University interview- advice?

Thoroughly research the degree structure, the contents of courses and the expertise of your interviewers. Just being confident in that substantive knowledge should keep you calm.

Make sure you're absolutely up to scratch with your personal statement and grades - be prepared to explain anything you contained in your statement in greater detail with particular relevance to the course. You have to be on top of your own materials.

Be able to answer clear questions about why your want to study in that area, be it because of a very specific interest in that discipline or a strong commitment to that discipline's role in society, why that university attracted you and make sure you have enough familiarity with the subject that you can answer questions about recent developments or commonly known theories in that discipline. Justify your skills in a way that would benefit the university - it's a mutual transaction, after all.

Also ask questions. A well targeted question emphasises that you've done your research and you're enthusiastic about the prospect of studying there. Asking to clarify a point about the syllabus, the academic culture or something about the interviewer's research should help. Make sure it's framed in such a way that the answer would genuinely help you, either to decide between options or in preparation for study, and avoids sycophancy. Don't explicitly mention other offers - not only is often arrogant, it is especially fruitless given that by the interview you are clearly willing to accept an offer from that institution.

The questions they ask shouldn't be too hard. They don't want to trick you. They do want to gauge how much you know, your level of interest and your capacity to contribute, cooperate and represent that university.

Questions will range from discussing what you know about the discipline (say, being given an equation to solve for a hard science, a moral dilemma for philosophy, an analytical problem for law or an extract of text to discuss for literature, or holding a discussion in a foreign language you've applied to study) to your transcript and personal statement to general discussions about the discipline which aim to reveal your level of independent thinking and intelligence.

They will almost certainly ask why you're applying to that university and that course - having answers that demonstrate you know what you're getting into really helps.

And an attitude of polite enthusiasm and paying keen attention should leave a good impression. Don't stumble over silly mistakes - you aren't going to be penalised for asking for a question to be repeated/clarified or if you request to restate an answer.

Lastly, be confident but acknowledge the power dynamic. Smile and give a firm handshake, but follow the interviewer's lead (they raise their hand to shake first, not you, they sit down first, not you). A number of applicants try to pull power moves which invariably fail.

---------- Post added 12th Jan 2017 at 11:34 AM ----------

And practice answers orally before you actually attend the interview! Obviously you don't want to sound scripted, but you do want to have a high level of fluency and certainty in answers to obvious questions.