Preparing for a University of Cambridge interview?
5 frequently asked questions about the dreaded interviews.
As a Cambridge graduate, I have been through the process myself, and chatted to many others who have also been through it. During my time there, I also talked to fellows who interview and asked them some burning questions that many applicants have, so buckle up and take notes!
1. What did they ask you and how did you answer?
This is such a frequently asked question I get about these interviews. Many hopefuls believe that you can ‘revise’ for an interview just like you can an exam, but that approach will get you nowhere. Firstly, because they don’t tend to recycle questions so you are unlikely to come across old ones, and secondly because it’s not about the questions, it’s about what you know.
A better question would be: ‘What do they want from me?’.
Cambridge University interviewers want to understand how much you know about what you want to study. If you’re at interview, they already know that you’re smart — now they want to see you engage with them and push you further than your current qualifications. This is why reading around your subject and keeping up to date with the latest news is key! Having that extra knowledge is how you manage to answer difficult questions, being top of your class at school is not enough.
2. What if I freeze or I don’t know how to answer the question?
Being prepared and doing extra reading doesn’t always mean that you’ll have the perfect answer for every question, and that’s fine! One of my supervisors at Cambridge once told me about someone who had a full breakdown mid interview. The interviewee started crying and needed to go outside the room for a bit before continuing… And they got in! They’re not there to be evil on purpose (even though it might feel like that at times), so take your time and if need be, ask them to rephrase or repeat the question. You might even find that allowing yourself time to think helps you realise that the question isn’t even a trick one!
3. How do I stand out from everyone else?
It can be daunting to think that getting a place at Cambridge is in fact a competition. But that is how you need to be thinking to win, that is how you make sure you’re more ready than others.
A great tip my mum taught me is to apply all of those social media stalking skills many of us have (it’s an underrated talent!) to the interviews. What many people don’t utilise is the information you get before you go to interviews. You should know who will be interviewing you on the day: use that information! Research each interviewer, find out what they specialise in, read some of their work, get to grips with their academic career.
Now, beware! You do not want to use that information to flatter them!
Use that information to try to lead the interview, give an answer that references their work (either admitting you know it’s their work or not) and hope that they then ask more about it — it is their speciality after all. Be sure to investigate opposing theories in case they lead you down in the opposite direction, and be prepared for them to ask something unrelated following that answer.
4. I heard that other interviewees try to mess with you before you go in, is that true?
Unfortunately, yes that is true; some people do try to psyche you out before your interview so that you underperform. You just need to be aware of this and ignore anyone who tries to scare you or tell you that you’re not prepared/good enough. Also note that some may be doing it by accident — I did it! I was told in freshers by someone who was interviewing before me that I was constantly talking about how much I’d read which made him think I was trying to show off and make him nervous. In my head, I was just finding a topic we had in common and blabbing away to keep my nerves down. I would leave others be and focus on you and your strategy. After all, it got you this far!
5. How do you know if it went well?
You won’t, and you’ll just have to wait until that letter comes in the post. Not the answer you were hoping for, right?
I’ve heard countless tales about how you can ‘tell’ that it went well or badly but to be honest, hindsight is the only thing that can help you figure that out. Some claim that if you got increasingly difficult questions, that you did very well (this comes from the fact that interviewers like to see how far they can get you to engage). However, a question that is hard to you may be deemed easy to the interviewers, so how are you to know what the ‘level’ of questions was? Were you just too nervous? Were you overthinking your answer? Were you hoping for difficult questions? You really won’t know until you open that envelope.
I hope this story was of use to you! Just remember to keep you chin up, be proud that you made it to this stage and you do you!
