Oxford University History INTERVIEW!!

[@meeren123]

The interviewer is a very cool guy! It would be really fun to be interviewed by someone as chilled out as him. Thanks for the video!

[@toby4817]

God the uni needs to give you a raise with all this amazing content you’re creating !! Thankyouuuu

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

Lol! That’s very kind!

[@ssun9074]

This is fantastic! I love that you not only filmed a mock interview but had the annotations that noted what Lucy was doing well and included not just History-focused but broad advice that we can all keep in mind. As a Classical Archaeology and Ancient History applicant, I would love to see a mock interview for Arch & Anth, Ancient and Modern History, and/or Classics!

[@embobembo7941]

was it successful?

[@caitlincharlotte2419]

Applying for History (and English) myself I absolutely LOVED this! I've always struggled in interviews when it comes to taking time the think and develop my answers and I am often to reserved in my judgement, not being the clearest and so I found this SO HELPFUL! Having this as an example has helped reassure me that it's okay to pause and take time, to ask questions for clarification and not to worry about needing outside quotes or sources to back up my view but to just answer for myself and my own explanations and discussion about the things I have learnt will carry me. All of these videos have been a huge help - thank you!

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

Great to know! Best of luck!

[@harrybrook3406]

Hi Caitlin, I’m also applying for History and English! What college are you applying to?

[@caitlincharlotte2419]

@@harrybrook3406 Hi! I'm applying to Pembroke College, how about you?

[@harrybrook3406]

@@caitlincharlotte2419 Exeter for me! Best of luck!!

[@caitlincharlotte2419]

@@harrybrook3406 Thank you so much and best of luck to you too!!

[@LoFiRecoverySoundscapes]

How wonderful to see people actually thinking about things and engaging so intelligently.

[@jasminekaur6860]

Before watching this, I had seen many interview videos of various other subjects and felt extremely out of place. I thought I actually do not have the potential required to be admitted as I could not relate with the questions asked by the tutors. This was the first video I watched about a history interview and it was breath taking! Extremely engaging and I was answering all your questions side by side. Thankyou for making me realise how I made the correct decision to apply for history as this is truly a subject I could engage with for hours and hours. Thank you for your efforts! Applying from India with no support or guidance available can be a very daunting task. Your videos truly help aspiring candidates like me.

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

Thank you for your kind words. Best of luck in your application

[@aadilahkhan9166]

you are doing such an incredible work, sir!!

[@monicology]

Thank you for making resources like these... they are SO useful! - I wish I knew

[@castorotto7829]

Love this! Would be very thankful if you have the opportunity to do an Economics & Management interview.

[@stutisharma4373]

Could you please post one for Psychology and Philosophy as well? It would very helpful!!! This however helped so much in terms of understanding the general laid out principles

[@ShaunakSamant]

Honestly, the informative content and outreach efforts orchestrated by Dr. Williams have made the applications process and LNAT intelligible and accessible. Can you please prepare a Mock Interview for Law. That would be rather helpful.

[@rootveg6522]

It’s Professor Williams actually

[@amphoramorph2856]

Idea for a KS1 history course: - ok so the main goal here would be to make the kids interested in history, to give them some useful information, and to help them develop skills of source reliability - my idea would be to structure it around a series of ‘stories’, which would be fictional but based of true events. Each story would be a module and take place in a different time period - within these modules the students would be given accounts written by characters in the story, as well as artefacts like pictures of paintings, swords, jewellery, and other objects. - The character’s accounts would differ from each other and it would be up to the children to compare them and use the objects to figure out what is the most likely ending of the story - This would be fun because it isn’t too focused on learning facts - the children would learn about the setting from the events in the story, e.g. in a story set in ancient egypt you could have part of the plot be sneaking into a tomb, this way you educate them without them realising - It would also help build the foundations of analysis, and as it would be presented through fictional stories it would not be as intimidating as an actual source - thank you for reading my ideas

[@tobyford189]

thats an awesome idea. early stage history is too focused on facts - but simultaneously theres a contradiction because we can't really just overload them with interpretations and reliability mumbo jumbo without giving them factual teaching. So applying it in a way that's interpretations based but also approachable for children is very effective!

[@bumba5897]

You should work for the DoE!

[@hopey10able]

Great content and framework for thinking for yourself before answering any question.

[@aadilahkhan9166]

Could you please make one for Undergraduate Law

[@ryansyler8847]

I have a question about the content of the answers. I noticed that Lucy's answers were generally sympathetic to a particular view of history, a viewpoint that is palatable to the left-leaning political sensibilities of the academy. For the sake of argument if the substance of her answers had been jingoistic and imperialist or otherwise politically unpalatable would she have fared just as well in the interview? That is, is only the candor, thoughtfulness, and coherence of the interview taken into account or the actual substance of the answer? Before you start denouncing me as a bigot, homophobe, white supremacist, imperialist or other right wing monster I ask the question in all sincerity. Even though I'm center-left myself I don't want my university experience to be an echo chamber.

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

It's a perfectly fair question. Broadly speaking, the substance of the answers is not relevant, but the way the answers are presented and defended is. If an interviewee presents answers that are founded on racial animus, then I would doubt their capacity to present a strongly founded argument. Racism is so obviously absurd, that basing an argument on it would be absurd as well. It would be possible, nonetheless, to present an argument that revised current "trendy" views on any matter. But it couldn't be an argument that was predicated on racism/hatred/prejudice etc, as that would clearly be intellectually unsound. It wouldn't even be an argument. It would just be invective. Students can and do present highly sophisticated arguments that might loosely be described as "right-leaning".

