Past admissions interview questions for Biology
Why is water so important to life? (submitted)
If you could save either the rainforests or the coral reefs, which would you choose? (Oxford University website)
Here is a piece of bark, please talk about it. (Oxford University website)
Here’s a cactus. Tell me about it. (Oxford University website)
Why do some habitats support higher biodiversity than others? (Oxford University website)
Why don't most herbivores have green fur? (New Media Medicine)
What percentage of the world's water is in a cow? (New Media Medicine)
Why are there so few large predators? (New Media Medicine)
Why do you want to study biology?
Tell me about a banana. (Scribd)
Why do many animals have stripes? (Oxford University website)
Is it easier for organisms to live in the sea or on land? (Oxford University website)
Why do lions have manes? (Oxford University website)
Ladybirds are red. So are strawberries. Why? (Oxford University website)
Would it matter if tigers became extinct? (Oxford University website)
Why is there salt in the sea? (Oxford Interview Questions)
How do amino acids behave in both acidic and basic conditions? (Oxford Interview Questions)
What is the significance of the human genome project? (Oxford Interview Questions)
How does DNA fingerprinting work? What is its use? (Oxford Interview Questions)
Why are there so many steps in the cascade of reactions? (Oxford Interview Questions)
How do you tell if a protein codes for a transmembrane protein? (Oxford Interview Questions)
Why are there only twenty amino acids? (Oxford Interview Questions)
What shape are bacteria and why? (Oxford Interview Questions)
What is the concentration of water? (Oxford Interview Questions)
What problems do fish face underwater? (Oxford Interview Questions)
Why does an egg rot? (Oxford Interview Questions)
Why can’t humans live forever? (Oxford Interview Questions)
Comment on a population pyramid. (Oxford Interview Questions)
Is shopping the new religion? (Oxford Interview Questions)
What does George Bush have in common with a monkey? How can you see they are related? (Oxford Interview Questions)
How could you tell how long a disease had been prevalent in an area (Oxford Interview Questions)
Tell me about this log (Oxford Interview Questions)
If a brain was placed in front of you, how would you describe it? (Oxford Interview Questions)
If you were a virus, how would you communicate your opinions to me? (Oxford Interview Questions)
Why do leaves have their stomata on the lower surface? (Oxford Interview Questions)
Why don’t animals have wheels? (Oxford Interview Questions)
How can you tell how genetically identical the individuals of a species are? (Oxford Interview Questions)
What evidence is there to suggest that humans are still evolving? (Oxford Interview Questions)
Can you design an experiment to test the effect of bird faeces on lichen growth? (Oxford Interview Questions)
Why it is easier for oxygen to associate after one oxygen molecule has already done so? (Oxford Interview Questions)
Why is it that everyone regards Darwin as such a great man? (Oxford Interview Questions)
Explain the differences between bacteria and viruses. (Oxford Interview Questions)
How would you test to see if a rat could tell red from blue? (Oxford Interview Questions)
How has the human diet changed in the last three decades and why? (Oxford Interview Questions)
What would you define as a species? (Oxford Interview Questions)
Give me an example of how specialist biological knowledge has helped food production. (Oxford Interview Questions)
Why is there a higher probability of being killed by an asteroid collision than by a heart attack? (Oxford Interview Questions)
What kind of changes would occur to the environment if a large asteroid impacted earth? (Oxford Interview Questions)
What are the arguments for preserving biodiversity? (Oxford Interview Questions)
What makes drugs physiologically active? (Oxford Interview Questions)
What would you do if I were a Magpie? (Oxford Interview Questions)
How many animals did Moses take on the arc? (Oxford Interview Questions)
If a carrot can grow form one carrot cell, why not a human? (Oxford Interview Questions)
Discuss ways in which plants are adapted to dry conditions. (Oxford Interview Questions)
Why are big, fierce animals so rare? (Oxford Interview Questions)
How does the immune system recognise invading pathogens as foreign cells? (Oxford Interview Questions)
Describe a potato and then compare it to an onion. (Oxford Interview Questions)
is it possible to grow mushrooms in the bathroom (Oxford, Oxbridge applications)
for which disease do you think it is an advantage to be a carrier of cystic fibrosis? (Oxford, Oxbridge applications)
If I said that when I tossed this coin and every time it said heads you have to give me 50p but every time it showed a tails I give you a pound, how many times would you let me flip it and the coin show heads in a row before you would stop playing the game? (Oxford, Oxbridge applications)
The viruses that infect us are totally dependent on human cells for their reproduction; is it therefore surprising that viruses cause human diseases?
I was shown a skull, a video of lemmings jumping from a cliff, a video of gentically engineered baterium moving about, graphs and data on tits and their nesting sites and a fossil. for each i was asked the following. what is interesting, what it was, why it had evolved like that. (apply.oxfordsu.org)
I mentionned a few books on my personal statement and they asked me which one i liked the best and why (apply.oxfordsu.org)
why do you want to study biology?
If you found these sample interview questions for biology useful, please remember to submit your questions, post interview, to oxbridgeinterview@gmail.com
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