Oxford Interview Questions Revealed

Oxford University has recently decided to make public some of the questions asked during the interview with candidates in its effort to debunk myths about its admission process. The university also wants to show the prospective candidates that there are no such thing as “trick questions” and that many of the questions asked are open ended.

The ‘open-ended’ refers to questions of no specific answer and the evaluation will be made based on the ideas, reasoning, analysis and assessment by the candidate. There are also no correct or wrong answers on non-technical subjects.

Now, for the very first time, students aspiring to pursue their studies in prestigious university – Oxford, can look at some samples of interview questions that might be asked during the selection interview process.

Here are some of the questions revealed:

1. If I were to visit your place you live, what would I be interested in? (Subject: Geography)

The candidate is expected to apply his or her knowledge on Geography learned in school to explain and elaborate to the interviewer about some of the places in the neighbouring area that would be of people’s interest. Land shape, climate, inhabitants, environment, economic can be areas of interest in the interview or discussion.

2. Why does your heart rate increase when you are doing exercises? (Subject: Medicine)

Like it or not, this somehow needs some technical understanding and know how. A-Level students taking biology or other medical related subjects may relate this to the process of delivering nutrients, energy and oxygen to the body parts but be prepared for more follow up questions. Some possible follow up questions may involve the different ways how the body can sense when it is experiencing an increase in heart rate.

3. If you could save either the rainforests or the coral reefs, which would you choose? (Biological sciences)

The candidate should be able to use his knowledge or common sense in coming up with the answer, as well as the reason why a specific answer is chosen. Either answer can be correct (both rainforest and corals are important, and in ideal case, both should be made priority), if the student can explain convincingly to the interview, his future seems to be bright.

4. What does it mean for someone to ‘take’ another’s car? (Law)

The question may sound confusing but this is the kind of situation an Oxford wannabe will have to face. The candidate will have to think of an incident or event (e.g. involving theft, repossession, gangsterism and so on) that leads to ‘someone taking another car’ by using the defining formulation understood by the people or the interviewer. Candidate will be assessed on reasoning ability, application and communication.

5. How do you design a gravity dam for holding back water? (Engineering)

Does not sound very easy but candidates who understand well about gravity forces, building structure and mechanical processes may have an idea how this would work. But then again, if you are tight lipped to begin with, the interviewer might be kind enough to spoon you with some initial ideas for you to work on. Do not be overly worried, your interviewer is a human after all.

6. What is language? (Modern languages)

A question very open-ended in nature, and requires the candidate to put his careful thought on the question before proceeding to answer. Most likely, this type of question will end up with a few more questions (e.g. why you choose language as subject of choice) to get the discussion going and to see if the candidate has what it takes to strike up a conversation in an intellectual and influential manner.

7. Why might it be useful for an English student to read the twilight series? (English)

In case Twilight is a stranger to you, it is a series of vampire-based romance written by American author Stephanie Meyer. As of this year, more than 70 million copies have been sold worldwide and it has been translated into almost 40 different languages. If you have not heard about it when the question was asked during your interview, it probably means you’re running out of luck.

Other posts you may want to read:

1. How Much Can You Pay Me?
2. Questions Related To Ambition
3. 5 Common Types of Job Interviews
4. Questions To Ask When You Are Offered
5. Is Your Question Discriminatory?
6. Know Your Interviewers
7. The Professional Resume and The Interview Trio
8. Job Interview Tips: How to Annoy Your Interviewer

Author's bio: Zul is the founder and principal contributor for the SKOR Career blog. He is the author of two books, The Malaysian Job Seeker's Dilemma and Buat Duit Tanpa Kerja Makan Gaji (How to Make Money Without a Job), available in major book stores nationwide. You can reach him at zulkiflimusa[at]gmail.com.