Mathematics And Philosophy @ Merton, Oxford in 2019

Interview format

2x interview; MAT

Interview content

Interview 1: discussion of pre-reading, logic questions; Interview 2: textbook questions

Best preparation

Wider reading based on personal statement

Final thoughts

Try to read some academic texts to get used to the format.

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

Test taken: Mathematics Admissions Test (MAT)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 10 minutes
Length of interviews: 30 minutes
Online interview: Yes

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

The philosophy interview consisted of responding to questions relevant to the pre-reading I had been sent beforehand. Then, I was asked a couple formal logic questions.

For maths, they had me answer some maths questions (one of which felt like a textbook-question) and the other which was more abstract (with guidance from the tutor). The atmosphere for the maths interview was pretty relaxed. They gave me hints for the abstract question, and asked me why I was using specific formulae.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

I did some reading about the topics I raised in my personal statement, and revised maths units from my high-school course for that interview.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

Past papers, which are listed on the website.

What advice would you give to future applicants?

I think I would try reading some academic texts for philosophy to get a feel for the language - I found it rather confusing .