Number of interviews: 2

Skype interview: No

Time between each interview: 1 day

Length of interviews: 20 minutes each (but usually 30 minutes each; I finished early)

In both interviews (Biochemistry), they first asked why I wanted to study the subject. Then they asked very briefly at the start about one small aspect of my personal statement, so I'd advise you know each book/experiment/article/online course you refer to well so that you can answer about their content. After that, it was a series of set questions which they "fired" at me but I found it quite fun. My first interview had one of those "long" questions where they ask a series of smaller questions building up on one topic. My second one just had many unrelated questions, but they were interesting. It was fun because these are mostly questions/material you have never covered before, but it's amazing how your brain already knows so much more than you think you know!

Basically, if you think and argue logically, usually you can discover something correct, and it's quite thrilling! And even if you get it "wrong", if you did argue coherently for your logic, that can also impress the tutors. After the interviews, they ask you whether you have any other questions for them, and you can ask anything - you could ask even "what research do you do?" if you're interested.

At first, I was quite stressed in the room, as I was being asked many questions. But at one point, I made an obviously stupid mistake, then realised just after, and laughed it off. The tutors laughed too, and I think that made me relaxed. I think the best attitude is to relax, be happy, and enjoy it as much as you can because you're basically in a very lucky position where you're learning/sitting with a world expert in the subject you're interested in!

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To prepare, I had had a few mock interviews by teachers in my school and some university students online. I also made up mock interview questions for myself, and I answered them alone just before the interview, speaking alone and writing on a whiteboard (I was lucky to have one in my interview dorm!) as if it were the interviews. You can really just make up questions by yourself, even if you don't know if there is an existing answer. I think that really helped me because it put me in the mood to answering questions about my subject, and when I went into the interview, it just felt like a continuation of what I had been doing, so was less of a shock to start thinking.

I also reread my personal statement and made sure I could talk about any part of it.

During my stay at Oxford, I tried to relax, and make some new friends at interviews. I also toured around some other colleges. I'd say to take advantage of the fact that you are there, and explore the city a bit, since you will be living there for many years if you do get in! Don't just revise the whole day in your room, because they will not ask you too many questions which are knowledge based, and if you do realise you forgot something, you can always ask the tutors during the interview because they care more about how you reason, not what you know.