I was called for an engineering interview in December. I was met at the porters lodge by a student, who gave me a map and helped me find the room that i was in for the first of my 2 interviews. My first interview was with 2 fellows of the college, who put me at ease to begin with, but later asked very challenging questions, which are just outside the usual A level syllabus. I then found my own way to the next interview room, where I was again greeted by 2 Cambridge academics. In both interviews the interviewers told me that it was not about getting the answers right, but showing a passion for the subject and a good train of thought. I was then taken to the hall and treated to lunch by the college, as my interview finished at around 12:30.

In the first interview we talked about electrical circuits and capacitors. The content was away from the syllabus, but do-able with the knowledge that the A-level physics and maths courses give you. I was also asked to sketch an obscure graph that I had never seen before. They also questioned me about the workings of an engine, as I had said in my personal statement that I have had experience working with them in the past.

The second interview discussed more classical mechanics problems involving energy and forces, which was very much an on-syllabus topic for myself as I had studied the all 3 Mechanics modules at A-level. During all of the interviews I was very nervous and felt like I was getting it wrong all the time. However, the interviewers did send me on the right track if I went off on a tangent.

My School did not organise any help for me, except from at the very start of the application, we had someone come in to explain how the interviews and pooling system works. In terms of preparation, I re-read all of my A-level textbooks on the topics that Cambridge had told me that I would need to know. I also learned all of the Mechanics modules for maths in my own time.

No