Test taken: Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA)
Number of interviews: 3
Time between interviews: A couple of hours - to a day (one per subject)
Length of interviews: 20min?
Online interview: No

Philosophy: There was a problem sheet: a longer question that I read during the interview(a bit awkward with them watching me read), following into an open discussion, then followed by some short logic questions. There was less time pressure than I thought, and both the interviewers (a professor and a grad student) were quite friendly, they gave me time to ask questions at the end. It did feel slightly impersonal though, because everyone got the same questions. Politics: This was the most open interview, where two interviewers asked questions that required a longer answer, and then asking follow up questions, both on concrete political issues and political theory. I felt like I got to talk about what interested me and draw on the readings I had done to prepare, which was nice. The professors had very different energies: one smiled and nodded encouragingly all the time and the other never looked at me, taking lots of notes (I thought maybe that I was doing it all wrong, but turns out she was the same for all students, so don't necessarily assume they're reacting to you). Economics: I was sent into a room by a student rep, given an information sheet, pen and 15 min to prepare, with my phone etc taken away. Then I was taken to another room, where I had to wait before my interview. There was a post grad and the economics tutor. It was more maths based than I had thought, with some problems based on the info I had read - but I couldn't have known the questions/answers until he asked them, because he added some info. So don't stress if the prep doesn't seem to make any sense. This was the hardest interview, they pushed me and I felt like I was thinking really slowly. And we kept going to the very end, so I felt that it was short, but also very stressful.

I watched some videos about what to expect (especially Chloe Tan's, they were useful). However, it was completely different to what I was told to expect, in that I wasn't asked about my personal statement in any of the interviews. (I know that that's just Merton, not other colleges though). However, I think that it put me in the right frame of mind for interviews, because I felt more confident in my knowledge. I reviewed my IB maths and Economics before my econ interview, which put me in the right frame of mind of "rigorous questioning". I did one practice interview at school, but it was nothing like the real thing: my school doesn't have experience getting people into Oxford, so I felt like they didn't know more than I did! I think the best part was preparing for the TSA because doing the practice papers really calmed me down.

I did all the official practice papers for section 1 (10), then reviewed all the questions I had gotten wrong. For Section 2 I wrote some essay plans

I would give advice to do what feel right for you to prepare: for me that meant trying to practice articulating my thoughts concisely, for some people it might be speaking up and not being shy. I think its good to read, but not to name drop research etc, but because it exposes you to different perspectives, and you have more to draw on. You will make mistakes and feel stupid, but just pick yourself up and continue. Don't be afraid to argue a point, if you have an opinion voice it, but equally, be flexible enough to change course when/if they convince you otherwise. Also, I think its impossible not to overanalyse afterward. If at all possible don't have any schoolwork with you during the interview period, it was much easier for me than for people who were also worrying about essays and mock exams. Just give yourself time after the interview to cry, celebrate, overthink your answers, discuss, whatever, because processing it will make it easier to put it behind you. Nothing means anything! Pooling, not pooling, etc. And enjoy: its an expereince in itself, and I walked out thinking "pity I'll never come here again, but at least it was really nice":