I had two interviews and a written test given the evening before.

There was a waiting room with coffee and lots of students to answer any questions about Cambridge, the college and the English course. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming - I encountered no snobbery.

The written test was actually a blessing in disguise as it gave eight or nine English applicants a chance to bond. I felt immediately at home with most of them.

Each interview was held in the room of the respective interviewer and I had the use of a map to find them. It was very, very scary sitting outside the interview rooms. However, inside the atmosphere was as relaxed as it could be - I had somehow envisaged a grey room with a metal table and a bare bulb. But the set up was comfortable and not in the least intimidating.¹

The first interview revolved almost entirely around a poem I was given to read. It was much more subject - based than I had expected. ²

The poem was a sonnet about hunting and I remember that he initially asked me my opinion about the fox hunting debate in parliament. I immediately started waffling on about how I thought it was merely a case of Labour trying to seem different to their predecessors. He agreed but then accused me of not actually answering the question. ³ Ouch! The rest of the interview was a step-by-step guided analysis of the poem. I couldn’t remember what ‘hind’ meant. It must have been nerves, and made me feel very stupid. ⁴

There was no feedback that I can remember. I felt the interviewer to be rather cold.

My second interview had a much more positive feel to it. The interviewer asked me one or two questions about some essays I had had to send in advance.⁵

Next I had to read an extract aloud. It had been written by a child (although I wasn’t told until afterwards) and had little punctuation or grammar. We talked about whether or not the gender of a writer is important. I felt as if I had scored points here because I was able to mention a book (‘Grace Notes’ by Bernard MacLaverty) which the interviewer hadn’t yet read, in which the male author writes from a frighteningly convincing female perspective. ⁶ That gave me a real confidence boost because I recommended it to her. On the whole I felt much better about this interview than the first. She asked me what I thought I would get in my A-Levels, and if there was anything I wished I had said in my first interview. I mentioned the ‘hind’ fiasco. ⁷

After the second interview I was on a high (partly because the whole thing was over!). I had no idea how I had done, but I felt that no matter what happened, I had had an enriching experience. I was keener than ever to go to the college.

Between interviewers I was just nervous. I felt that I could have had more preparation, but also that you can never really prepare for something like this. It’s best not to expect anything. The normality of Cambridge should be stressed. I arrived expecting to be surrounded by eggheads and people with titles. It amazed me that everyone I met was so down to earth.