wrote.

n re-read your personal statement and ensure thatyou are confident about its content and familiar

with texts and theories you mention.

n organise a practice interview for yourself. This

could be with a teacher or someone else who

is familiar with your subject, but preferably not

someone you know very well. This will help

you to get some more experience of talking

about yourself and your work in an unfamiliar

environment.

n remind yourself of the selection criteria for your

chosen subject. These criteria can be found at

www.admissions.ox.ac.uk/courses/criteria.

shtml.

Ptr HicksGography

For my first interview I had to analyse an article on Easter Island,

and give my opinions on some of the main arguments within it. I was

then asked about the two pieces of work I had submitted before

the interview, and finished with discussing an aerial photograph of

a volcano.

In my second interview, I was grilled about my AS-level

coursework, which led into a wider discussion about economics

I had to think on my feet; using my own knowledge as opposed

to things I had learned in school.

Although I found the interviews daunting, I really enjoyed them;

they definitely helped me to improve my confidence and my ability

to express myself. Try to be as enthusiastic as possible, and neverbe afraid to take your time to think over the answer to a question.

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International studentsOxford University aims to

accept the brightest and best

students from around the

world. There are a number of

ways you can be interviewed.

If you are currently studying

in the UK, the rest of the EU,

Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland, then

you will be expected to attend interviews in Oxford

in December if your application is shortlisted.

If you are studying in another country, and your

application is shortlisted*, you will still be invited to

attend interviews in Oxford in December. However,

if you are unable to come to Oxford for interview,

the college which is considering your application may

choose to interview you by telephone, video-link, or

over the internet.

The timetable for interviews at Oxford is available

atwww.admissions.ox.ac.uk/interviews . Please be

aware that you may receive only a weeks notice

that you have been shortlisted and you may need

to obtain a visa in this time. You may wish to book a

flight to the UK in advance to coincide with the days

you would be interviewed if shortlisted. However,

there is obviously the chance that you might not be

shortlisted. If you find that, unfortunately, you are

not shortlisted but have already booked a flight,

you might like to use this time to visit other higher

education institutions in the UK that you may have

also applied to via UCAS. If you choose to wait to

hear if you have been shortlisted, then you will need

to factor in the cost of travel to Oxford at short

notice and your ability to gain a visa if you need one.

www.admissions.ox.ac.uk/int

Finding your wayFor details of how to get to Oxford and how to find

your college, please see www.ox.ac.uk/

aboutoxford/maps.Interviews in Oxford take place in December,

after the end of term, when many of our current

students will have returned home for Christmas.

However, each college makes sure that there

are plenty of undergraduates around to provide

information and to help candidates find their way

around. These undergraduates will have recently

experienced the interview process themselves and

are very well placed to help and advise you.

What to wearand what to bringPlease wear whatever clothes you feel comfortable

in and remember that it can be cold in December,

so bring something warm. Most tutors will not dress

formally, and it is not necessary for you to do so.

Remember that your interview will be an assessment

of your academic potential and you will not be judged

on what you wear.

We recommend that you bring copies of anywritten work you have submitted, and a copy of

your personal statement, as tutors may refer to

these during your interview.

Its a good idea to bring a book with you or

some school or college work to do, as you will only

spend a relatively small amount of your time in

Oxford actually in interviews or taking tests. There

will also be plenty of opportunity to spend time

with other interview candidates as well as current

undergraduates.

The college inviting you to interview will let you

know what to bring. Your accommodation and meals

will be provided free-of-charge by the college. It is

advisable that you bring a mobile telephone, along

with its charger, so that the college can contact you,

if they need to.

* Please note that all shortlisted applicants for Micin must attend interviews in Oxford.

It is highly desirable for all applicants shortlisted for fin Art to attend their interview in Oxford since the interview alsocomprises a practical element. However, in extreme circumstances, if a shortlisted applicant who is not studying in the UK,the rest of the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland is unable to come to Oxford then it may be possible to

arrange an interview via video-link or over the internet.

GregSmolonski


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At your interview

Who will interview you

Interviews will be conducted by experts in an

aspect of the degree course for which you are

applying. You may be interviewed by two or more

tutors at a time. If you are applying for a joint course,

with two or more subjects, you should expect to be

interviewed by tutors representing each of

the subjects.

