The first night I ate a very inconspicuously hidden chilli in my seemingly tame chicken meal which was not a pleasant experience; on the Wednesday (first) morning, I managed to flood the bathroom in my en suite and had to leap to escape back into my room (this happened the next day) then a plumber randomly arrived and decided to mess around with it for a while until he'd finally fixed it, even though I'd told nobody! Then the worst thing was my phone wouldn't charge the next morning as I thought I'd bought the wrong charger, long story short, I ended up buying a new charger, returning it and buying a new phone for £15 from Carphone warehouse in a single day and this is after there was a mass evacuation when the fire alarm went off at lunch.
Then the day after my interview I lost my voice... And panicked the rest of the week in case I got another interview (luckily I didn't!) I then ventured into Oxford alone to buy a book and got lost, followed up by falling over at about 3am and hitting my head quite severely against the wall after a night-time visit to the wc!
Despite a very stressful interview period Emma has been offered a place to read English and French at St John’s College.
We were all called for a meeting with the tutors when we had arrived on the Sunday and were given an article to read and write an essay on right then and there! As a biochemistry applicant all my a levels are science based and essay writing is not my forte! My interview at Christ Church where I had applied went reasonably well as we covered exactly what I had just been doing in biology. On my way out I replied 'you too' to the tutors have a safe journey home and rushed out trying to hold my laugh in realising my mistake.
My second interview, however, at New College went really badly as it was surrounding an article I had been given on arrival and the tutor asked questions on everything I hadn't understood! While there I made 2 really good friends and had an amazing ice cream in G&Ds. Unfortunately none of us got in but all looking forward to Durham next year which all 3 of us had as our second choice!!
Eleanor has been offered a place to read Biochemistry at Durham University.
Top Tips
Remember even if lots of things go wrong outside of the interview room, try to focus once you're in front of he tutors.
Be prepared for the unprepared; Eleanor wasn't expecting to have to write an essay on the first night!
The interview period can be really stressful but it can also be an opportunity to meet brilliant people and explore an amazing city; Eleanor made the most of her experience and has now made two good friends who will be joining her at Durham.