Many Thammasat University undergraduates are eager to continue studies overseas. The University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, known unofficially as Oxford University, is a very old and famous choice for studies overseas. Students and ajarns have been at Oxford for almost one thousand years. It is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Only one university in the world that still exists is older, the University of Bologna in Italy. TU students might find it necessary to adjust to the different structure of education at Oxford. Instead of regular classes that students attend at TU and most other universities, education at Oxford for undergraduates focuses on visiting ajarns once a week for tutorials. In a tutorial in the UK, students attend alone, or with a few other students, while a tutor, lecturer, or other university staff member focuses on students individually. There are also classes, lectures, and laboratory work to back up these tutorials. This is very different from the Thai system, where students enjoy working on projects in groups. In the Oxford system, individuality is especially valued. If a student is independent-minded and not afraid of working alone, then the UK system should be especially enjoyable. Last year Oxford University announced sample questions asked during admissions interviews. These questions are useful to know about for any TU student thinking of possibly applying to any UK university program. These questions are designed to show whether students are comfortable thinking on their own. Also, whether students go beyond required classwork that has been assigned by ajarns. Do students try to reach original conclusions, or discover new things? If so, then they might be imaginative and productive, doing well in the self-motivating form of education at Oxford.
TU students in the field of experimental psychology might be asked by interviewers why they think older children test higher on intelligence exams than their younger brothers and sisters. This type of question might require fast thinking from students, who may not be aware of this phenomenon. Almost any serious answer could be a worthwhile one. Interviewers usually look for skills in arguing and discussing, and the ability of students to think on their feet. If students can present a reasonable cause for this phenomenon, even without knowing much in detail about the subject, they will probably succeed in a wide range of psychological studies. To gain admission to the medical program at Oxford, students attending interviews may be asked why the death rate from cancer is so much higher in the UK than in the Philippines.
Again, students may not known about these statistics in detail. Yet if a student is generally interested in medicine, rates of patients who suffer from cancer should be of interest. The student should have something to say about this major disease. They should also be able to offer ideas about it while answering the question. The interview questions cannot be studied for, since students do not know in advance which specific questions will be asked. Instead, looking at the type of questions that are used may help us understand what general preparation, interests, and reading are valuable for doing well in these interviews.
Dr. Samina Khan, Director of Admissions and Outreach at Oxford, stated:
We emphasise in all our outreach activity that the interview is primarily an academic conversation based on a passage of text, a problem set or a series of technical discussions related to the content of the course students have applied for… But interviews will be an entirely new experience for most students, and we know many prospective applicants are already worried about being in an unfamiliar place and being questioned by people they have not met – so to help students to become familiar with the type of questions they might get asked we release these real examples. We want to underscore that every question asked by our tutors has a purpose, and that purpose is to assess how students think about their subject and respond to new information or unfamiliar ideas. No matter what kind of educational background or opportunities you have had, the interview should be an opportunity to show off your interest and ability in your chosen subject, since they are not about reciting what you already know. Tutors want to give candidates a chance to show their real ability and potential, which means candidates will be encouraged to use their knowledge and apply their thinking to new problems – with tutors guiding the discussion to ensure students feel comfortable and confident. They are an academic conversation in a subject area between tutors and candidate, similar to the undergraduate tutorials which current Oxford students attend every week.
Note that the word conversation appears twice in the above explanation. The ability to talk about ideas and impressions are very important. It is extremely important to have adequate English language skills to be able to communicate ideas with any ajarn at an overseas university. Yet many universities abroad, including Oxford, have large populations of non-native students. They are familiar with non-native speakers of English and the challenges they experience to express themselves clearly. It is most important to show interest in a subject and underline what each student knows and has achieved in a subject. When the admissions interviewers ask questions, they are often based on standard material seen in class. Sometimes the questions deal with subjects students have written about in personal statements submitted as part of application materials. For this reason, it may be useful for students to read again their personal statements before being interviewed. Personal statements written months before the interview process may be partly forgotten by students. Yet they are taken seriously by ajarns who base their decisions for admission on these essays.
Before they meet students, admissions committees know most about students from personal statements. To further help students, Oxford has posted advice online as well as videos. They also suggest that students do not waste money on preparatory classes about how to succeed in admissions interviews. Such classes may help students memorize certain speeches, but these speeches usually do not apply to actual conversations where the topics discussed may change rapidly. If students try to recite a speech they have learned by heart, ajarns realize that they are not speaking in a free and original way. That means the students have not succeeded with the challenge of conversation about a field of study. Other types of sample questions asked in Oxford admission interviews:
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Subject: Medicine
About 1 in 4 deaths in the UK is due to some form of cancer, yet in the Philippines the figure is only around 1 in 10. Why?
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There is not only one right answer to this sort of question. How the student approaches the subject reveals much to the ajarn. If the student wants to know more and asks what studies found these statistics, this shows an interest in finding the sources of information in order to show whether it is accurate or not. Awareness that there are many challenges to health in the Philippines that may not be as present in the UK is also a sign that students take an interest in world health issues. The goal would be to get an idea that students have abilities in
problem-solving, critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, communication skills, ability to listen and compatibility with the tutorial format.
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Subject: Experimental Psychology
A large study appears to show that older siblings consistently score higher than younger siblings on IQ tests. Why would this be?
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The first requirement for answering this question would be to know that the word sibling means a brother or sister. The popular expression in English sibling rivalry refers to competition between brothers and sisters. If students did not know the word, or forgot its meaning, it is important to ask the interviewer to define it. The word appears twice in a single question, so it would be impossible to give an intelligent response without understanding it. One way to find out the meaning if any word in a question cannot be understood is to ask politely:
Would you rephrase that question?
That means we are asking the interviewer to say the same thing in a different way. It is important to ask this in a nice tone of voice, not as if it were an order or command. We may feel nervous or ill-at-ease if we do not understand the meaning of a word in a question, but it is not the interviewer’s fault. Remember that if we study abroad we will be hearing words all the time that we do not understand, and it is essential not to be upset each time it happens. Keep in mind that a friendly conversation should continue even if the meaning of one word is missed, so try to find out the meaning and get back on track for the rest of the chat. Once we understand the meaning of the question, again there is no single right reply. What students say show the ajarns how they think and what they do to go about understanding new material they are unsure about. Students might think that older brothers and sisters have higher marks on intelligence tests than younger ones because they received more personal attention from their parents before the other children were born. Or perhaps because the older children spent time teaching things to the younger children, and so developed their brains more. Students should feel free to give personal examples from their own family experience if it applies to the conversational subject. They may also disagree or challenge the findings, or ask for more specific information about where the data comes from. The Oxford University professor of experimental psychology notes:
What we are interested in is the kinds of reasoning students use and the questions they ask about the study – what it takes into account, what it might not – that tells us about their suitability for the course. And of course it doesn’t matter if you have a sibling or not – though depending on family dynamics, that can add an interesting twist to the conversation!
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)