Number of interviews: 2

Skype interview: No

Time between each interview: just over 1 day

Length of interviews: about 20 minutes each

At my first interview we had 15 minutes beforehand to read an article and write a paragraph summary of it, but they didn't mention it much in the interview. My personal statement was mentioned but we quickly moved on to talking about enzymes and then about something else. I was shown a molecule and asked some questions about it. There were a few mole calculations and maths questions. They also asked a little about PCR, which I hadn't been taught in school yet so they were very understanding and explained what I needed to know, they definitely help you through the questions, it's not like a test. I had three interviewers and they did quickly move on from one topic to the next, which could be overwhelming, but they were super nice about it and warned me at the start that that is how it would have to work as they had limited time to interview everyone. They were very friendly and I didn't feel like I was being judged for all the stupid things I said. After a few minutes of nervous struggling at the start, I realised this and allowed them to help me by explaining my thought process.

My second interview did focus a bit more on my personal statement, they picked very specific parts and then asked me to expand upon them. For example I mentioned haemophilia and they asked me a bit about that, but nothing beyond A-level standard. They also gave me some molecules and asked me to identify some functional groups. There were then some questions on serial dilutions, which I struggled with. But, as long as you write down your steps and talk about it as you go along, they will help you. In fact I got several wrong answers but they just moved on, which can seem off-putting but I think it's because they are not interested in your answers as much as how you got to them.

-

Use the tutors to help you, treat it as a lesson rather than an interview. If you don't know something, either work through it out loud or don't be afraid to ask them for more information to help you answer it.

The best thing I think I did in preparation was to highlight all the things they could possibly pick out of my personal statement, all the topics I mentioned, books I'd read, etc. Then I wrote down at least ten bullet points expanding upon each of those things. Also any revision of relevant A-levels is definitely useful, even looking over bits you haven't yet learned as they will likely ask about those.

Overall though no preparation is really needed, it just might make you feel calmer going into it. Beware though, over-preparing is definitely a thing too, so don't take any notice of people who tell you they've researched loads of things and done tonnes of prep, since often this can be detrimental. Tutors want to know how you deal with unknown content. Often if you spend time memorising things this can affect how you approach a problem because you'll be trying to remember an answer rather than working it out.

The only thing I regret about my interviews was how I over-analysed them afterwards and beat myself up about them. You can never know the outcome and either way it's a unique experience so just make the most of it.