There are unfortunately some deep-rooted misconceptions about the Oxford interviews, that they are mysterious, secretive and based on trick questions with elusive marking criteria. In reality, this could not be further from the truth.
If you get invited to an interview, you really should view it as nothing more than a detailed, interesting conversation between two or more people - you and the admissions tutors - who are deeply passionate about the same subject. It is not an interrogation. If you want a quick refresh on performing effectively in your Oxford (or Cambridge) interview, check out this video guide I've made previously.
In this article, I'm going to analyse the each of the marking criteria used to evaluate candidates in Oxford biochemistry interviews. Thanks to a freedom of information request, we'll be able to take a look at the exact form that is used!
The interview assessment form (link to the FOI request here)
Let's address each of these criteria in turn!
'Interest in/enthusiasm for biochemistry'. This one is relatively straightforward. As I mentioned earlier, you should want to take part in the interview. You should enjoy it. You should not fear it! In fact, entering the interview with fear will likely impact your confidence and engagement with the interviewers and the subject material. You want to bring a positive attitude and talk about your extracurricular reading/experiences with passion and conviction. Most interviews will start by asking you either: ' what is biochemistry?' or 'why are you interested in biochemistry?. These are perfect questions to score easy marks in this interview criterion, and better still, because they are such predictable questions, you can easily prepare a well-structured answer in advance to deliver with confidence in the interview.
'Description/discussion of a topic of mutual choice'. This essentially refers to the subject-specific extracurriculars included in your personal statement. The admissions tutors may wish to spark a conversation from anything on your personal statement which brings me to 'the golden rule': if it is on your personal statement, you must understand it fully and be prepared to talk about it. You may have done a lab project involving fluorescent microscopy to observe GFP-tagged protein in a model organism, before which you used PCR to check that the fusion-protein gene was successfully inserted. Be prepared to be asked about any or all of how fluorescent microscopy works, what a GFP-fusion protein is and how you got into the model organism and how PCR works. Like the first criterion, this one is also very much under your control. Take the revision of your personal statement very seriously!
'Description/analysis of novel information'. This is where you are presented with new information. This may be a concept, a graph depicting biochemical data, or a scientific article sent to you a few hours/days before your (online) interview. Whatever it may be, you must remain calm and use the rational scientific brain that led you onto the path that took you to the interview! When asked questions about the material, it is natural to feel unsure, but start first by commenting on the basics, using phrases like: 'based on what I know from my A-Level studies, I would suggest'. If it is a graph, you want to try and spot a correlation and understand what any underlying variables may be. Think out loud and work with the interviewers by using phrases like: 'I think X could be important here based on Y, is it a relevant factor?'. This kind of language shows you are coming up with new ideas based on existing knowledge i.e. you are behaving like a scientist. The admissions tutors will see this and appreciate your intellectual curiosity. To give an example of all the various factors that could be relevant to a discussion about proteins: shapes, sizes (molecular weight), surface charge (R groups can be +ve or -ve), co-factors (haem group), multiple or single peptides, location in the cell (extracellular or intracellular).
'Implications of/extraploation from novel information'. This will follow on closely from the conversations you will have related to the point above. Let's say you learnt about a new experimental technique using a graph or an article, you might then be expected to comment on the advantages or disadvantages of the technique or how it is a solution to a longstanding biochemical problem. In scientific papers, the implications are usually addressed in the discussion section. A published article may have detailed experiments relating to the use of CRISPR to add or remove a gene in a mouse model and then finished by relating this to current knowledge of the protein in question in human disease.
'Problem solving ability'. This will be tested throughout the interview process, with particular emphasis on the novel information questions. While getting close to the right answer is important, equally important is your thinking process. A student who articulates a step-by-step process, breaking down a bigger question will do well here. For example, the question 'why do cells become cancerous?', an be easily be broken down by starting with the source of cancer as genetic mutations, which can be inherited or acquired mutations from UV or carcinogens. You would then talk about which types of genes would need to have these mutations for the cell to become cancerous e.g. tumour suppressor genes or oncogenes and explain what each of them are. This is a much better approach than responding in a panic, going straight to the final answer and saying something like: cells are cancerous when they have lost control of the cell cycle.
Best and worst things said during the interview. This might put some students in a panic, thinking that they are under scrutiny at the single-word level but really you should flip it the other way around: a single insightful phrase, or great, detailed and clear explanation of a process or technique could be enough to make your interview stand out from the rest of the candidates. Given that each applicant will have unique personal statement with different interests in biochemistry, you have the potential to be the 'student expert' (relative to what could be expected of an average curriculum student) in the topics you include on your personal statement. This is why it is so important to thoroughly revise your personal statement and really go into detail to understand everything in it. Revising your personal statement thoroughly significantly reduces the chances of having the admissions tutors note something down in the worst thing said during interview box. There is nothing worse than not being able to explain a reasonably simple technique like PCR if you've mentioned it in your personal statement. Fail that, and it will definitely be noted down.
Now that you both know how to prepare for an Oxford interview, and understand how the admissions tutors assess your responses, there's nothing stopping you from demonstrating the best version of yourself at the interview!
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