Philosophy @ Girton, Cambridge in 2017

Interview format

Philosophy test at interview; 2x interviews

Interview content

Interview 1: passage analysis; personal statement; Interview 2: general; personal statement

Best preparation

Past papers

Advice in hindsight

-

Final thoughts

Know your personal statement well and read around the subject.

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.

Interview Format

Test taken: Philosophy test (at interview)

Number of interviews: 2

Skype interview: No

Time between interviews: Around 1 hour

Length of first interview: 20 minutes; Length of second interview: 20 minutes

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

In my first interview I was given a passage by John Stuart Mill to dissect, and in the second interview, I was asked what I wanted to talk about and was basically given free reign. In both I was asked questions about my personal statement.

How did you prepare?

I prepared using the one practice paper that was online.

What advice do you have for future applicants?

Looking back, what advice would you give to your past self?

I had a couple of practice interviews, read over what I had mentioned in my personal statement, and did a bit of wider reading.