Resources for Academic Success

You have written a compelling personal statement, passed any aptitude tests or written assessments with flying colours, and reached the infamous Oxbridge interview stage. Congratulations, but how are you going to ace your life’s most important thirty minutes to date, and what should you do when you are presented with seemingly irrelevant questions in an Oxbridge interview?

As cliché and obvious as it may sound, Oxbridge are looking for someone with the academic potential and being the best, if not at least one of the best, in their chosen course. Therefore, any apparently unrelated questions that you could have been asked in the interview are in fact, subject specific.
 

Draw relevance from the question to the discipline you are applying to

Oxbridge stress a lot on academic passion and interests to the extent that they’ve coined the term super-curricular activities in referring to a candidate’s academic undertakings. Interviewers could ask questions on various topics – be it explicit like a calculation problem in STEM subjects or the clarification of a concept in arts, humanities, and social sciences; or implicit and seemingly irrelevant ones such as drawing comparison between ladybirds and strawberries.  

In the latter case, you should first consider how this question fit in with any of the topics from your chosen degree. Taking “Red” as an example:  if you are applying to read biology, you could discuss the evolutionary implications of red as a signal against predators; for psychology, you could evaluate the visual and cognitive processes that allow us to perceive colours; and if you are an aspiring sociologist, feel free to assess the symbolism of red, and extrapolate such symbol from plants and animals to human societal construct.  

The purpose of these questions is to prompt you in critically and analytically reflecting on the content that you’ve read around the subject, and to draw connections in answering the questions. By doing so, the candidate will be able to demonstrate their having read around the subject.
 

Show that you are open-minded in responding to new stimuli and counter arguments

Those who apply to Oxbridge are likely to be high-flying students, but it is important to acknowledge one’s limits in their knowledge and, most importantly, accept it. Most often, interviewers will introduce new concepts or counter ideas to you during the interview, and gauge how you respond to the materials. Remember, Oxbridge interviews are designed to see how you think, and not to humiliate you. Therefore, it is crucial to bear in mind that interviews are academic discussion at best and not a debate; there is no winning or losing in the conversation and candidates should not be overly defensive with regards to their answers. Cognitive flexibility is in fact the key to success in Oxbridge interview.
 

Be eloquent in articulating your thoughts

Studying in Oxbridge could be stressful, as many of the current and former students would agree; and the stress is manifested by supervisions (Cambridge)/ tutorials (Oxford), which are small group discussions among the students and professors. With such teaching format in mind, Oxbridge interviews are looking for candidates who are articulate and eloquent; someone who can understand sophisticated concepts and explain them with clarity subsequently. As such, simply producing an answer in respond to an Oxbridge interview question is insufficient; the thought process and logical reasoning could be the determining factor that distinguish between the good and the best.
 

Need Help?

ARCH is here to guide you as you turn your research and ideas into a compelling "Why School” Essay!  

Email info@arch-education.com to schedule an initial consultation with our UK University Counseling team today to get started.