Two technical 20 minute interviews.
Submitted a choice of topics before the interview. This was then what the interview was based on.
Practicing talking about my subject. Biggest advice is to be more chilled.
The Student Room was a bad source of advice. It only made me nervous.
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.
I arrived the day before and stayed overnight at college. In the evening some quizzes were organised in the bar which was fun. It was nice because everyone was slightly nervous but it was also funny because everyone was also comparing the competition. I had 2 interviews that each had 2 interviewers and lasted 20 minutes. Both interviews were technical discussions around my personal statement.
A few weeks before the interview I was asked to submit topics to the college I wanted to talk about. I said zoonotic disease, prions neurodegenerative diseases, and epigenetics. It surprised me because the first interview was about materials and required some math calculations. The maths wasn’t too hard but I hadn’t practised maths in a while so was caught off guard and panicked. Somehow I forgot how you divide 52 by 6! They then asked about one of my chosen topics which went much better. The questions were fairly advanced and required more problem solving / thinking outside the box. I was calmer going into the second interview because I knew what to expect. The second interview was with the first year Director of Studies and a neuroscientist. The neuroscientist asked about neurodegenerative conditions (my specified topic) and the questions were more about knowledge then problem solving. I was then asked about prions (another topic I requested). The questions were mainly A-Level standard but then went way beyond what I knew until I was guessing (well making educated guesses).
My
I read The Student Room for advice but that was terrible – it was filled with people bragging. I actually met one of the braggers at my interview but I don’t think he got an offer. I think it’s important not to worry about the interview. You’ll be nervous but yeah don’t worry about it.