Maths @ Sidney Sussex, Cambridge in 2017

Interview format

Pre-interview Maths test; 1x interview

Interview content

Interview 1: disscussion of pre-interview test questions

Best preparation

Practice problem solving questions

Advice in hindsight

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Final thoughts

Listen carefully to the questions being asked

Remember this advice isn't official. There is no guarantee it will reflect your experience because university applications can change between years. Check the official Cambridge and Oxford websites for more accurate information on this year's application format and the required tests.

Also, someone else's experience may not reflect your own. Most interviews are more like conversations than tests and like, any conversation, they are quite interactive.

Interview Format

Test taken: Pre-interview Maths Exam

Number of interviews: 1

Skype interview: no

Time between interviews: N/A

Length of first interview: 40 minutes

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Just before the interview I had a 1 hour test with 10 maths problems on it. About half of the questions were Maths and Further Maths A level content and the other half were problem solving questions. We were told to try as many of them as possible. After an admittedly stressful and panicked start where I made little progress, in the second half an hour of the test I relaxed and managed to answer more questions. During the hour, I completed over half of the questions and I was then taken to the interview room.

In the interview room, there was a table with 2 interviewers on one side and a small chair for me to sit on. The room was very cosy and nicely decorated, which helped a lot in calming the exam nerves. The interviewers themselves were very welcoming and friendly, and they began to mark the questions I had spent the previous hour on. We discussed the questions I had not been able to answer and gradually worked towards the solutions. Luckily it wasn't as intimidating as I had thought and I generally felt calm throughout the interview.

How did you prepare?

I prepared for the test by looking at past STEP questions and UKMT Olympiad and Kangaroo questions in order to get into the practice of talking out loud when answering and thinking about questions. The experience with problem solving I had acquired from UKMT came in very handy during my interview. There is no requirement to do Olympiads, and I know many people in my course who didn't, but being familiar with maths problem solving does really help. I started interview prep a few months before interview but I was doing some problem solving over the summer.

What advice do you have for future applicants?

Looking back, what advice would you give to your past self?

My best advice would be to believe in yourself and be confident in your own ability. Also make sure to listen to hints from your interviewers. Essentially the interview is a mock-supervision and they want to see what it is like to teach you. Try not to panic and don't be afraid to talk through your ideas out even if this means you make the occassional mistake along the way. It might be a good idea to look at example interview questions to see any types of questions which come up often.