Cambridge Architecture Interview Experience - How to prepare for a Cambridge interview

In this video I describe in detail my experience at interview at the University of Cambridge. I am reading Architecture at Trinity Hall, Cambridge and this video details the things that I did to prepare for my interview day.
Disclaimer: this is neither supposed to be a guide to perfect interview preparation nor a prediction for your own interview experience. No two interviews are likely the same and this video is intended only to give you an insight into what a Cambridge architecture interview could look like as well as giving you a few ideas for things you may want to think about in terms of preparation.
BOOKS DISCUSSED IN THIS VIDEO:
-The Architecture Of Happiness by Alain de Boton - amzn.to/36aHv4S
-A Guide To The New Ruins Of Great Britain by Owen Hatherly - amzn.to/2KKeup5
-Towards A New Architecture by Le Corbusier - amzn.to/36aMLFy
-Modern Architecture Since 1900 - William Curtis - amzn.to/39ZeOsN
-Cities & People by Mark Girouard - amzn.to/36cRre7
-How To Read Buildings by Carol Cragoe - amzn.to/3cfEog1
some of these books are fairly old and have been reprinted with various different covers - don't be concerned so long as the author and title are the same
MY PORTFOLIO - • ACCEPTED Cambridge Arc...
PERSONAL STATEMENT - • How to write a persona...
Intro - (0:00)
1. Summary of Entire Experience (0:31)
2. Interview (1:21)
3. Assessments (5:10)
4. Preparation (6:43)
Conclusion (10:53)
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CALLUM HENDERSON: Architecture | Drawing | Student Lifestyle
Current video upload day: Sunday!
Please subscribe and comment! :D
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Music in this video:
"Summer Dreams" by Ryan Little
Soundcloud: / iamryanlittle

[@AlistairHunt]

Super informative video as per! Almost want to go and apply myself! Keep up the great work!

[@dilaozberkman1708]

Hi! I have my assessment next week and am really stressed about it but I hope it is as easy as you make it sound. Thanks for the video, it is really helpful!

[@CallumHenderson]

Best of luck! You've got this!!

[@maggiee_notmaji2343]

super helpful! going to have these next week:)

[@brandonjames938]

This was really helpful and insightful. The preparation tips especially! 👍

[@CallumHenderson]

Glad to hear! Thanks for your support and best of luck in your applications

[@marijamiteva2469]

This is really useful, thank you!

[@evanhall2650]

Lovely video. Really reassuring to hear' especially since I don't take any specific essay subjects :)

[@revisya4503]

This video helps me so much!!! And the cat haha 😩

[@Georgekendall140]

Incredibly useful.

[@jaffaroo6357]

Applying right now to St Johns, just sorting out my 6 page digital portfolio. I’m doing my reading now too, just finished Hatherly’s book. Thanks for all these recent videos :)

[@CallumHenderson]

Thanks for supporting the channel, best of luck with your application! Johns is as pretty a college as any!!

[@melginger3794]

great video

[@khadijahyounis3957]

This video was sooo helpful. I have an interview for cambridge in a couple of weeks, so you have helped to calm my nerves quite a bit. One thing i do have to ask is if they quiz/ ask you any questions related to maths/physics because words cant even describe how i am dreading this to happen. I will forget everything i learnt.

[@CallumHenderson]

Obviously I can't give you an official answer on that one but in my opinion - I think it's probably a pretty hard no! I certainly don't remember being asked anything of the sort - in our teaching in the course, any remote bit of maths is purely functional and has nothing to do with the wider philosophy of design that the bulk of the course is focussed on. The interview seemed to focus on that too in my memory so I don't thinkkkk you really need to worry yourself there.

[@khadijahyounis3957]

@@CallumHenderson Thank you so muchhh. Literally means the world to me right now.

[@aryankaul]

Really helpful video, cheers Callum! Would it be possible to talk to you 1-on-1 for some more tips? Thank you again!

[@tinaw5758]

Hi Callum, Thank you very much for your videos. They are very helpful and informative. I find they are the best videos in KZbin . Really appreciated. I am a mother of a 15 year old boy who is passionate about becoming a good architect. He hopes to apply Cambridge in 2025. Would you mind if I ask you some questions about University of Cambridge?

