American accepted to Oxford SBS; very worried about funding

Hi Poet,

Can I ask you a question? Shall I understand that if I apply in the third round to Oxford said I will not be eligible for any scholarship. You need to apply in the first two rounds to qualify for a scholarship?

Thanks!!!

Oana

Welcome to GMAT Club.
This is a very typical situation for International Students applying to the US Schools - many schools used to ask for proof of financial resources even before they considered the application (strange). Anyway, I am not suggesting you do this, simply sharing how a number of applicants has done to fulfill this requirement - most ask friends and relatives to transfer the funds into their accounts for a short period of time; others ask their family/friends/boss/company to write a letter and state that they will be sponsoring the education of the applicant and attach a financial statement. This usually works for the Schools but not sure if it will work for the UK Visa office.

Poet,

This is a great thread and I hope to see more great responses. If you learn anything in your research, please share! (I am also an American, accepted to SBS, and looking for funding.) Two things:
1) Oxford has a smaller endowment than peer US institutions and cannot fund as many scholarships.
2) You should now be able to access the SBS intranet which contains articles that might help you and a chat function populated by incoming students - and a couple current students - who can help answer questions. However, your full name appears on the chat, so you won't be anonymous.

Here's what I have learned. Keep in mind that I don't speak officially for Oxford SBS, I am just sharing my experience.

1. I asked why (despite what I perceive to be superior academic credentials compared to the ones I can find online and in books for SBS) I was not given any amount of merit scholarship (the "Saïd Business School scholarships"). The response I got was diplomatically vague - basically "Sorry you didn't get one; they're tough to get."

2. I am told that only about 10% of any SBS class gets any funding at all from Oxford. As stated, this is probably because it's a young school.

Based on #2, I am now moving forward on the assumption that almost all students at SBS are 100% externally funded. In my case, that means US federal loans. I am still applying for the Skoll and Vodafon scholarships, but planning as if I won't get one.

So, it's on to the FAFSA, and hopes for Stafford loans and Grad Plus loans for me. The frustrating thing is that one has to pay the deposit BEFORE one knows the outcome of the loan application process. I could pay Oxford ~$7,000, not get the loans, and simply lose the money with nothing to show for it. I wish Oxford would allow us until July or so to get that deposit in.

The data point for which I would currently trade my left arm is this: What percentage of applicants for Grad Plus loans end up fully covered or close to fully covered for a school like SBS? Presumably a high-end MBA is a good credit risk, but who knows.

I'll continue to update as I learn more; it may be helpful to others in my situation.

- Poet

PS: I plan to pay back much of the loans by selling my house, but I won't have that in time to show money in the bank on the Financial Guarantee. I have asked for a deferred admission to next year and may have a decision by next week. However, I have been told that "financial matters are not acceptable reason for deferral," and when I asked what _was_ considered, they did not tell me. If the school's response is enlightening and I feel that I am allowed to share what I learn from that, I will share it as well.

Yes, well, this is England we're talking about. A country with an old, rigid class system, where, not so long ago, they assumed you could pay your study if you desired to attend Oxbridge universities.

I was also surprised by how little funding is available for a student from a well-off, EU country. Cambridge has the Gates trust, the Overseas trust, a b-school bursary, some university bursaries, and college-bound scholarships.

I just submitted my deposit to JBS/Cambridge. Lucky for me the pound sterling is now a little cheaper compared to the euro. Wouldn't want to have to pay in US dollars, though, it's tough. I was able to mortgage my apartment for the loan I need. Some of my costs will be covered by domestic government financial aid, so that's always a plus. However, should I not get a scholarship anywhere (have applied for domestic funding), I am left with a loan to pay back in exchange for my apartment.

hey...i had a similar situation, which i had just resolved recently. had lots of money tied up in my condo (which i'm selling in a couple of months) and nothing in the bank.

this is what i did - i got a loan from the bank for the mba program for $70k and the rest i borrowed from my parents to put into my account to show enough funds for Oxford.

you should be able to get similar student loans (with low interest and other benefits). if not, you should be able to get a line of credit with your house as collateral (higher interest - i was offered this option, but the student loans were a better deal, so i took that), and deposit a chunk of it into your account to show the school. if you go the line of credit way, maybe you can even talk to SBS and see if they'll accept your line of credit as funding, so you won't even have to go through the trouble to take out the funds, deposit into your account, get a statement, etc....just show them you have access to $100k or whatever.

That's what I now have to show JBS. I didn't even consider taking out the actual loan. I just have the signed agreement and a credit certificate from my bank. It should be enough.

I can access in my home country only a personal loan (no grace period, huge interest rate, mortgage-backed) and I am quite upset that Oxford could not secure a (international) student loan agreement with HSBC, as LBS, Cambridge and Cranfield did. So I'm still thinking whether the Oxford brand is enough to balance lack of financing and quite low career services assistance (considering the figures from FT rankings) ....

What I thought was weird is that the 49k figure they want seems to be calculated by adding their estimated living expenses to the program cost--but the financial guarantee is sent after you make your deposit, so it's actually 5k pounds too much! So perhaps once you've paid your deposit you can get them to accept proof of only 44k.

pretty sure the 5k counts towards your 49k.