Oxford has released its annual offering of sample interview questions in an attempt to demystify the application process for prospective students.
The sample questions were revealed on the Tuesday 15 October, the same day as the UCAS deadline for those applying to study at the University of Oxford in the next academic year.
Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Oxford, Mike Nicolson, says, “There are many myths surrounding Oxford interviews, and they can be the most anxiety-provoking part of the Oxford application process for students.
“We want to show what it’s really like having an admissions interview at Oxford, as they are such a unique and important part of our admissions process.”
One question provided by Dave Leal, a Philosophy, Politics, and Economics tutor at Brasenose College, asks students to distinguish between the meanings of ‘lie’, ‘deceive’, and ‘mislead’.
Leal states that, “Questions of this sort help us to test a candidate’s capacity to draw nuanced distinctions between concepts, and to revise and challenge their own first moves in the light of different sentences containing the key words. Discussion may well lead into areas which could crop up during a degree in philosophy, including questions in ethics, the philosophy of mind and of language. It’s not, though, a test of ‘philosophical knowledge’”.
Maria Coyle, Press Officer for the university, says, “We want to try to show potential candidates what the process is like so they aren’t put off by what they might have heard.
“Every effort is made to ensure that all applicants, whatever their age, social or educational background, are given an equal chance to demonstrate their academic potential. The interview is only one part of the Oxford admissions process, but for many students it is the part that makes them the most anxious.”
Current students recalling their interview experiences had mixed responses.
One second year physicist recalls his interviewer waving a CD in front of a lamp, before asking him, “What do you see?” Other memorable interview topics included the discussion of a piece of metal for Material Science, and the questioning of whether ‘The Waste Land’ is a moral poem for English.
However, students also remember that most interviews were almost entirely subject-based, often using pieces of text or problems as prompts, and some reported that their interviews were indeed very similar to their current tutorials.
