University Interviews

How to pass a university interview...

University interviews are a more and more common phenomenon. Whilst once the preserve of an elite few universities, an increasing number of universities now use some sort of interview process to decide on who to offer places at their university.

The reasons for this are many, some more obvious than others. One of the major drivers however is an increasing difficulty to differentiate ability and suitability based on grades alone. With pass rates increasing year on year and a surprisingly high percentage of students getting straight 'A' grades, it has become necessary to actually meet the candidates and see what they can and can't do in person rather than relying purely on their ability to remember data and information for an exam.

University Interviews: an opportunity to impress

It is natural to get nervous before an interview, but do not get scared - think of it as an opportunity to impress and demonstrate that you are exactly the sort of person they should want at this university. If you meet other candidates beforehand and they seem more charming, more knowledgeable and in short just better than you - ignore it. The key criterion is how you perform in the interview itself rather than when exchanging pleasantries beforehand.

There are some simple things you can do to greatly increase your chances of success in a university interview, as follows.

Preparation : this is the key to success in most things, so be sure to prepare well and in two areas.

The first area to prepare in is subject knowledge. You will virtually always have a chat with an expert on your chosen subject in an interview, and they will be testing your ability to think clearly and answer questions perhaps outside your current knowledge base rather than testing what you currently know - which the exams will find out.

Therefore before the interview it is worth reading around your subject a little and finding a couple of areas that you would like to study more.

Try to anticipate questions that you might get asked. Often they test your real interest in the subject by asking how much you have read around the subject, and what your particular interests are - which areas you would like to explore within the subject in more detail. By doing the preparation you will be well placed to answer fully and not have to make up some fudged or half baked answer.

The second area of preparation is with regard interviews. If possible try to arrange for a mock interview. For many the university interview is the first they ever have so can be particularly difficult or intimidating. Practice sitting up straight, not twitching or fiddling, smiling, looking confident and eye contact.

The visual clues you give and use in your interview will determine if you build a rapport with the interviewer or not, and this can be a big influence on whether you get in. If two candidates are of equal ability but the interviewer feels they had a natural rapport with one more than other, then you can guess who will be getting in.

Be sure to take your time and never panic. Be honest in all your answers. If you need to think about something before answering than say so - this shows that you are self assured and taking the question seriously.

If you feel that you have made a mistake or the questions are too tough, banish all those doubts from your mind right now and stay focussed on the interview. It is possible that the interviewer is impressed with you and merely seeing how far they can push you to think about subjects or unfamiliar topics in a new way. Therefore if you get questions that seem a little strange, esoteric, or unrelated to the topic in hand it is because they want to see your ability to form an argument or opinion.

Hence if you get asked what you think the most important invention of the last century was, when you are applying to study maths, then you should realise it is to see how logical and reasoned your thinking is on something you might not have dedicated much thought to before.

Good luck with your university interviews - and remember if you don't get in, try to get some good quality feedback to understand why this was so as you are not just left feeling frustrated. If you get an offer, then congratulations - now all you need is to get the grades to ensure that you meet the offer and get into your university of choice!

Author: Dan

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Last Updated: Aug 31st 2006

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