Test taken: Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment (NSAA)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 1 hour
Length of interviews: 30 minutes
Online interview: No

My first interview was more like having an interesting chat with someone you just met at a coffee shop who wanted to find out more about yourself as a person. Nothing subject-specific was discussed, and we mostly talked about general questions on random topics e.g. current affairs, hobbies, life in school, life outside school, interests and general questions on why I chose to study natural sciences. On top of that, the interviewer tried to highlight that studying at Cambridge is demanding and we were discussing how comfortable I would be with the workload and the challenging nature of studying at one of the world's best universities. Overall this was very enjoyable and it made me relax before my main subject-specific interview.

Then for the second interview I had to go into one of the old college buildings and wait outside the professors office to be called in. I must admit at this stage I was the most anxious I was throughout the interview process as I didn't know what to expect and the old college buildings were a bit daunting. At one point, after waiting for a while outside the room, I heard the professors called me in the office. As soon as I walked inside the room, I was greeted with 2 smiling professors welcoming me to Cambridge and the college! I took a seat opposite them on a large table and after having a brief round of introductions and general chat about my interview experience thus far we dived straight into it. By the time we were talking about Biology I was already relaxed and enjoying it because I realized the professors were genuinely interest to have a discussion with me on science and were eager to hear my thoughts on their questions as well as wanting me to perform well. This certainly did not feel like an interrogation, it was a reciprocal conversation between individuals that really liked Biology. Their questions were quite general, nothing too specific, although some of them were tricky, I wasn't asked anything that was too far off from what we were taught in school. Also, a lot of the questions were open-ended so naturally discussions ensued and whenever I would have trouble coming up with anything to say the professors would encourage me to share my thoughts or give me hints about where they would like the discussion to go. Further, I was offered when I couldn't explain something as clearly with words, to grab the pen and paper and draw things and walk through the drawings with them to explain my thoughts and rationale. You could really tell that these people wanted me to do well - and you can imagine these professors are sitting in a room all day long with students coming in and going, it is far more interesting for them as well to have insightful and interactive interviews with the students rather than trying to intimidate them or give them super tough questions with no guidance while they sit back waiting for the interviewee to have a mental breakdown. Plus in the end it turned out that I was asked about something I mentioned in my personal statement and since I was keeping up with that topic and also was well-read around it, I could have another interesting discussion on something that I personally found interesting which I felt also made a good impression to the interviewers.

Before I applied I was already out of education for one year due to compulsory military service, so I hadn't picked up a book to revise for a while! The most useful thing I did to prepare for my interview was to make sure I was well familiar with the standard A level syllabus that I was taught in school (especially Biology and Chemistry). I prepared like I would prepare for any other exam - making notes to internalize and digest the content, memorizing some key information and then testing myself that I remembered, as well as trying to learn how to explain key concepts in Biology (e.g. what is the DNA?) in simple terms to my parents or friends that were not familiar with the Life Sciences as much. I visited the online EdExcel website to find an outline/synopsis of the A level syllabus and then used that as a checklist to know what topics I need to cover, going through each point in turn.

The second most useful thing was to "role play" how I would conduct myself in an interview. This was one was a bit strange at first but this was going to be my first face-to-face interview process and English was my second language so I tried to imagine what the situation/environment would look like. In the end this was actually very useful as it helped me visualize - even if it was in my imagination - what it would be like to walk in a room and have a sit-down chat with some grown-up English professors; I must say I wasn't far off in my expectations apart from the fact that the interviews were way more friendlier and approachable than what I had anticipated.

Lastly, I went through my personal statement and ensured that for everything I had mentioned (e.g. a book I read, a scientist I found inspiring, a current field in science I found interesting) I had my story to tell for (i.e. my reasons for including that content) in case I was asked about anything during the interview.

Personally, I prepared by revising my IGCSE and A Level syllabus. At the time, there weren't any other material that were relevant to prepare for the NSAA test - or at least any that I knew of - and most students that I knew that were applying for Natural Sciences also prepared by revising old IGCSE Biology / Chemistry syllabus as well as the being up-to-date with their revision on the A levels.

My advice would be if you are invited for an interview to of course be well prepared to answer questions on your subject but be prepared to not know the answers to some of the questions. If and when this happens, do not catastrophize but instead through conversation make an effort to answer or facilitate a discussion that will lead the interviewers into giving you some hints or valuable additional information that you can use to provide them with an answer. Most importantly have an enjoyable experience overall. Something that I believe was key to me performing well in the interview, was my overall mentality that even if I do not secure a place, I can only gain something by attending this interview. This allowed me to be relaxed and make the most of my interviews by being confident and present; no matter what the outcome would be. Do not feel that this will be an interrogation. Do not feel that if you give a wrong answer about something that you will be instantly penalized. I was out of education for a year by the time I had my interview so I forgot a lot of the specific details and terminology from the A Levels and sometimes things were at the tip of my tongue but the interviewers would understand what I was trying to say and would proactively confirm that they understood and that there is no reason to struggle over communicating the very specific details if you can manage to get your points across and share your thought processes with them. Finally, view this as a conversation amongst likeminded individuals who share a passion for the subject you are applying for and above all remember that you were invited by these academics to be part of this conversation.