Natural Sciences (Physical) @ Selwyn, Cambridge in 2017

Interview format

3x interviews (20 mins each)

Interview content

First interview: maths, physics; Second interview: curve sketching, chemical reaction mechanisms; Third interview: personal questions

Best preparation

EPQ; Reading textbooks; Talking with past and current students; Practice interviews; Be passionate!

Final thoughts

Be as confident as you can! Be honest and ask questions in the interview.

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

Arrived evening before, stayed overnight. All food and things provided free. Student reps helped in main 'base' in the college bar. 3 interviews, each 20 mins. Two academic interviews with two academics, one general interview with one interviewer. Spread evenly throughout the day, no additional tests.

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Interview 1 - materials and physics. Questions on fields. Mostly mathematical as I've not done physics.

Interview 2 - maths and chemistry. Questions on increasingly complex curve sketching and reaction mechanisms. Generally all content was things I had covered in A-level. Felt awful - thought I'd failed!

Interview 3 - more general questions about motivations.

How did you prepare?

EPQ gives you something to talk about which you really know well - definitely recommend. Read a couple of textbooks which weren't specifically useful but was good to have wider grounding. I did talk with current and past students from other colleges with contacts from my sixth form college, also a few practice interviews to get into the mindset! Most important is having a genuine passion for the subject and a flexible mind, which is more to do with your character than any training you do. That said, it is essential to know everything you have learned like the back of your hand - not only is this useful for answering the questions, it makes you feel much calmer when you go in!

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

Do not worry! Feel confident going in, feel confident leaving. No matter how you felt it went, you cannot predict how you were viewed by the interviewers.

The advice to talk your mind honestly is true - ask questions when you're not sure, and say what you think might be right - even if you're not sure. It might be on the way to the right answer even if it's not perfect. They are searching for raw talent - not refined execution - so don't worry about how you sound or look (I didn't wear a suit and I got in!)