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Two problems I had to solve in my Oxford interview (2013)

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Re: Two problems I had to solve in my Oxford interview (2013)

#41

Post by abdulhaq »

jgrahamc wrote: post #40
m3talridl3y wrote: post #38

The real question he was asked is: "Did you have access to computer science materials before applying. Prove it by solving these trivia."

No. I knew nothing about computer science when I got that interview. I had programmed (self-taught) but knew nothing of Big O and had never heard of Dijkstra or the Dutch National Flag problem. These questions were less about testing my knowledge more about testing my ability to figure stuff out. The latter is highly prized in my experience by Oxford.

Yes I went up to Oxford in 1983 to read Natural Science and although I was mad on computers that meant simply that I had done some z80 and BASIC programming and read a few books on e.g. PL/1 programming and AI (i.e. lisp) from the local library. There was no internet then :-)

Re: Two problems I had to solve in my Oxford interview (2013)

#42

Post by elevensies »

corruptio wrote: post #39
elevensies wrote: post #22

Well, here is my non-zero-handling answer to the first Z2 I2 And with zero handling (maybe) Z4 I4 Z2 J0,2 -+ +-J0,4 | | I2 Z3 J1,3 -+ +-J1,4 | | I2 exit Edit * 2nd try

My solution: 0: Z 2 1: Z 3 2: J 0 2 -> 4 3: J 1 3 -> 7 4: I 2 5: J 0 2 -> 4 6: J 1 3 -> 7 7: I 2 8: I 3 9: J 1 3 -> 7 Handles the zero case. Only uses 4 cells total.

Instruction 6 is a nop? if mem. 1 not-equals mem. 3, jump to 7, or else fall thru to 7?

I don't think you can depend on jumping in instruction 3, because you don't control the value of mem. 1, it's input. So if mem. 3 = 0, instructions 2 and 3 will always lead to instruction four.

Re: Two problems I had to solve in my Oxford interview (2013)

#43

Post by arethuza »

jgrahamc wrote: post #18
brianpgordon wrote: post #17

Was this for entrance into the undergraduate program? Question 1 would have been extraordinarily difficult for me, having no formal computer education at all before entering undergrad. Maybe it's different in the UK.

Yes. These were the two questions that I recall being asked when I was interviewing to be an undergraduate.

As someone else who went to University in the UK to do CS in the 1980s I think I'd have enjoyed trying to answer these questions. What would have made it very difficult for me would have been doing something like that in an interview!

Re: Two problems I had to solve in my Oxford interview (2013)

#44

Post by myth_buster »

brianpgordon wrote: post #17

Was this for entrance into the undergraduate program? Question 1 would have been extraordinarily difficult for me, having no formal computer education at all before entering undergrad. Maybe it's different in the UK.

The problem 1 is more of a logical puzzle and may not be categorized as CompSci problem.

Re: Two problems I had to solve in my Oxford interview (2013)

#45

Post by vampirechicken »

brianpgordon wrote: post #17

Was this for entrance into the undergraduate program? Question 1 would have been extraordinarily difficult for me, having no formal computer education at all before entering undergrad. Maybe it's different in the UK.

It is for entrance to Oxford, not Random State University. Aren't Oxford students expected to be elite?
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