[分享] 牛津面試

1998Ruby1998

當然，我沒有這個機會去面試，也沒有這個能力去面試。如果是考 MLAT 的話，我也許會通過。
剛剛這個星期，我的學期星期五已經上完所有課，我便去了表哥家裡待著，翌日去機場。而我的表姪女這個星期則去了牛津面試（她比我小一年而已）。她讀私校，成績一直都很好，年年考第一，GCSE 不是 A* 就是A，ASL 選了歷史，宗教，數學，法文， 成績分別是A*A*A B，法文更是差一分就可以 A了。

她一直都很想讀 History & Politics，除了 牛津，還報讀了 LSE，Manchester，Warwick 和 Queen Mary，Queen Mary 的 offer 更是 BBB，基本上是 walk in 了。

牛津學院她選了 St. Hugh，因為那裡比較安靜，花園也漂亮，如果想溫書想清靜一下的話，這裡真的是最好了。不過她棋差一著，面試過後才知道這個學院的 History & Politics 是最厲害的，而面試的其中一個教授更是全牛津歷史系最出色的教授。而她後來更是告訴我，有 12 個人報名了 St. Hugh 的 History & Politics，那學院每年只收一個 History & Politics 學生，而只有她有機會面試。

初時她以為只會有兩三個教授面試，但是她一進門，便發現有 7 個教授坐在她面前，嚇得她不知所措，過了一會調整了心理後，便開始與教授辯論了。我不太清楚問題是什麼（其中一題好像是問了 Henry VII 是否一個好領導者），但是她告訴我，話還未說了一半， 5 個教授就圍攻她，一直向她說 “No, you are wrong!” ，她當然一直堅定立場不改變。後來那個全牛津歷史系最出色的教授 George Garnett 說：「現在所有讀歷史系的學生真是一塌糊塗，完全沒有腦袋，一直讀死書背誦歷史，真是膚淺。」（他用一個字總結：preposterous ）

她聽了更是冒冷汗，這些話不是她常聽的（我被父母老師諷刺慣，直接罵了，所以大部份的人生攻擊我都沒有很大反應），她一直與教授爭辯著，心裏的不安越來越嚴重，後來 Garnett 問了她懂不懂一個人物／事件，她不懂，教授就說：「還說自己想讀歷史，連這個基本的還不懂。」雖然她在面試裡有個一教授賞識她，她也在這壓力下 cracked a joke，已經是很好的了。

她從牛津回來的時候，臉灰得很，但也冷靜，我表嫂和表哥就說不打緊，他們其實不太希望她去牛津，去 Warwick 或 Manchester 更好。

我聽到教授立場一直和她對著幹，令我想起了一個心理實驗。研究人員把一張紙放在測試者面前，紙上有兩條不同長短的線，要測試者說哪一條更短。當然，第一輪所有人都答對，但是後來研究人員也扮演了測試者，特意答錯來擾亂測試者的答案。結果，大部份人的答案還真的跟隨研究人員，儘管他們都覺得這個答案是錯的，只有少數人堅定立場不改。估摸著那些教授就是向測試學生是否跟風，不用腦到思考吧。如此同時，也順道測試學生的抗壓能力和隨機應變。

我很少有正式的面試 ，幼稚園是近家才選的，小學是大抽獎，中學是直升（只是去過瑪利諾和新蒲崗的匯基面試）[如果有興趣知道我當年的面試有什麼題目，請留言或是 PM ～]， JUPAS 面試更不用說，一個都沒有。最近的面試也就是大學展的那些罷了。我一直在想，旁觀者清，當局者迷，如果我在現場我會怎麼應對？恐怕我也被嚇得無言了。

不過她後來跟表哥表嫂說，她覺得自己其實不是讀政治的料子，也對政治不太熟悉，害怕萬一真的牛津 offer 是 History & Politics，她沒有 100% 信心可以拿捏（她說牛津不容許轉科）。她只希望 Single Honours History 。

