Admissions Interviews: Dos and Don’ts

At Oxford, explains Nicholson, the famous interview process with its seemingly unusual questions (not unusual at all when considered in context, he explains) is designed to see if a student can really think, rather than regurgitate the appropriate piece of information.

“We’re very interested in thought processes, in candidates being able to explain why they think what they think.

“Humanities, social science and medical students should be able to show flexibility; we very rarely start in situations where we have all the information we need, so we start with some partial information, and then drip-feed more to see if they can take on additional information; if they can adapt their answer to something unexpected, or something which changes the direction of travel.”

Maths and engineering students, he adds, are given a hard problem and are required to show how they are solving it, step-by-step. Something which, he comments, does not always come naturally to the students of these disciplines…

Excessive reliance on your credentials, thinks Jessie Koljonen at Johns Hopkins, will not help you to win over your interviewer. “[One candidate] brought in a binder with every single award he had ever gotten in his life, including being selected as line leader in kindergarten! He then proceeded to pull out a presentation about his research.

"The whole interview was basically him doing his speech and not letting me ask any questions. All those awards and research things will show up on an application – I was trying to get more of an insight on his personality and who he was but clearly that didn’t work!”

Perhaps it goes without saying, but you should make entirely sure you know what you’re applying for.

"So often you have an interview,” states Zwitsersloot, “where you get the feeling the candidate hasn’t looked at the website, and doesn’t understand the program (University College Utrecht offers a multi-subject liberal arts curriculum which is slightly different to the programs normally offered at European universities). 

"It really helps if you’ve done your homework, and have some questions to ask us too. That shows you’re really interested.”

You could go one worse than that, though, says Johns Hopkins AR Mia Spad: “One of the worst interviews I've had was with a prospective student who not only didn't know the correct name of the school, but also didn't know what majors are available.

"After half an hour in which I had to explain to her it was ‘Johns’ not ‘John Hopkins’, and that pre-medicine was not offered as an official major, I had had it.” 

Interviews can be tough, there’s no denying it, but you shouldn’t, says Nicholson, assume you’ve failed at any point. “I’ve sat in on interviews where it’s taken candidates 15 minutes to get settled, but then they really come alive for the last five or ten minutes. This is when the interview starts for us,” he explains.

“It’s not about how well you can cope with nerves. If it’s been the type of interview that normally gets a student a place, it will have often been really tough. They will have been pushed to the limit of what they are comfortable with, and had to say things that they can’t be absolutely sure were right. If it’s been really tough,” he concludes, “it’s probably gone really well.”