Hello 🙂
A little absence from the blogging but all for a good reason! I have been a busy girl and attended 4 University interviews to study Therapeutic Radiography. So today I’m just going to focus on what happened during my interviews because I’m hoping you want to hear about them and in case anyone stumbles upon my blog needing tips/advice.
Just a starting point- I don’t want to openly name the Universities just because these are my opinion’s/experience and I’m not 100% sure on their social media policies. If you want to know where I have applied that’s fine , leave me a comment and i’ll get back to you privately 🙂
So University A- based in London
This was my risk option- I had decided 4 out of 5 choices for university but was unsure what to put as number 5. So with help from my brother I decided to apply here and put it as my risk option as I didn’t think I had much chance of even getting to interview stage. This University required me to have the same UCAS points as other Universities however I thought they were going to be picky over the subjects I have taken and doing 3 years at college. They also required me to have a set amount of GCSE which I didn’t have due to certain circumstances this meant supporting evidence had to be sent in. So as you see I thought I would be rejected…but then I got an interview and I couldn’t believe it!
This University was the first interview that I attended and I went there with the mantra of they have given me an interview- this has made me happy enough so just do your best and I don’t mind if I get an offer or not. When I got to the University I found the room and there was already a collection of people waiting- but they were all standing/sitting in silence. I didn’t just want to stand there in silence so I just started talking to these two other people whether they liked it or not 😛 It did make me feel more at ease.We were then allowed into the room where they sorted through different checks to do with CRB forms and exam certificates etc. We were then given a schedule of what was going to happen and at what time our interviews were. I was so glad that I had interviews first and then the campus tour 🙂 So after settling down and introductions we had a maths and literacy test, these tests would be combined with you interview to give you a score which they then base on giving you an offer. The maths test was ok but I did panic at one stage- so I decided to go onto the next questions and then go back. The English test was better- with a 15 minute essay on why you wanted to become a therapeutic radiographer (EASY!) and then a comprehension task.  I came out feeling ok- more happy over the English then maths test. We then had a talk from one of the lecturers about the course and what it would entail/how they structure the course so that was good.
Then the interview…I was collected by a lovely lady who I recognised from when doing my research for my interview so I was pleased I recognised her/knew who she was. I entered the interview room and was interviewed by her and a man who were both really nice and acknowledged my answers. The grilling began and to be honest it wasn’t too bad- some of the questions they asked me were: Had I done a clinical visit, what are my hobbies, why should I be chosen compared to other candidates and I was also given a scenario etc. I came out feeling really good and thought if I didn’t get an offer I wouldn’t mind because I was happy with how the interview had gone and that was the main thing.
OUTCOME: I got an offer the next day!!!!! I couldn’t believe it and was super happy, I don’t usually take risks so this time I was lucky 🙂 One down…three to go!
Universty B– Based on the south coast (My favourite)
I was definitely more nervous about this interview compared to my first… it’s just I wanted to get in so badly!!!
I arrived at the University building where the interview day was being held and registered. They confirmed the time of my interview which was good as at least you had a good understanding of the day/what was going to be happening so you can mentally prepare yourself. I was lucky to have the first interview time in the afternoon so I was really pleased as A) I could get it out of the way B) Me and Mum could go shopping 😛 We then had to go and sort out our CRB checks again so that took a bit of time- writing down information and showing evidence. Once again we then went for a presentation on the course and an outline of what was going to happen. After the talk we then had a tour of the facilities and this was really interesting as some of facilities are not shown on the open days.
What I liked about this Uni is that for at least one of the units therapeutic and diagnostic work together- this is good because they only have 20 spaces on this course so it will be good to mix with diagnostic students who they have more places for. I also liked the fact therapeutic students use the diagnostic room to get used to setting up patients- our facilities for therapeutic are virtual (VERT machine- this is the same for all universities offering therapeutic radiography) due to the cost/size/space for the real or mock of the machine so this is really beneficial to be able to practice setting up patients on the couch. What I also liked was they fact they bring in lasers so you can get used to positioning patients- these points I had never heard other Uni’s talk about.  They also showed us their skills lab which I didn’t know they had. They then had time to give you a campus tour of the library/student union etc if you wanted too. I think about 95% of people went on this but as I had already done this twice I decided to meet my Mum for lunch 😛 My excuse is that I need to be refuelled before my interview hehe.
So after being suitable refuelled I then headed to my interview room and waited outside. There was another guy there waiting for an interview- so once again instead of sitting in silence I just started chatting/rambling away to him. He was applying for diagnostic radiography and had travelled from Cardiff so that was interesting. I do feel bad for just rambling away but it made me feel less nervous, especially as we didn’t go in on time I was starting to get worked up- so I’m sorry diagnostic guy from Cardiff that you had to listen to me!
I was called in and I was dreading it. They were lovely ladies who interviewed me, one was a lecturer on the course and the other lady was from the clinical site. They explained what was going to happen and that they would be writing down notes. I could see they had all the questions with a scale rating on how you answered them.They were going to give you a certain score to determine an offer- damn my beady eyes lol. So the first question I was all mentally prepared for something about the course when they asked me what I knew about the city/university- I would loved to have seen my reaction through their eyes to this. It was not that I didn’t know about the city/university it was just I didn’t expect it as a question so at first I was a bit shocked. They then asked me loads of different questions which to be honest I can’t remember what they said.  I was more nervous about this one so I don’t feel my answers flowed off my tongue like Uni A but I was still managed to answer everything. I asked them a couple of questions at the end and then basically wanted to get out of there. After my interviews I just want to get out and leave- its just my instinct. So I was walking along the corridor when Cardiff guy asks me how it went and I’m just standing chatting whilst thinking in my head, oh my gosh this is my favourite choice and I’ve just screwed it up. He finishes saying see you in September… I was like yeah… :S  I just think the nerves probably made me more aware and critical of how I answered the questions and probably because I was so desperate to get in there.
Anyway I then went shopping which was good- got to have some perks to Uni visits!
Then the what felt like forever wait began. A day passed and the next day and no track update. Then a week later I get an email saying there was a piece of paperwork they forget to make me fill in and I needed to complete that. I was pleased though as they were obviously looking at my application when they saw something was missing. So I spent one of my science lessons filling out this form, scanning it into the computer system and sending it back. Thankfully I have a really flexible teacher 🙂
OUTCOME: Two weeks after my interview I got a track update…. I got an offer 😀 😀 😀 😀 I was so over the moon and then spent the rest of the evening phoning/speaking to family and friends. So far this offer has less conditions to it then my other ones- I have to get a minimum of a C in psychology and that’s it.  I can’t believe it- and at the moment its probably going to be the University that I firm (waiting to hear back from one Uni- so I can’t choose my Uni’s yet). I love the location, the University, the placement sites and the first year has a few personal perks of which I shall explain at a later date.
I have written so much about two Universities so I’ll do a second blog later about the other two 🙂
Hope you are all keeping well and Happy Easter by the way! Any comments or questions are always gratefully received 😀
Take care,
Love S
xxx
campbellsramblings 