我暗暗興慶當時沒有去 Essex 讀政治，我這個表姪女一直都很清楚自己想要什麼，想做什麼，連男朋友的標準也定好了。如果她這樣子就不想去讀政治的話，那我更不用說。我這個人，到了大學才知道自己想做什麼，如果真的去了讀政治，可能我也不想讀下去，白白浪費了金錢和時間。

mimi1102

我女應該冇機會去外國讀書, 更加冇機會去牛津面試, 所以好多謝你的分享, 令我可以知道名牌大學的其中一科, 係點樣面試, 謝謝~

ivantissue

謝謝分享～～

slamai

'We're looking for raw intelligence': law tutors share Oxbridge interview tips
https://www.theguardian.com/law/ ... idge-interview-tips

1998Ruby1998

回覆 slamai 的帖子

Yes, I have also seen that before. But it is hard to tell if sticking to their grounds or changing minds is better for my cousin's interview.

yourmobile

1998Ruby1998 發表於 16-12-13 19:55
回覆 slamai 的帖子

Yes, I have also seen that before. But it is hard to tell if sticking to their g ...

I don't think so. As the knowledge is continuously changing, we should gather the information from the professors and "adapt" your ideas accordingly, no matter how smart you are, you should remain "flexible and taughtable". Of course, if your basic knowledge isn't good enough, in your situation, not familiar with the politics, adapting a firmer situation makes the whole interview even worse. I believe confidence comes from good manipulation of your knowledge and good adaption of the changing environment.

mamamolly

1998Ruby1998 發表於 16-12-13 19:55
回覆 slamai 的帖子

Yes, I have also seen that before. But it is hard to tell if sticking to their g ...

I think the following paragraph from the above "Oxbridge Interview tips" article already answered your question:

"Students, she adds, are not there to defend a particular position and should not feel bound to stick to one line of argument, particularly if they feel they have gone down the wrong path. Tutors will give hints for students to change their minds and want to see if they can pick up on them. Sticking doggedly to a position, warns Thomas Krebs, law tutor at Brasenose College, Oxford, may indicate that a student is not open to being taught. He says it is a fault typically seen in students from some independent schools, who have often been told to stick to their guns. “We want to see if you are flexible and can be taught.”


As I've mentioned in other topics, the main purpose of the Oxbridge interview is to determine whether the student is suitable for their tutorial/ supervision system.  So they may give up on some very talented students who can work and think independently but fail to adapt other's ideas in their thinking.  This is not to say these students are not good enough and they may become very successful eventually.  It's just that Oxbridge considers their tutorial/ supervision system may not be appropriate for them.

Also, the admission tutors actually treat the interviews as normal tutorial sessions.  When they say "you are wrong", they really mean it and they are not trying to "trap" you!  The student should then listen carefully to what the tutors said and tried to adapt their ideas into his/her thinking.  

So one way for a student to judge whether he/she has a good interview is:

If the student thinks he/she has learnt something from the interview, then most probably he/she has a good interview.

yourmobile

mamamolly 發表於 16-12-14 12:20
I think the following paragraph from the above "Oxbridge Interview tips" article already answered y ...

Well said and totally agree. Do expect yourself learn from the professors, not defense nor even challenge them.

1998Ruby1998

回覆 mamamolly 的帖子

Yes, I notice that. But then, what I have written is purely based on what I was told and what I heard, there might be a chance that I interpret it wrong (She can't speak Cantonese fluently and she recounted everything in Cantonese) or she didn't tell me all the details. There is also a possibility that after she altered her opinions, the professors still said "you're wrong" (I did not account for that because I only heard her mumble it). I am not in a position to judge whether sticking to ground or changing positions is better for her, I don't even what particular topic was discussed and what was her answer, let alone what is her reason to stick to the guns.
She said she learnt quite a lot, at least she learnt she was not a material for politics, one of the professors also praised her. So I guess it was a great experience for her.

manning2014

回覆 mamamolly 的帖子

Fully agree with that. Many students and their parents are too concern and so too much prepare trying to give the "right" answer in interview. In fact, "They are not interested in whether the students give the right answer – there may not even be right answers. They are really looking at a student’s comprehension skills and their ability to take in information, analyse it, and think critically."