What to expect in the interview,or interviews

Tutors want you to be yourself in the interview, and to

allow you to demonstrate your skills and abilities. They

will probably ask you a few simple questions to begin

with to help you feel at ease.

They will then move on to questions about your

subject, and questions that will help them to assess

your suitability to study at Oxford. It is quite likely,especially in arts or social science subjects, that you

will be asked to answer questions about a short

piece of text. You may be given the chance to read

the passage before the interview, and will be advised if

there is anything particular on which you need to focus.

You may be asked factual questions, especiallyin science subjects. The basis for this discussion

will probably include the subjects you are currently

studying at school or college; for courses that

require written work, this may also be used. However,

you may also be offered opportunities to show

whether you have read around the subject and to

demonstrate your interest beyond your school or

college syllabus.

In many ways, your interview will be like a

mini tutorial. If you dont know the answer to a

question, you may wish to explain that you

havent covered that topic yet, but do try to work

out the answer if you can. Allow the tutors to guide

you, if necessary, and ask if you dont understand

a question. Many questions are designed to test

your ability to apply logic and reason to an idea you

may never have encountered before. The questions

may seem difficult, but dont worry: this does not

necessarily mean that the interview is goingbadly. The tutor will be seeking to stretch you in

order to assess your potential. Remember that

tutors are not necessarily so concerned with what

you know, but how you think.

Jack Haynsearth cincs (Gology)

For Earth Sciences, all the interviews are held in the

department instead of the college. I had one interview

with the college I applied to and another interview with

a second assigned college. I really enjoyed meeting the

student helpers and the other candidates the student

helpers really made me feel welcome and I knew theyd

be happy to help if I had any problems.

My interviews were remarkably similar to the tutorials

Im having now, and just as enjoyable. The tutors used

a piece of evidence to start a discussion between us

and asked me to comment on various things. At one

stage they began to question what I thought on onepoint, and I explained it thoroughly so they could see

how I came to that conclusion. The tutors are far more

interested in how you think rather than in what you

know, so they can see if the tutorial system is going

to benefit you.

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What tutors arelooking for?A good deal of the teaching in an Oxford college

takes place in small classes or tutorials, and your

interviewers who may be your future tutors are

assessing your ability to study, think and learn. Thisdepends both on how carefully you listen to questions

and how sensibly you answer them. Clarity, and

concise and relevant arguments are all-important.

Tutors are looking for your self-motivation and

enthusiasm for your subject. They are looking for

evidence that you are thinking independently, that

you are willing to engage with new ideas, beyond the

scope of your school or college syllabus, and

that you are committed to your subject.

Are there right or wrong answers?Interviewers are not going to ask you trick questions,

but many of the topics you will cover do not have

simple right or wrong answers. The questions

are designed to encourage you to think for yourself

and develop an argument. Be yourself and ask for

help if you need it.

Interviewers are not trying to make you feel

nervous or catch you out. They are looking for

evidence of how well you can explain what you do

know, and whether you can think your way through

a new problem or argue your position. If you dont

understand something, do just ask.

Jnni daisMathmatics

I spent four days in Oxford and had four

interviews in total. The second college

that interviewed me invited me back for

another interview, and subsequently made

me an offer.

The problems I was given got

progressively harder, but the tutors steered

me through them. The content of the

questions was from A-level, but I found

myself applying my knowledge in different

ways. I was also able to find out first-hand

how tutorials work, because workingthrough problems and justifying your ideas

is exactly what you do on the course.

I also met a really nice group of people

in my fellow applicants and we went

into Oxford together to explore, which

was a great chance to get a feel for what

it would be like living in the city! I very

much enjoyed my interview experience,

and when I received my offer I knew that

Oxford was for me.

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Are extra-curricular activities taken

into account?Please remember that tutors make their decisions

based on your academic abilities and potential:

extra-curricular activities do not form part of the

selection criteria in any subject. However, they

may ask a question or two about extra-curricular

activities which you have mentioned in your

personal statement, particularly at the start of

the interview, as you are settling in. They may

ask you why you enjoy a particular activity andwhat you have learnt from it. They may also be

interested in how you have balanced your time

between studies and other activities.

Your questionsAt the end of the interview you may be given

the chance to ask your own questions. This is

not the place for in-depth discussion of the

course syllabus or other details, as you should have

explored the course information before you applied.

