Are you applying for Cambridge Economics? Not sure how to prepare for the Cambridge Economics interview?
Over seven years ago I successfully applied to Cambridge Economics and spent four years reading Economics at Cambridge.
Since then I have helped countless students with advice on how to prepare for the Cambridge Economics interview.
In this article I will tell you the 20 key tips I have picked up to maximise your chances of success.
Check out the link below for Cambridge Economics interview style practice questions:
Contents
General tips
1. Do practice questions
We know practice questions / tests help students do better in the real test, compared to students who do not do such practice tests.
There is scientific evidence on the effectiveness of practice tests e.g. Adesope, Trevisan and Sundarajan (2017).
It is likely that this may apply to interviews too.
There are some sites purporting to provide Cambridge Economics interview style practice questions. However some unfortunately are not typical questions or are too easy, while others are vague.
Hence why I have created 50 practice questions for the Cambridge Economics interview.
These are based on seven years’ experience helping students through their Cambridge Economics interviews.
Check out the link below for Cambridge Economics interview style practice questions:
Some other resources I recommend for practice questions are:
- King’s College Economics interview practice questions (more on the mathematics and logic side) here.
- Past interview reports such as the Inside Uni website (see point 6).
- Free sample of Cambridge Economics interview style practice questions on my website, linked here.
2. Learn more about economics
Get reading about different areas in economics. I recommend in particular reading about:
- Current affairs with an economics lens e.g. The Economist, Financial Times or economics blogposts.
- Start reading into a few undergraduate economics concepts such as indifference curves in microeconomics or the idea of the natural experiment in econometrics.
3. Do mock interviews
Ask your teachers, colleagues, tutors or family members to give you a kind of mock interview. The more practice you can get, the better. You will become more used to answering questions and discussing ideas.
4. Discuss economics with friends, family or teachers
Discussions do not need to be in a mock interview setting. Discussing ideas or having debates about economic policy will help train you in discussion.
Remember, interviewers are looking to test your suitability to the Cambridge Economics supervision style. Being able to discuss ideas is critical for this.
5. Research interviewers
What are your interviewers’ research interests and what courses do they teach / supervise?
Some familiarity with the interviewers’ interests before the interview can help a little with nerves.
My experience suggests there is a very low (but nonzero) correlation between courses supervised and the topics of interview questions asked. So don’t read too much into their research topics but a little brief research cannot do any harm.
6. Research past interviews
To learn about the types of questions asked in the past, I recommend looking up online Cambridge Economics interview profiles, such as on the Inside Uni page here.
This is one of the best ways to understand the types of topics asked.
How to answer questions / conduct yourself in the interview
7. Practise talking aloud (particularly through maths problems)
It is often not intuitive for students to talk through maths problems such as a graph sketching question.
Talking aloud is important – it’s part of the Cambridge Economics teaching style. It also allows any supervisor to identify quickly any mistakes and for you to get through the answer more quickly if you have made a mistake.
8. Practise clarifications (though do not use excessively to dodge questions)
What do you do if you do not understand the question? A few possible approaches are:
- Think about what parts of the question you do not understand. If there is a term you are not familiar with, ask what that term means.
- If you have a basic answer to at least part of the question, that can be a good starting point to mention.
- Think about related concepts that may be useful. Any kind of starting point can be helpful to allow the interviewer to help you.
- You can ask for a little time to think.
- If you don’t know and don’t know where to start, you could admit this and hopefully the interviewer may sometimes give you some direction.
Of course do not just use these to dodge the question indefinitely – that’s not the point and could prove frustrating for the interviewer.
9. Show you can take and implement live feedback
Part of being able to do well in interviews is being able to take on and use interviewer feedback quickly.
For example, consider the following types of Cambridge Economics interview interactions:
- Maths: You have made a mistake in a maths question and the interviewer is hinting at where the issue is.
- Macro: You have argued for a Keynesian macroeconomic policy but the interviewer finds a possible flaw in the argument or asks you to argue against the point you made.
- Discussion: You have skipped a key step in the economic chain of analysis and the interviewer returns to that step to clarify your understanding.
- Data interpretation: You are interpreting some data and the interviewer changes the labelling of the graph axes.
In these kinds of cases and more, being able to respond on your feet and implement the feedback or challenge it is really important.
