Test taken: Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment (NSAA)
Number of interviews: 1
Length of interviews: 40-45 minutes
Online interview: Yes

I only had one interview conducted by two interviewers: a chemist and a materials scientist. The interview was split into two main topics, the first of which was based on chirality and enantiomers (I was taught to name R and S enantiomers and was tested on it) conducted by the chemist and the second about crystal structures in materials science and working out packing densities conducted by the materials scientist. I had mentioned both topics on my personal statement so pretty much the whole interview was tailored towards what I had written, with the interviewers extending my previous knowledge and assessing how well I could grasp what I was being taught.

The interview was online with a virtual whiteboard which they used to illustrate things like molecules and crystal structures, and they asked me to draw and label things that linked to the topics. The atmosphere was very casual with the interviewers being very friendly and relaxed - although because of time constraints I was rushed slightly towards the end. The whole interview felt much more like a discussion than a test, with a lot more focus on the teaching dynamic rather than how much I knew.

Our school gave us the option to have a mock interview which really helped with thinking out loud and explaining the process by which I got to an answer, which is arguably more important than getting the answer correct. For advice, I mainly used YouTube as I didn't know anyone personally who had been through the Cambridge NatSci interview process, which definitely helped me understand what to expect. The official video from Cambridge about the interview process on YouTube also gives a lot of useful information.

In the days leading up to the interview, I looked over my personal statement and made sure I was confident on the topics and interests I had mentioned, which came in handy as most of my interview was centered around the topics I mentioned in my personal statement. They don't expect you to have done tons of random further reading that isn't linked to anything you've written on your personal statement, it should all be based off of your A-Level knowledge.

Practice and past papers - there weren't enough NSAA papers to use so I started using one of the BMAT sections which has a question style very similar to the first section of the NSAA. Just generally revising some GCSE knowledge that I may have forgotten e.g. the flame colours for the different metal ions in Chemistry which weren't covered at A Level, and the solubilities of different ionic compounds.

I would tell myself not to stress about the outcome, as I would be absolutely fine no matter what. Being here at Cambridge felt surreal at first, but after settling in you realise that it's simply just a university like everywhere else. I know now that no matter where I ended up, my experience would be almost the same. Cambridge isn't the be all and end all and although it's important to put effort into the application process if you want to be accepted, it's definitely not worth losing sleep over, and the interviewers aren't assessing how much you know but rather how you learn as a person - something you can't relearn in a few weeks.

It's also important not to be intimidated by the application process, for example, interviewers are academics first and are eager and interested in teaching you. They expect you to be nervous as they understand the reputation and prestige of the university they work for. In the grand scheme of things, one (seemingly) embarrassing mistake does not determine whether or not you are accepted, and your application is looked at as a whole. The admissions assessment is meant to be difficult, so feeling like you've messed up is completely normal. My admissions assessment results were very mediocre and I messed up one section quite badly but I still managed to get into the college I applied to, which proves my point that it's meant to be hard, and also that applications are not rejected based on one part of your application. Every application will have stronger and weaker parts to it.