[@jiachenghua5963]

I have just sent in my application to Cambridge for architecture 😖 and tbh I am quite scared to talk about my artwork as I don't have arts as a part of my subjects and I have not gotten feedback from others in several years 😅 But this video helped me to calm my nerves a bit and the portfolio video was quite helpful Thank you!!

[@CallumHenderson]

Glad to hear it was helpful! Remember the thoughts behind your work can often be more relevant than the sheer skill- your technical skills in art, modelling or even just design in general will develop so much over your course anyway - so try not to stress about where you are now!:)

[@joannavictoria7820]

This was so helpful! Did you fill out the additional SAQ personal statement? Thanks so much!

[@CallumHenderson]

Ooh great question. Yes, I believe I did though I don’t remember too much about it. I think I wrote about why Cambridge architecture specifically tho cam architecture is quite different to most other unis so wasn’t too tricky if I remember rightly!

[@zelaledis834]

This video was extremely useful!! I have an interview coming up for Cambridge as well as the assessment. Just wondering if you have any tips on what to do and how to prepare for the essay writing part of the assessment - Thanks:)

[@CallumHenderson]

Hey! Maybe as a little exercise, think about some of the prominent buildings near wherever you live and ask yourself why you think they might be interesting or not and whether they are effective aesthetically and functionally. I would expect being able to analyse examples of architecture to illustrate a point to be pretty useful in the essay. Hope this is useful; best of luck:)

[@bellajones6671]

Hi Callum, I am applying this year and need to pick a college. Just wondering how you like your college, would you recommend it, is it fun? Etc. Thanks! :)

[@isabeldelavega2250]

I can only dream of studying architecture at Cambridge, indeed I have since I was little, anyway it is really inspiring to hear about your experience. Any advice for international applicants?

[@CallumHenderson]

Heya! Hold on to that dream😉 I asked some of the international students on my course and they said the most important thing was just to be organised with the application - they said there are so many bits of paperwork for international applications and things you might have to translate into English so just to plan everything out really far in advance so you don’t have to worry about it. You want to focus all of your energy on making your application as strong as possible so I guess the advice is sort the admin side asap in order to worry about the more important bit! Hope this helps, good luck :)

[@JamEs-yq4lu]

Hi Callum, I have an interview on Tuesday, I was wondering did your interviewer's question you on your A-Level knowledge at any point? thanks for the tips!

[@alexphotiou3607]

same here i have the exact same question, mine's on wednesday.

[@CallumHenderson]

Hey, I don’t think they did at all, no. Everyone studies quite different A-Levels for architecture I don’t really know if it’s common for them not as a result but maybe! Good luck both of you:)

[@JamEs-yq4lu]

@@alexphotiou3607 hey good luck Alex! 🥳🥳

[@JamEs-yq4lu]

@@CallumHenderson ok cool that makes sense, Thankyou!!

[@alexphotiou3607]

@@JamEs-yq4lu Thanks you too! what college are u applying to?

[@poopy8342]

Hi just wondering what grades you got for a levels? And what subjects?

[@CallumHenderson]

Hey, I did Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Music and got A*AA*A in the same order. I did not have a grades offer tho as I applied a year after I left school.

[@zoegolding5058]

hi! i’m only 15 (year 10) but i’m rlly passionate about being an architect in cambridge - do u think i should start reading books about it and sketching now?

[@_riya_485]

Even I am 15 and thought of the same question

[@gtrrohit5078]

I'm not in uni yet but personally I believe you should always be practicing your artistic skills, its just. a heavily important skill I believe in architectural studies. being able to put what you visualize on paper.

[@ny3_05_]

Read read read. Watch a few videos and look at a few websites that can give you recommendations for books, these can be specific to certian areas of interest or more general architecture books. Reading early on will get you to start thinking like an architect. The reading you will have built up over the next year and a half will be incredibly useful for writing your personal statement and in your interview.

[@EDWIN-fi7ev]

Wow, the interviewers would not speak so fast, do they?

[@CallumHenderson]

No don’t worry!

[@MyKawaiiAna]

me watching this as an architecture student in portugal 👁👄👁

[@alfredohernandez3268]

Thats easy for u

[@antonioyuel]

Bro calm down