10. Show you are interested
An enthusiastic student is typically much more exciting to teach or interview than a disinterested student. The interviewer may be thinking about whether they want to teach you for the next three years, so show some enthusiasm for economics!
Advice by question types
Here I split the advice into question types that typically appear in Cambridge Economics interviews. While the advice above applies generally (e.g. do lots of practice interviews and practice questions).
Based on available online Cambridge Economics interview profiles, here are some information about question types that typically appear.
Note the categorisation is to some degree arbitrary (questions may span multiple types). Also some colleges may focus on one interview question type or completely ignore another type. For example some colleges may ask mainly mathematics questions, others may ask no mathematics at all. Some may ask personal statement questions, others may not. These data may not reflect your actual interview, these are just past interview data.
11. Personal statement / general motivation
- Revise activities mentioned in your personal statement.
- Prepare answers for standard questions like “why economics?”
- Read widely on economics so that you have material to draw on.
12. Economic theory
- Revise A-level economics.
- Look into one or two undergraduate concepts to get a feel for what undergraduate economics is like.
- Practise using prompts e.g. article discussion or graph / data discussion.
13. Maths in economics contexts
- Learn about how maths can be used in economics e.g. utility theory, profit maximisation or basic macroeconomic equations and models.
- Revise A-level maths (and further maths if covered).
- Graph sketching, calculus and probability can come up but other topics are also possible.
14. Pure maths
- Similar to the points above, revise all mathematics covered in school.
- Practise speaking through pure mathematics problems aloud – this is not intuitive for many students, who are used to solving maths questions in silence.
- Make sure to avoid common errors in graph sketching. For example zero to a negative power or dealing with fractional or negative powers can often lead to errors.
15. Current affairs
- Practise economics discussions or debates with teachers, friends or family.
- Read lots of economics current affairs and think through the arguments for and against existing policies.
- Practise the ability to take both sides of the argument.
16. Logic or other (including game theory)
- Practise game theory or logic questions, for example using the “Maths is Fun” website.
- Familiarise yourself with certain game theory concepts e.g. backwards induction and Nash equilibrium.
Note other questions could come up other than the types mentioned here.
Also some colleges may focus on certain interview question types but will not mention others. For example some colleges will ask questions about the personal statement, while others will not mention the personal statement at all.
For notes on different question types, with examples for each question type, check out the link below:
Mindset to Cambridge Economics interview preparation
17. Do not have an all or nothing mindset (“Cambridge or bust”)
Having a mindset of only wanting to go to Oxbridge will make the consequences of rejection feel worse.
There are many other fantastic universities for economics and indeed some would argue there are better universities for economics than Oxbridge.
With university, it is often more important what you make of the experience, rather than the particular university.
18. But remember your motivation for applying to Cambridge or Oxford
The Oxbridge Economics interview and application process is longer and more intense than that for other UK universities.
Writing down and remembering your motivation will help a lot in tougher parts of the application process.
19. Managing emotions – nerves and enjoying the interview
Being nervous is fine in moderation. Some nerves are good and may even help you perform better.
Mock interviews are important practice in controlling nerves if you have never experienced an interview before. Also breathing and meditative practices can anecdotally help with dealing with pressure.
Part of the nervousness that some students experience comes from a sense of pressure on the interview moment. Sometimes a lower stakes mindset can help.
Also, to the extent possible, try to enjoy the Cambridge Economics interview. It is an opportunity to talk to academic economists about a subject you find interesting and engaging – you may learn a lot!
20. Use what you learn in interview preparation beyond the application process
Spending a lot of time just on an application or interview preparation for one university can be very intense.
It may even feel like a waste of effort to prepare for the interview if it is only one university.
I argue it is a great use of time to prepare properly for any interview. Some students whom I have helped prepare for Cambridge Economics interviews have reported the following extra benefits to interview preparation:
- Better performance in economics and maths tests in school.
- Having a head start in undergraduate economics, through early exposure to ideas in undergraduate economics.
- A greater awareness of concepts in economics, which may help students become better economists.
Other resources
I recommend checking out my list of 50 Cambridge Economics interview style questions:
For more Cambridge Economics interview tips, check out the blue button below:
For A-level Economics resources, check out the link below
Disclaimer
Disclaimer: I cannot guarantee interview success or that the above tips will help, based on the reading of this article. I recommend investing time in your own interview preparation and practice. Some of these tips are my subjective opinion and I encourage you to form your own opinion.
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