Test taken: Computer Science Admissions Test (CSAT)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 4.5 hours
Length of interviews: Around 25 minutes
Online interview: No

In my first interview, we had some pre-reading to do about a certain area of maths, so as soon as I came in, I was asked questions about the reading and my interpretation of the topic from what I read and what I already knew. It was quite intimidating and scary at first but once I realised that the interviewers were there to help me out (and they really were!), it became a lot easier to talk more naturally. Once we had finished talking about this maths topic, we moved onto talking about my personal statement. They went through most of the things that I mentioned and I was asked to talk about these things in detail and explain exactly what I did and what I found interesting about it. At one point in this interview, I got so nervous that I couldn't get my words out, the interviewers saw this and asked if I'd like a minute, or if I'd like to step out of the room for a little bit and then carry on after a few minutes, luckily after a minute or so of just thinking to myself, I found my voice but the interviewers were both very considerate and understood how nervous I was.

My second interview was quite physics-based, we talked a little bit about experiments in physics and then looked at a specific experimental equation and I was asked to manipulate it in a certain way. Whenever I looked a little lost, the interviewers would always point me in the right direction and help me get to the correct answer by myself. In the second section of the interview, I was asked about a more computer science-based problem and worked through it with the interviewers. I actually got a few things wrong here, but the interviewers would just kindly point out my mistake and let me carry on working until I finally got the correct answer. The time absolutely flew by in this interview and I was far less nervous because I knew (after my previous interview) that the interviewers were really there to help me because the wanted to see my potential.

The most important thing that I did was that I read over my personal statement and made sure that I knew about everything that I mentioned, for example, I mentioned a short research project of mine, so I made sure to re-read this project and understand exactly what I wrote in it. This meant that if anything that I had mentioned in my personal statement was brought up, I would definitely have something to say and feel comfortable talking about it.

Also, I read a little bit about current developments in computer science, though not enough, so I would really recommend starting to read about developments in your subject a little bit before your actual interview, so you can feel confident talking about this.

Past MAT papers and the example CSAT papers found here: https://openclimb.io/practice/

Be well-prepared! Read your personal statement and know about everything you mention in it! And don't make the same mistake as I did, please read about current news/developments in your subject so that you can talk about it.

Most of all, I think it's important to remember that the interviewers are there to help and they are trying to get the best from you, so try your best to not be nervous, even though it is a nerve-wracking situation, once you start forgetting about the fact you're in an interview and are just discussing your subject, it actually becomes quite fun!