Nick Martin’s Blog

University interviews: advice from another applicant

January 25th, 2008 by Nick Martin

“Be what you are. This is the first step toward becoming better than you are.” ~Julius Charles Hare

When meeting someone for the first time like course tutors, the general characteristics people tend to stick to are Smart, confident, hard-working, and enthusiastic. These tend to be the characteristics for the majority of people, and they are easily presented just by being yourself. Dress how you normally would, and not to impress. Being who you are is more impressive, and let’s them know more about your personality. Speak up and have confidence in yourself. If you don’t have confidence in yourself, how are people supposed to have confidence in you? It’s easy to portray this image, just by slowing down and relaxing a little. Hard-working and enthusiam are also very easy. Again, be yourself. Got any questions? ask them, don’t let it sit there in the back of your mind. Even the most simple question shows enthusiasm. Better yet, email them the question if you forgot to ask them during the interview.

Most universities want to see this last one, enthusiasm, more than any of the others. They want to know that the course is right for you, and if they don’t think you really want to do the course, they are less likely to accept you. If you know what you want to do in life, great… that makes things a lot easier.

Most importantly, when taking portfolios to the universities, make it as compact as possible. Some portfolios are ridiculously large and unnecessary. If you think your portfolio is too large, it more than likely is. Most of the time, the tutors will not reserve massive tables for you to spread your work out on, and it is also much harder to flick through the pages. My one was only A4 sized but did the job nicely. I’m a web developer though so I didn’t need that much stuff.

One thing that I did learn from my university visits, particularly to arty unis, is they credit those who show the workings out, and not just the final product. They like to see how your thinking works, whether its random scribbles or concept drawings, take it! But remember, keep it down to a good size, preferably showing a variety of your best work. It can’t all be your best can it?

Lastly, first impressions may count, in fact they do count, but does the image of you really stick in their mind? The best way to do this is to actually leave them with some of your work for reference when choosing the best candidates. In my opinion, and most tutors opinions at that, put it on CD. Even if its a painting, take a photo and give it to them in JPEG format (My granddads only technical word he knows). Infact, what my granddad says is so true… “Can’t you send it JPEG?”. Even though he doesn’t know what it means, it is the best advise he has given me. Good old granddad.

And that is where I conclude my rambling speech about university interviews. I guess it has rambled a bit, but some may find it quite useful. I hope it helps, and good luck with your interviews!

Got any questions? Ask some other students also applying to university on the yougofurther website: http://www.yougofurther.com/

Regards,

Nick

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