Cambridge admissions interviews

 

I have seen one or two tweets in the last few days asking for advice for applicants for Cambridge. How should they prepare for interviews? For perhaps my last 20 years as a teacher I was in charge of this for our pupils, and here are some thoughts from that time.

1.       I didn’t teach clever tricks to get in. You get a place on merit – or not. Sometimes the admissions people make mistakes. For example, one of our rejected pupils went on to get the best First in Law at Edinburgh. Yes, Cambridge is a great place to live and study, but you will have an excellent university course wherever you end up.

2.       One great success: A Chinese pupil joined us as a senior and wanted my advice on applying for engineering. I said: Set aside one or two of your free periods each week to go to the school library and read the New Scientist articles on engineering. She was very focused, and she did. I had feedback from her interviewers on how much she had impressed; she got a place. (This started in September, of course.)

3.       On a similar note: A candidate for English arrived. Interviewer: “Are you from Scotland? Have you read “Trainspotting”? I’m having trouble with the Scots dialogue. Could you read some of it to me.” She had, and did, and they discussed it. She got an offer.

4.       I once went and stayed the night and met as many admissions tutors as I could in two days. (This included a medic, who saw me in a anatomy lab, surrounded by dismembered corpses and laughing students; an interesting experience for a history teacher.) They all emphasised the need for applicants to have a knowledge and interest in their subjects that went beyond what was in A-level syllabi. They also emphasised the extreme importance of candidates, especially for subjects that are not studied at school, knowing what the course they were applying for involved. Arch and Anth? Oriental Studies? What papers? What is compulsory and what optional? Find all this out in advance.

5.       I also discovered on this visit that there could be quite a variation college to college. For example, one Modern Linguist was very keen on discussing literature. Another said he never did; only precision of language.

6.       I recall two cases where candidates who failed to get in were so determined that they thought about the feedback and applied again next year (to a different college) with success. In one case, I recall, the unfavourable comment was that he stuck obstinately to his answer even when the interviewer provided facts which might have caused him to think again.

7.       I once asked an admissions tutor whether a clever and ambitious pupil of mine would be better getting all A* at AS level or starring in the school’s Shakespeare play. She replied: “Pass”. This reinforces the point that every college, every admissions person, is different.

8.       Finally: Cambridge deserves its reputation. You will be surrounded by very brainy fellow students and will be expected to reach very high standards in the short terms. It may not be for you. Also, as I said at the start, you will be able to have a great university career whether you get in or not.