Cambridge from the Inside

Stay tuned to hear Auden, a first-year Asian & Middle Eastern Studies student, discuss how his first term has been and whether Cambridge has met his expectations. A list of discussion topics can be found below.00:00 Introductions01:20 How’s your first term been?03:45 What about Cambridge did you originally find daunting?05:00 What are you studying, and what’s that been like?07:00 College, department, and university communities08:35 Rowing at Trinity Hall12:40 Do you have time to do things outside your studies?14:20 What does a typical day look like for someone studying Asian & Middle Eastern Studies?16:20 What’s it like studying Chinese at Cambridge?20:00 What made you want to study Chinese?22:50 Was Cambridge what you expected?26:10 Did many people apply to Oxford or Cambridge from your school?32:00 What would you do differently next term compared with this term?33:45 Why did you choose Chinese instead of German?Check out our other “First Term Experiences” podcast with Neve, an HSPS student, which you can find below:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak1rWU6sbjU

Stay tuned to hear Thomas , a second-year History student at Trinity Hall, talk about what his interviews were like for History! A list of discussion topics can be found below:00:00 Introductions01:10 How did you prepare for your History interview?02:25 Did your personal statement come up?03:25 Are the interviews a test of knowledge?04:40 What are they looking for in the interview?08:00 What to do if you get stuck in the interview10:10 How similar are the interviews to supervisions?13:50 What were your interviews like?18:00 What would you have done differently if you were to do the interviews again?19:40 Reading over your written work and personal statement

Stay tuned to hear Holly, a first-year Law student at Trinity Hall, talk about what her interviews were like for Law! A list of discussion topics can be found below:00:00 Introductions01:25 How did you prepare for your Law interviews?09:00 How to approach the interview12:30 What were your interviews and pre-reading like?23:15 How did you use the Law Admissions Advice podcast?25:30 How to prepare for the pre-reading31:30 Does the LNAT help with preparing for the interview?35:40 How have you found first term?The 'Law Admissions Advice' podcast Holly mentions, you can also find below:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn9P2y6v5IU

Stay tuned to hear Rosalind, a first-year Psychological & Behavioural Sciences student at Trinity Hall, talk about what her interviews were like for PBS! A list of discussion topics can be found below:

00:00 Introductions

01:20 How did you prepare for your PBS interviews?

03:20 Did you need to know any psychology content for the interviews?

04:40 Was your personal statement brought up during your interview?

06:05 How did you prepare for the conversational/oral/thinking-out-loud aspect of the interview?

08:55 What practice questions did you go through?

10:45 Do you need to know any psychology content for the interviews?

)12:55 What’s the difference between nature and nurture?15:05 Do the interviews change every year?

16:00 Are graph skills helpful for the interview?

18:10 Preparing for interviews with your friends, even if they’re not studying Psychology

20:10 What were your interviews like?

25:05 Are interviews similar to supervisions?

27:00 Managing your wellbeing while preparing for interviews

Stay tuned to hear Justin, a first-year Natural Sciences student at Trinity Hall, talk about what his interviews were like for Biological Natural Sciences! A list of discussion topics can be found below:00:00 Introductions01:10 How did you prepare for your interview?02:20 Did your personal statement come up?03:40 How the interviews change year after year04:40 What were your interviews like?08:45 Was the content you were asked about A-Level material or university-level?09:10 Was the interview a test of knowledge? If not, what were they assessing?12:40 How did you prepare for the oral/conversational aspect of the interview?16:20 Any final advice for anyone with an upcoming BioNatSci interview?20:50 How useful was the practice you did beforehand?

Stay tuned to hear Phoebe talk about what her MML interviews were like! A list of the discussion topics can be found below:

00:00 Introductions

01:30 How did you prepare for your MML interviews?

04:25 Were you asked about your personal statement in your interview?

05:10 Being flexible and responsive during the interview, and what Phoebe’s interview was like

12:00 Conversing in a different language during the interview and how to prepare

Stay tuned as Dr. Ron Reid-Edwards, Mathematics Director of Studies at Trinity Hall, explains everything you need to know about Maths interviews.

A list of topic discussion points can be found below:

00:00 Introductions

02:30 Why do we have interviews?

04:10 What does a Maths interview involve?

06:30 Are interviews online or in person?

08:10 Are the questions asked at Maths A Level/Further Maths difficulty, or university level?