[@ginny215]

Love all of these videos

[@legit.r1819]

Thanks so much for this, I'm very late but I have my interview (online) in 2 days and this helped a lot:)

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

Best of luck!

[@RekhaShukla-y8h]

I have to submit an unmarked piece of written work written by me in my free time, but the cover sheet requires the details of the written work written by the teacher, is there any way i can submit it in this case?

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

You need to contact the college admissions officer at the college you're applying to. They can advise on this. Their contact details are on the following site, if you click on the relevant collage name: www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/colleges/a-z-of-colleges

[@jennykelly7273]

Thank you so much for this !!!

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

You're welcome! Thanks

[@brandon5058]

Ironic, isn’t it? A history professor writing history by educating young minds via a digital platform. My respects for the work you put out.

[@Theboxingfanatic]

Ok brandon

[@brandon5058]

@@Theboxingfanatic Okay Jude! :)

[@Theboxingfanatic]

@@brandon5058 Tory

[@brandon5058]

@@Theboxingfanatic Hahahaha

[@keshwabadgujar5471]

Hi, are you going to do a Law mock interview?

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

We'll try to do one soon.

[@Sh.moon.]

Could you please let me know whether it is permitted for an undergraduate applicant to submit his/her written work even when he/she is not required to do so?

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

No, where written work is not required it cannot be submitted, because it would make the process unfair for other candidates.

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

But note that written work is required for History. www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses-listing/history

[@Sh.moon.]

​@@JesusCollegeOxford1571 Thank you so much for the answer and videos.

[@oliversimonetti5714]

Would this be considered a strong interview performance?

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

Yes, although it is artificially short. Usually interviews would last about twice as long and will give us an opportunity to dig deeper into some of the points made. It gives you a good indication nonetheless of what we are looking for.

[@basmalasaad3039]

@@JesusCollegeOxford1571 are the interviews always this open and philosophical in nature or will there be a greater focus on specific topics in your personal statement

[@mountainslovermanoj8979]

Matt sir is very great man 💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞love you sir.

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

Thanks!

[@mountainslovermanoj8979]

@@JesusCollegeOxford1571 you are always welcome sir

[@simonamos9468]

Hi if you fail the HAT do you not get a interview .

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

It is possible, yes. Performing poorly on the HAT can be beyond a candidate's control (if they are very ill on test day, or have faced sustained disadvantages). We take these contextual matters into account.

[@basmalasaad3039]

@@JesusCollegeOxford1571 what matters more- the HAT or the personal statement?

[@NS-wo6ze]

I think the interviewee is incoherent, almost 'lost'. Is she studying at Oxford? The interviewer is great. He is very patient with her.

[@ningcheng_shu]

I have to say the part of the interview, about the potential risk towards jingoism and nationalism of the national curriculum for history aims, is a little bit disappointing. If the interviewee were an 18-year-old actual applicant, it would be alright, but as the answer from a 3rd year history student, not so much, as she did not use historical facts she learned, to backup her point of view. The influences of Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Christianity, Normans, and relatively more recent, the replacement of James by William as the British monarch, all had associations with influences from outside the islands. That’s the point of “from the earliest times to the present day…” in the aims of the national curriculum for history. You shouldn’t cut out a particular period from historical context and artificially amplify it, in order to prevent the potential risk towards jingoism and nationalism in history teaching.

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

We agreed not to discuss historical facts prior to the interview, because that would not be an accurate portrayal of an undergraduate interview. Undergraduate interviews are not about disclosing factual information, they are tests of nascent analytical skills.

[@ningcheng_shu]

@@JesusCollegeOxford1571 Nice to know the prior agreement of the interview demonstration. Without knowing it, unfair criticism to the student’s performance may be induced. Indeed, analytical skills are more important than a good memory of factual information. However, a fact-based approach to apply analytical skills is essential for historical studies, otherwise historical arguments can be morphed into philosophical debates, or even worse, fall to become mere propaganda to suit ideological needs of the authority in many countries of totalitarianism or dictatorship in the history. So, though disclosing factual information may not be a requirement, laying out the factual foundation of historical analysis or arguments, should not be prohibited or discouraged, in a real undergraduate interview, on the contrary, it’s an intrinsic part of much valued analytical skills, in my opinion.

[@nanashi7779]

@@ningcheng_shu Your position would quite significantly change what Oxford is looking for in a candidate

[@MusicVerz]

Hello!!!! nice to meet yah. - author

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

Hello!

[@MusicVerz]

@@JesusCollegeOxford1571 hows earth

[@samslo4837]

Has she got insta??

[@BukharinStan]

Brother you can not be this down bad😂

[@mg7798]

😍🇬🇧

[@JoePortly]

This seems be an interview for getting to 'study' the adoption of an uncertain accent and the use of hand-movements or other gesticulations - and, while maintaining requisite political correctness. No wonder that it's hard to take some courses or universities seriously

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

What nonsense. For one obvious thing, we both have different accents and gesticulations! God knows where you're getting this conspiratorial thought from, but it isn't reality

[@CraigBukenya]

Would this be considered a strong interview performance?

[@JesusCollegeOxford1571]

Yes, because it is focused and relevant to the question, and it is independent minded. Many interviewees make the mistake of thinking we want them to share their knowledge, when we really want them to share their analysis.

[@zonqor]

Yes, was quite disparaging of 'white man' history. She'll go very far.

[@markwright748]

Her answers vague and simplistic and often did not answer the specific questions being asked

[@CraigBukenya]

@@markwright748 The tutor says otherwise :)