However, it is the time to ask about any points

about your own academic work, or perhaps

about one of the questions you were asked in the

G

regSmolonski

interview. Please dont feel as though you must

pose a question: it is fine if you dont have anything

specific to ask.

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Anras KallinosBiochmistry (Molcular an Cllular)

I had two interviews; the first was at the college that had originally

invited me for interview and the second was at a different college,

both taking place on the same day.

I was asked why I had chosen Biochemistry and not Medicine,

because in my personal statement I said I wanted to work on the

medicinal aspect of biochemistry, but all other questions were

subject-orientated: I was asked to identify a few compounds and

functional groups from a handout and we discussed their chemistry

and purpose in metabolic processes.

I felt very comfortable during the interviews; they were more

of a discussion than question-and-answer. The interviewers were

friendly and I felt they wanted me to be comfortable while talking.There arent necessarily any right or wrong answers: you are

essentially answering questions based on what you currentlyknow.

Some help and hints are given if you get something wrong and you

are always asked to explain your thinking behind your answer.


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Colleges will inform

candidates of their

decision by the middle

of January although

most will let them know

before Christmas. The

letter you will receive

will explain one of three

things:

n You have been made an offer of a place to study

your subject at a particular college. If you have

already completed your examinations, this offer

will probably be unconditional. If you have not

yet finished your final examinations, the offer

will be conditional upon your achieving certain

grades, usually AAA (or A*A*A or A*AA for some

courses from 2012 entry) at A-level, or equivalent

qualifications. The offer may specify that you

need to achieve certain grades in particular

subjects. It may also include a requirement for

evidence of proficiency in the English language,

if English is not your first language or if you have

not been educated in the medium of English

language during your two most recent years of

study.

n You have been made an open offer, which means

that you have an offer from Oxford and are

guaranteed a place if you meet the conditions.

However, the college you will go to has not yet

been specified, and will not be decided until

after your final examination results have been

published.

n Your application has, unfortunately, not been

successful.

While one in five applicants to Oxford gain a place,

encouragingly, almost all applicants who do not

get an offer will go on to study at other excellent

universities if they have made their UCAS choices

wisely. Many students then opt to apply to

Oxford for further study after completing their

first degree elsewhere. We often see candidates

who were unsuccessful in their undergraduate

applications making successful applications for

graduate study here.

The result

Hannah PhillipsChmistry

I had two interviews one based on inorganic chemistry,

physical chemistry and maths, and the other on organic

chemistry. They were both at the same college and all of the

interviewers were from the Chemistry department.

I did not expect the first interview to comprise of mainly

maths, but now I realise that maths is a large part of the course

in the first year. It was only in my second interview that I

was asked non subject specific questions; one was about my

personal statement, so make sure to take a copy with you!

During my second interview I also worked through a sheet of

questions, with help from the interviewer.

The interviews were very similar to my tutorials now, sothey give you an idea of how you will be taught. I was more

relaxed in my second interview which is probably why I

enjoyed it much more, leaving with a smile on my face! By

then I was glad of the experience whatever the outcome.

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Admissions Information CentreThe , on Little Clarendon Street,

usually open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to

Friday, is a good first port of call for potential

applicants and their parents and carers. At the

you can pick up copies of the

prospectus, individual subject brochures and all

other leaflets relating to undergraduate study at

Oxford. There are also staff on hand to provide

advice and to answer any questions. If you are

not able to visit us in person, you can call, email

or write to us instead. Contact details can be

found on the back cover of this booklet.

.amissions.o.ac.uk/amissionsi

PodcastsFind out for yourself what Oxford University is

all about by listening to our podcasts. Be a fly on

the wall when Mike Nicholson, Oxfords Director

of Undergraduate Admissions, chats withstudents and staff from around the University

about how best to prepare for the Oxfordinterview, as well as about courses, colleges,

student finance, and what to include in

your application. Download and listen to

whole episodes, or select taster clips from

each episode.

.amissions.o.ac.uk/pocasts

iTunes UOur podcasts are also available on the

Universitys site on iTunes U, along withlectures, interviews and short films about

life at Oxford. They can be listened to online

or downloaded to a mobile device.

http://ituns.o.ac.uk

Sample interviewsYou can find example questions from interviews,

including video clips of academic discussions

with our tutors, on our website..amissions.o.ac.uk/intris

Finding out more

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EmilyAlexander

Feedback


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Interviews Guide 2011