Zixuan Xiong (Summer) completed her A-levels at Kings before winning a place at the University of Cambridge to study Economics.
Here she tells us about her time at Kings and preparing for the interview.
Hi Zixuan. Which Cambridge college will you study at, and what degree course have you been accepted to do?
Gonville and Caius College, taking the Economics Tripos.
Did you always know you wanted to go to Oxbridge, and what were your main reasons for applying?
Cambridge is my dream university and it is why I choose to study in the UK. It is considered to be one of the most prestigious institutes of higher learning, and also has a traditionally strong reputation in Economics.
“Cambridge is my dream university and it is why I choose to study in the UK.”
Why did you decide to apply for Cambridge, rather than Oxford?
I found the topic of The Great Depression quite interesting, and only Cambridge provides lectures in this topic in the third year.
How did the team at Kings help with your interview/application for Cambridge University?
My Economics teacher Sush answered my queries in different topics beyond the curriculum range. The school also provided me a mock interview which I found really helpful especially when you have never attended an interview.
What did you find most helpful?
I really appreciated the mock interview as it helped me gain insight into what is going to happen in an academic interview and made me less nervous.
How would you describe the interview process at Cambridge?
In general, it was a quite relaxed process as the interviewers were trying to help you answering those questions rather than deter you from applying to the university.
What are you most looking forward to about starting at university?
I am looking forward to meeting the new classmates and the lectures in my interested topics really attract me.
“I really appreciated the mock interview as it helped me gain insight into what is going to happen in an academic interview and made me less nervous.”
Do you have any idea what you’d like to do after you finish your degree?
In my plan, I would like to go on studying, but it may change during the next three years.
Do you have any advice for other students who would like to apply to Oxford or Cambridge?
I would say that reading is really important, especially for courses like Economics, Law, etc. It would never be a bad idea to have a wide range of knowledge of your choosing course as interviewers would not ask questions that can be easily answered only using the information in your textbooks.
How would you describe your experience at Kings?
Kings is a place in which I had a memorable life and met my close friends. I really appreciate the teachers there.
