Advice for Oxbridge Humanities Interviews

You’ve done the personal statement, and possibly an entrance exam, and now you’ve got a date for an interview. I still remember the n

erves I felt when I went to Oxford for my interviews in December 2017. The process has changed a bit in recent years, with the pandemic forcing Oxford and Cambridge to shift almost all interviews to an online format, which they seem to be sticking with for the foreseeable future. So, instead of travelling to your college, you’ll most likely be sitting at a school computer with a webcam. But don’t panic! The interview setting may have changed, but the process itself has stayed the same.

Tips for the weeks before

1) Focus on confidence, not memorising facts.

Interviews are a way for tutors to get a sense of how you think.

They’re not about showing off or out-smarting anyone. It’s important to feel well-informed

and prepared to discuss ideas relating to your subject. But it’s just as important to

remember that interviews are about listening and responding in the moment. You shouldn’t

try to guess what you’ll be asked and prepare pre-written answers. Instead, it’s useful to

build up your confidence in the subject, revisiting anything you found particularly interesting

and trying to form your own ideas about things you may have encountered in class or in

your wider reading.

2) Re-read your personal statement.

In all the anticipation of your impending interviews, it’s easy to forget what you’ve already

done. Read back over your personal statement, and any other work you may have

submitted as part of your application, well before you do the interview. If you’ve mentioned

a book or article you read, consider re-reading it and refreshing yourself on what you found

interesting about it. If you’ve submitted an essay on a particular topic or theme, remind

yourself of the arguments you made and consider whether you still agree with them. It’s ok

if you don’t! That in itself could make for an interesting discussion with a tutor, if you can

explain clearly why you changed your mind. This is not a guarantee that you’ll be asked

about your pre-submitted work. I was, but only briefly, and I know lots of people who

weren’t at all. It’s difficult to predict what will come up, but remember if a tutor does ask

about something you mentioned in an essay or personal statement, they’re giving you a

chance to talk about a familiar subject. Make sure you feel confident on everything you

mentioned – they want to see your enthusiasm!

3) Do practice interviews if you can.

I was lucky enough to have a great teacher who took some time to do mock-up interviews

with me. He would print off a copy of a poem I hadn’t read before, and give me some time

to read through it before asking me questions about my interpretation of it. This was really

helpful, as several of my interviews followed a similar format, so even though I was

presented with material I hadn’t seen before, I had a bit of practice in quickly reading

through a text and picking out the key points of interest. If you don’t have a teacher with

the free time to do this, you could always ask a friend or relative to pick a random passage

from something and try to come up with some questions to ask you, or even just practice

going through unseen passages yourself.

4) Think analytically.

The tutors interviewing you won’t expect you to know everything about a subject, because

nobody does, even if they’re a professor with years of experience. Instead, focus on things

you have found interesting (i.e. anything you mentioned on your personal statement, or

that you’ve read outside class). If you practice with unseen passages, remember to think

analytically. What stands out to you? Break things down, and think about how they compare

to other things you’ve read in structure, context, language and tone. If there’s a similarity,

or something unusual, point it out! Explain your thinking.

5) Don’t overthink the interview timetable.

You’ll be told in advance about the date and times of your first interviews. The number of

interviews you do can vary. When I applied for Classics, I ended up doing four, one on

history and archaeology, one on literature, one at the faculty, and one at another college.

You may not have this many, or you may end up with even more, especially if you’re invited

to interview at several different colleges. Try not to read too much into this. The number of

interviews you’re asked to do doesn’t signify anything about what the tutors think of you.

There are many different reasons you could be asked to do extra interviews, and it’s not

helpful to worry too much about what’s going on behind the scenes. Just go into each one

with an open mind and focus on listening and thinking through your answers, rather than

trying to second guess the whole process.

Tips for the day

1) Wear what you feel comfortable in.

Don’t worry about dressing like you’re going for a job interview. At my interviews, there

were people in suits sitting waiting next to people in ripped jeans and colourful jumpers.

Wear what gives you confidence.

2) Conquer your nerves (as much as you can).

It’s natural to feel nervous, but try to take a deep breath before you join the call. If you can,

treat the interview as an opportunity. You’re getting to talk to an expert about a subject

you’re passionate about. That’s pretty exciting! It’s hard to completely overcome your

nerves, but being interested and engaged in what they ask you is a good first step to

success.

3) Take your time.

Don’t be afraid to take time to think. I know from personal experience how tempting it can

be to avoid awkward pauses and fill the silence before you’ve properly formulated your

thoughts. But it doesn’t hurt to pause and think things through before you answer.

4) Have faith in yourself.

A tutor may ask follow-up questions to dig deeper into an answer you’ve given, or even

supply you with more information which changes your perspective on the issue. Remember

to trust yourself. The tutor is trying to see how you think, not catch you off guard. Even if

you end up changing your mind about what you’ve previously said, don’t dismiss your

earlier answers or feel like you’ve been ‘corrected’. Instead, trust your instincts to help you

form opinions and expand on your previous answers.

5) After the interview

Take a moment to decompress, then move on.

Interviews usually only last around 25 minutes, but nerves and concentration make them

tiring! Once you’ve finished one, take a few minutes to process things and maybe chat

about it with a friend or teacher, but don’t dwell on it for too long. As I’ve said, it’s very

difficult to second guess what tutors are thinking, and generally unhelpful to start predicting

what they thought of you and mulling over where you went wrong. Spoiler – you probably

didn’t go wrong at all! Try to avoid spiralling if you can. Put the interview out of your mind

once it’s over, so you can move on to the next one.

6) Take advantage of any student helpers.

The college you’ve applied to may well have some kind of student helpers doing advice calls

in the evenings before and after interviews. Take advantage of these, especially if all your

interviews are online. Current students are the best port of call for getting a sense of the

wider world of your college, from how an average day is structured to what kind of extra-

curricular activities are around, and even asking what the food is like. Online interviews

mean you might not get a chance to visit Oxford or Cambridge and get a sense of your

potential college until much later on, and it’s useful to familiarise yourself with it. It’s also a

good way to decompress after an interview, and to meet some friendly faces who have been through it themselves.

Finally, good luck.

Getting invited to interview at Oxford or Cambridge is a huge achievement. You should be

very proud of yourself for getting this far, and I hope everything works out for you!