Abbey

University College

    I hadn’t really considered Oxford until after my AS results and some enthusiastic English teachers who encouraged me to apply. On visiting Oxford I found the stereotypes generally to be unfounded (people did seem to have a good time and lead normal lives)and the course they offered to be exactly what I wanted. The idea of the college system also really appealed to me and the fact that the university is city based rather than on a campus miles from town was something I really wanted.

For English it’s obviously important to have read widely though I didn’t have a particularly extensive knowledge of literature. To prepare for my interview I decided to read around the areas I already knew interested me from school and to find out a little about some other topics I thought might interest me but had never covered. I also made sure everything I had written in my personal statement I could backup in case I was challenged on any of it at interview. I also briefly researched my tutors through the college website to check I wasn’t about to be interviewed by a leading expert in something I’d claimed to know only a little bit about.

I had two interviews at Univ, each with two tutors. The first interview was a very informal chat about what I had read, why I had enjoyed it etc. and eventually moved on to a more general discussion of literature as a whole and different approaches to studying it. The interview was very relaxed and I was allowed control of where the conversation went with the tutors picking up on things I mentioned to shape the discussion.

My second interview involved analysis of poem which we were given 15 minutes before the interview. During the interview I was expected to discuss what I had found interesting about the poem and to explain the ideas I’d had on it. Again it was quite an informal discussion rather than an interview.

Having only two interview meant most of my interview day was spent in the JCR, nervously awaiting my interviews and then discussing everyone’s experience of them afterwards. It’s a nervous time to be surrounded by no one you know but everyone makes an effort to talk to everyone else and I had a really good time talking to new people, exploring Oxford and generally messing around in the JCR. 
I’m really glad I prepared for my interview by knowing my personal statement and the topics mentioned in it really well. Although my tutors hadn’t prepared questions from my statement it was reassuring to know going into my interview that everything I had said on paper I could back up in person. I know I was ridiculously nervous immediately before my interview so anything you can do to try and minimize that is really useful. Because my interviews were so relaxed it would have been hard to have pre-planned answers for questions but if it helps you to know that you’ve got something to fall back on then I would recommend it. Do whatever you can to make yourself feel comfortable, this includes what you wear. The interview guidelines suggest you should wear something you’re comfortable in, meaning something you would be comfortable to be interviewed in rather than your most comfortable jeans and a jumper. I wore a shirt dress and boots, some people wore similar or smart trousers/skirts and jumpers/shirts. I remember being most worried about what to wear but ultimately something vaguely smart will be fine, I really doubt my tutors noticed what I was wearing, its more about how you feel about it than the impression they may have of you – don’t dress up because you think it’s expected and then spend the whole day feeling out of place and uncomfortable.

Overall my interview process was quite enjoyable. I expected to be challenged and undermined by leading academics but in reality I had two informal chats which lasted about 15 minutes each. At the time I remember feeling that I hadn’t shown enough potential at interview and afterwards regretting that I hadn’t had more controversial opinions or interesting points but my interview really didn’t lend itself to intense academic debate. It’s important after your interview not to try and compare it to friends’ interviews at other colleges or for different subjects as there’s no set format for interviews across the university, it depends on different colleges and tutors’ styles.