Oxbridge Interview Teasers

Ah, how this article on Odd Oxbridge Interview Questions took me back.

I remember one of the questions at my own Oxford interview like it was yesterday. "Henry VI - a good man and a bad king. But was he a good thing?"

It seemed a strange question at the time. Not least because I was hoping to read Chemistry. I blathered a bit about the delocalization of electron charge in an aromatic ring, and knocked up quite a decent proof for the three-body problem as expressed in a Helium atom. But it didn't hold water. But then, in a state of panic, I punched the tutor on the nose and ran screaming from the room, before pegging a passing Scout to New Quad with croquet hoops.

Turns out, Oxford being Oxford, that was the correct answer. They probably taught how to answer that kind of question at Manchester Grammar School. I always thought it was a bit unfair, having to derive it from first principles like I did. And if I'd only managed to catch a second Scout I'd have got a scholarship.

Walked upon the Berkshire Downs Green

Meanwhile over at Clayboy, a discussion on one of Drayton's favourite websites turns into a rolling maul about that important questions, was Our Lord an Oxford or Cambridge man? A turn in the discussion that proves, if nothing else, that Clayboy is an Anglican.

I would have said it was pretty clear that, possessing as he did emotional intelligence and a keen sense of humour, Our Lord was clearly an Oxford man. If you want to understand why the first of these is an Oxford attribute, I would suggest you compare today's saint, Oxonian (indeed Brasenosian) Michael Palin with the Cantabridgian John Cleese. Just the latter's marital history should give you the clue. Oxonians seem to have a better ability to see both sides of the story, rather than just the Communist side. And of course in common with Philby Burgess and the rest, it was Judas who was famous for his silly walks.

Also, Oxford is clearly a better place for studying if you're in the habit of going Glastonbury for the occasional religious occasion. From Oxford to Glasto is a mere stroll along the sunlit uplands of the Berkshire Downs, turning left at Swindon. Whereas to get there from Cambridge One would have to have struggled through fenny wastes, watery death-traps and past wild and vicious tribes. And that's just trying to go round the Bedford ring road.