What can you do to prepare for the interview?

Every October, students who are applying to Oxford or Cambridge put the finishing touches to their personal statements, mail off their applications and then inevitably start wondering if they will be good enough by December to win a place. I used to stay up at Oxford during the interview period whilst an undergraduate and I was also there at a similar time at Cambridge as a graduate. When I was passing through college in December, I would sometimes strike up a conversation with some of the candidates. It didn’t take long before they asked what they needed to do to win an offer of a place, such which secret words to recite or magic potion to drink. There was a limited selection of potions down the college bar, but the most nervous of them were unlikely to show their faces down there.

So, we all used to say the same thing to keep the interview candidates calm, which was that the others were all really good and they probably were too; getting in was a bit random and that they shouldn’t worry about it. It wasn’t entirely true as it was fairly obvious that some of them wouldn’t get in. They looked out of their depth just being around the other candidates, like a pitch invader on the edge of a cup-winning team photo. The part that was true was the random bit, the tutors could in theory ask you anything in the interview. So, how do you prepare for that?

The questions are not random

The first point to make is that the interviewers don’t ask you anything they fancy on the day. You have in fact already got an idea of the opening questions, these are likely to come from the content in your personal statement. The tutors and interviewers are genuinely keen to set you at ease at the beginning of the interview, so expect a few questions on anything you have done in relation to your subject and perhaps some of your extracurricular interests. The interview will then continue with a few questions or problems to see how well you understand some basic principles related to A-level or IB Diploma Chemistry. It is essential that you know your A-level material inside out if you are applying to Oxford, Cambridge, or other leading universities. I can definitely help with that, so if you need some tutorials please get in touch with me using the link in the drop-down menu to the left.

If you are applying to any top university though, it is highly likely that they will also ask some stretch questions that either test your ability to solve problems (a core skill for a budding Chemist) or to see if you can cope with degree-level material. If you do poorly in the earlier part of the interview, this is your last chance to dazzle the interviewers before they make a decision. So, in this part of the interview, where they are asking things beyond A-level, what might come up?

Common topics for Chemistry interview questions

The universities are looking to replace their current first year undergraduates with students of similar capabilities. Because of this, they often choose topics that are covered early in the first term because this makes a direct comparison to their existing students very easy. They also like questions that can start with some A-level material and then be expanded or applied to novel situations. Popular questions include:

  • Anything mentioned explicitly on your personal statement
  • Anything you bring in to the discussion during the interview
  • Stereochemistry
  • Shapes of molecules
  • Organic mechanisms*
  • Kinetics and Energetics
  • Lattice, ionisation and hydration enthalpies
  • Chemistry in everyday phenomena
  • Problem solving using moles

This isn’t an extensive list and some of the items are more difficult to ask questions about during online interviews (*). You may also get some brain teasers or other mental agility problems, these were a particular favourite of my supervisor at Cambridge. It is still worth making sure you are competent and confident in the above areas though as they are frequently probed at interview. You can prepare for this by reading some introductory undergraduate material or by having a few sessions with me to improve your subject knowledge.

If you are applying to Oxbridge, extra study alone might not be enough. Most of the students applying have excellent subject knowledge already and the majority don’t get in, so what specifically are they looking for in a candidate? Were you wrong to avoid those magic potions or sell your lucky rabbit’s foot?

What are Oxford and Cambridge looking for in a future undergraduate?

Keith, my Physical Chemistry tutor, used to sum up what he was looking for in a candidate as ‘the right attitude and aptitude’. I realise that isn’t particularly helpful, unless of course you already know an Oxbridge alumnus and therefore have some idea of what those two terms mean. So, it is better to look for the qualities that make for an impressive candidate at interview; for the common traits that the vast majority of students who get selected have in abundance. These are:

  • Clear evidence of independent thinking
  • Perseverance
  • Enthusiasm for the subject and learning in general

In many ways, you prepare for Oxford or Cambridge from very early in life. The first two items in the list are related to your personality and formed early in childhood, these qualities can’t really be taught. Candidates that have thought about the links and deeper meaning of the ideas in their studies demonstrate that mental agility when answering questions at interview. Indeed, when answering an A-level question is it clear that students that think for themselves could easily go a step further in complexity. They have the spare mental capacity and have arranged their thoughts in a way they can be quickly accessed when approaching such problems.

All three qualities are synergistic, so you can’t really be weak in any of them without weakening the others. Perseverance is more than just keeping going, you need a thinking mind to try alternate approaches and the enthusiasm to do this regularly. Studying at Oxbridge means that there are no easy days, just easier days, so showing some grit isn’t something you can just do occasionally. Grit is really crucial in the eyes of the interviewers to demonstrate that you are likely to last the full three or four years required to graduate. With only a few places available at each college and increasingly tight budgets, they don’t want to take on a quitter or subject-switcher when they have to turn down so many others for each place.

As a final note, if you do get the opportunity to have an interview, make sure to be yourself. Don’t pretend to have knowledge or abilities you don’t actually have, the interviewers are experts and will quickly find you out. Many a tale has been passed around at the annual Chemistry dinner of candidates who made bold claims that evaporated with the first follow-up question - those guys were easy to reject. If you have the qualities that they are looking for, all you need to do is be relaxed and comfortable enough to show them. Do that and you stand an excellent chance of getting an offer.

Good luck!