3x 30 min interviews, over 2 days
Interview 1: 'pure' maths problem; Interview 2: questions on reading given beforehand; Interview 3: more maths
Problem Solving MATters course
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Interviewers are trying to push you until you find it hard, so don't worry if you do.
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.
Test taken:
Number of interviews: 3
Skype interview: No
Interview spread: 2 on Monday, 1 on Tuesday
Length of interviews: 30 minutes each
In all three of my interviews there was very little small talk or non-maths questions. I think they started by introducing themselves and explaining that I could ask questions whenever, and then we just talked about maths problems for the rest of the time. In my two interviews at LMH I had one interview which felt more 'pure' and one which felt more applied.
In my first one, which was the more applied one, they'd drawn a graph on the board. They started asking me some quicker, easier questions, and then there was an involved bit about calculus where they gave me lots of hints and it felt like we were working through it together. It was a combination of making suggestions or answering questions out loud and writing down working out. Then we did some more short problems at the end. I was
In my second interview there was about half an hour's reading to do beforehand, which I got to do in a separate room with paper to make notes on. It was pretty interesting and I enjoyed this interview more. There were questions about the reading, which I found okay. Then they gave me something much harder and abstract which I felt quite at sea with. I gave it a stab but I don't think I really got anywhere with it and we went back to the earlier questions.
My third interview was at St Hugh's, which was similar to the first two- I was very nervous and didn't really relax that much, but the tutors are helpful and even though they're setting the questions, it feels somewhat collaborative as they help you if you're stuck and ask you about how you worked things out.
I did lots of
For MAT preparation I also went on the Problem Solving MATters course (for state school students). I think Oxford and Imperial both ran it that year, and it was definitely the most helpful thing I did, so it's worth looking into if that's relevant to you. I'd advise people to try doing lots of MAT questions, and maybe try and get a friend or teacher to look over them with you. If you can get your maths teacher to do
I used the free resources at https://oxbridgeapplications.com/student-resources/, especially the example personal statements, to help write my personal statement. This helped as it gave me an idea of what it should look like. I got advice from my family and teachers on my personal statement as well.
Don't worry if you haven't had a practice interview. The
I think one of the things I found at interview was that