10:40 Example Maths interview question

15:30 What should you do if you get stuck in the interview?19:00 What should you do if you're presented with a concept you haven’t learned yet in school?

22:30 How should you prepare for your Maths interview?32:30 Does looking at STEP papers help with the interview?38:00 Managing stress during interview

Check out our 'Studying Maths at Cambridge' podcast that we've done with Ron, which you can also find below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl4dIn8WbFI

Stay tuned to hear our Director of Admissions, Dr Marcus Tomalin, go through all the ways you can prepare for your upcoming Cambridge interviews.Other podcasts that we've done on Cambridge interviews can be found on our 'Interviews Advice Playlist.' A list of topic discussions can be found below:00:00 Introductions03:00 What are Cambridge interviews?04:20 Are there differences between science subject interviews and arts/humanities subject interviews?09:50 Do you recommend mock interviews?13:20 Prepared answers compared to authentic responses18:00 Questions that you likely wouldn’t be asked during an interview20:05 What can students do to prepare well for the interviews?26:50 The importance of oracy and conversational skills for interviews31:50 Preparing for interviews with your peers36:20 Asking the interviewer questions for clarification43:50 How to use AI/ChatGPT to prepare for your interviews48:05 What does it mean when AI ‘hallucinates’?52:20 How to use AI/ChatGPT to learn languages or prepare for MML/languages interviews01:00:20 How Siam prepared for his Chemistry/Science interviews01:04:00 Is University Challenge similar to Cambridge interviews?01:05:50 Are Cambridge interviews a test of knowledge?01:09:50 If you’re not supposed to have prepared answers, how do you avoid making mistakes in the interview?

Stay tuned to hear from James Helm — current Director of Communications and External Affairs at the University of Cambridge, former Director of Communications for the Metropolitan Police and the UK’s Department for International Development, former BBC journalist, and Trinity Hall graduate. James talks about journalism, applying to Cambridge from the North East, and his advice for aspiring journalists.Also check out the Trinity Hall Prize in Student Journalism - a yearly prize open to current Cambridge University students.https://www.trinhall.cam.ac.uk/student-hub/opportunities/trinity-hall-prize-in-student-journalism/A list of topics discussions can be found below00:00 Introductions02:30 What were you studying, and what was Cambridge like when you were here?04:40 Were you always planning to study Social and Political Sciences?06:10 Did you know anyone from where you lived in the North East who was also applying to university?09:40 What was your time like once you arrived at Cambridge?11:40 Did you have any issues fitting in or making friends at Cambridge?13:10 Has Trinity Hall changed at all since you were a student here?15:45 What have you done since graduating from Trinity Hall? Why journalism and communications?20:10 What more do you think could be done in the North East in Widening Participation?23:40 What advice do you have for graduates who want to get into journalism?

Stay tuned to hear Zohra, a Trinity Hall Law graduate, talk about her time at Cambridge, what it was like to pursue her master’s degree at Oxford while writing her novel, and what life is like as a children’s author.Find a list of Zohra’s books below:https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/authors/Zohra-Nabi/191805263A list of topic discussions can be found below: Zohra grew up inventing stories for her two younger sisters. She studied law at Cambridge and Oxford universities, but secretly dreamed of being an author. Now she lives in London, browsing bookshops and writing magical adventures. The Kingdom Over the Sea is her first book.00:00 Introductions03:15 How studying Law helped with creative writing05:15 Zohra’s postgraduate degree in Law while writing her novel06:45 Have you always wanted to be a writer?08:45 What do you think is the biggest obstacle to becoming a writer?13:45 Zohra’s childhood and her journey to Cambridge16:45 Were you always thinking about applying to Cambridge?18:35 How did you find your time at Cambridge?20:05 Trinity Hall Law funding support and scholarships22:35 May Balls, Law Society, Formal Dinners, Chapel Choir, Trinity Hall food, and Financial Support28:25 Fitting in at Cambridge34:45 How did you find Trinity Hall?36:45 Zohra’s career as an author37:30 Why children’s literature?41:15 Zohra’s book The Kingdom Over the Sea44:45 How Cambridge/Trinity Hall and the Islamic Golden Age influenced Zohra’s writing51:25 Diversity among authors/academics and enriching research/literature59:45 How did you publish your first book?01:03:00 Zohra’s next book Deep Dark01:04:45 If you were to do Cambridge again, would you do anything differently?