Stephen

Why Oxford?

I decided in my Lower Sixth that I’d try for Oxford – after all, I did have six choices to fill!  I knew I wanted to do Psychology at university, but hadn’t actually done it in the past – this didn’t make any difference at all, with the course starting completely from scratch.  Being the first in my family to apply to university, it was all initially rather daunting, especially with the prospect of Oxford!

Oxford initially appealed to me for its academic reputation, probably as it does for many.  I came along to the science open day, visited a few colleges, went on a tour of the department, sat through a few lectures, and then aimlessly walked around other departments.  As cheesy as it sounds, it was then that I sort of fell in love with the place, and knew it was definitely worth trying for!

Strangely enough, New College was one of the few colleges I hadn’t visited, and yet I still decided to apply there on the basis that others said it “looked pretty”, and that it appeared to have a decent location.  (Little did I know it was actually the best college!)

Interview Preparation

I looked on the EP department website and found a recommended reading list, and over the course of the summer holidays, sat down and glimpsed over a few general books covering the subject.  I’m not sure if this helped too much, but it was certainly useful in gaining an idea of what I’d be committing myself to!  Two books I found particularly useful were Colman’s 'What is Psychology?' (for getting a general introduction to the subject and possible career paths), and Hewstone’s 'Psychology' (skimmed through to get a general feel for the subject).

It was also useful occasionally glancing over psychology news – the BPS Research Digest and the Mind Hacks blog are both very useful, and usually contain some very interesting stories.

For me, there was little preparation done through school, and I generally prepared myself alone.  I was a little apprehensive about having to take a test, so downloaded the specimen paper off the website to get a feel for what it would be like.

Arrival

I arrived on the Sunday afternoon, and was quickly shown to my room and given everything I needed to know by a shepherd (a college helper in an older year).  The college turned one of its lecture rooms into a ‘central hub’, with information boards and many shepherds around in case you ever got lost or had any questions.  Everybody generally gathered here most of the time, and so there was always somebody to talk (or play giant connect 4 with)!

The Test

We took the test that evening at 5pm, and it was all surprisingly really relaxed – not often do you sit on comfy chairs writing on padded tables!  You couldn’t really have prepared for the test, as it was on a completely random, newly researched topic.  The test seemed to mainly test skills of analysing data, evaluating and criticising experiments, and general writing.  It was certainly nothing to worry about anyway.

Kick-Back Time!

The college and the JCR were both great in accommodating us.  The JCR made sure there was always something to do, and put on things such as film nights to keep us occupied in the evenings.  The food was free, and all bedding provided, so there wasn’t much at all to worry about.  Pretty much all the rooms were en-suite and fairly comfy - mine even had a fire and a couple of sofas!  Everybody was really friendly, and there was always somebody on hand to help you out if need be.

The Interviews

Both of my interviews were on the Tuesday – allowing for plenty of shopping and a showing of Casino Royale on the Monday.  My first was at Corpus Christi (you are shepherded there so you can’t get lost!), and took the form of a mini-tutorial, in which I was introduced to a topic, and then asked about its implications, applications, as well as a few questions to check that I had grasped the concept correctly.  The interview lasted about fifteen minutes, and was all fairly relaxed.

After a quick visit to the Pizza Hut buffet, it was time for my second interview at New (where I’d applied).  I was interviewed by two professors, both extremely friendly, for about ten to fifteen minutes once again.  This tutorial was more of a general chat, skimming over my personal statement, before being led into a discussion into various simple psychological topics (all of which are easy to pick-up and require no preparation), trying to think of their every-day applications and common examples.  It was all extremely friendly, and really was very chatty – I laughed, the interviewers laughed, it was very relaxed and strangely... enjoyable!

For me, my interview apprehension was a lot of fuss over nothing.  I came out of the interviews completely baffled by what I’d experienced, not having any idea of how it’d gone.  The way I saw it is: if the tutors consider me not suitable then that’s no loss; there’s no point putting on a show, as I’d only struggle if I got here.  I took it naturally, and I cannot stress how relaxed the interviews were (although I was scared about sinking too far into the leather sofa)!  Dress-wise, I turned up in a polo shirt and jeans.

Ten minutes later, I hopped on a train and headed off home.