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17 Feb 2014, 10:15
21 Feb 2014, 11:48
24 Feb 2014, 04:00
| FROM Oxford Admissions Blog: Cultural moments |
MBA teaches us many culture theories in the strategy course and effective management course. One of the most important aspects of these theories is to participate and learn it in a respectful manner. Last October, we enjoyed the celebrations of Diwali, an ancient Hindu festival that gathers people to dance and celebrate the victory of light over darkness. In early February, the Asia Pacific Business Network organized a Chinese New Year Celebration Party at the School.  In leading the organizing committee, I was glad to have a happy team in working out the best activities of celebration for our audience. We made our best effort to show some of the Chinese culture to the participants, including Chinese calligraphy, Chinese tea ceremony and Chinese dance. To our encouragement, many of the audience were westerners, and most of them were for their first time to join a Chinese New Year Celebration. A few tried calligraphy and wrote the Chinese word “Horse” perfectly and beautifully. Many tried the Chinese tea (and the authentic Chinese brand Tsing Tao beer). Everyone got a red pocket for a chance to win a prize at the lucky draw. Everyone had fun.  At study and at work, we always say work hard and play hard. This is not only because we need to take a break from the hectic work schedule, but also because relationships are built through sharing happy moments, learning culture from each other, and enjoying life together. |
25 Feb 2014, 06:00
| FROM Oxford Admissions Blog: Oxford EMBA Module 1 |
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The first module started in Oxford in January. On Sunday we had ‘day zero’ of studying. There were a couple of events where we could come to know each other. The second one was quite simple, a lunch at the Ashmolean Museum: a beautiful place, good food, nice talks. And the starting event was quite unusual. It was called Oxford Pursuit and was created so that we could get to know each other and the city faster. All the people were divided into groups of four, got the questions (18 blocks, 2 questions each) and had to find the answers to them within two hours. The blocks were made in a way that one question could be answered with information from the internet, but to answer another one we had to find a right building in the city and come there. For example, we had to find the text under a painting in a bar of a famous hotel, or sometimes just have a picture taken in front. We lost. Chances to win were high; we had a person who had lived in Oxford and knew the city well, but we did not take the questions too seriously, purely guessing some last ones. But it was fun and made some difference in the flow of questions “Who are you? Where are you from?” typically following an attempt of 80 people to get to know each other and making one’s head swing. Monday Monday morning was allotted for organizational lectures and some more socializing. After lunch we had two more case-based classes. David Upton started – I think he was the first on schedule to wake everyone up. He is a very emotional and lively teacher. The case was very difficult, or to be more precise, very detailed, about 15 pages of description. Group discussions were immediately turned into common dispute. It was interesting not only from the problematic point of view, but also as an example of teacher’s work. Tuesday For the evening we had a long lecture on leadership and decision making with Owen Darbishire. There was a case again and this case turned into an educative story. Owen gave its name in the reading list, I had found it on the Internet, read it and already had a thoroughly thought decision handy. Others in the group (the discussions took place in groups of six) were reading on the spot and I had an obvious advantage in knowing the situation. But I have not guessed that I should have taken the initiative, and overestimated the measure I should be agreed to, so as a result we came to the hall without a common decision. Next time I should think more seriously about argumentation of my opinion.  Wednesday The main event of the day was visiting colleges. The thing is that the schedule is very tight, and not many people live right in college, so almost no one had a chance to visit it. And today the middle of the day was allotted especially for it, so everyone went there to get acquainted and register. Well, my choice was not a mistake at all. It is even cooler inside than outside. There is a very nice inner yard, an awesome chapel, dining space, and library. The library is simply wonderful. At that MCR looks like a normal student dorm, with billiard and a bottle of vodka behind the fridge. By the way, surprisingly I see people buying vodka or beer in Oxford stores, but I saw no one buying whiskey or wine.  Thursday Today a solemn ceremony of admission to university students (matriculation) took place. From the one hand, it is very unusual: special clothing, old-time procedures etc. In the evening, apparently as the continuation of matriculation there was a gala dinner at Trinity College. It was beautiful and tasty. One of the very pleasant impressions is always good food. As the dinner became the part of the whole process, the upshot is that I am submerged into ceaseless English speaking from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., or 14 hours a day. Now it is quite exhausting, but even after several days it eases off, so eventually it will pass. Friday Almost all day on Friday was devoted to statistics and work in Excel. Both things have been my basic working instruments for many years, so I was mostly doing my own stuff, sometimes getting into action when the group was doing the exercises. But still statistics should be revised, as a part of terminology is different from the one I am used to, and a part of tests is required to be done in group. Saturday In the middle of the week we were told that the School provided us with lifetime membership in Oxford Union, one of the oldest debate societies. On Saturday trial debates were organized for us, just in the team of student Business School and with quite a typical topic. Debates take place between two groups, one is supporting the announced topic while the other is opposing. Each group has four speakers and a support team. It was a very interesting experience, especially for removing psychological barriers with giving talks in English. |
25 Feb 2014, 10:00
| FROM Oxford Admissions Blog: London – Toronto non-stop |
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I am on an Air Canada flight from Toronto to London; I have no sense of time and little idea of why I ended up here. But it all started quite excitingly. Welcome to “Hellary” as it is sometimes appropriately called by some of my peers. Well the term is officially called “Hilary” but my peers have re-coined it to reflect the amount of work MBAs have to get done in this term. So statutory warning: this term is not for the weak hearted. The term started off with a flurry of companies visiting the campus for recruitment in week 0 or nougth week – the week before term starts – as it’s called here. And then week one started with an assignment submission; yes you heard it right, a submission in week one!! Then as my friends discovered case study preparation wasn’t just about preparing for a particular case by reading the case, but also by reading related cases, recommended chapters on the book and researching online to see what was happening with the company in focus at the moment. Multiply this five times for five courses, the catching up to do on everyone’s individual college front, couple it with the challenging GOTO (Global opportunities and threats Oxford) module and applying for jobs/internships; we present to you Hilary!!! For all those who thought they just got back from their vacations with their batteries fully charged, they just realised that it needs a re-charge sooner rather than later and quiet often too. In week one, we organised an interesting event titled, VCIC (Venture Capitalist Investment Competition) where we had real entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas to our school seeking investments. We had our students role-play as VCs and top VCs from London working as judges. One team wins and will go on to Barcelona for the European finals and the best team from Barcelona will then head to the US for the world finals! Same thing as above but add social impact to it and you have the SVCIC. And so begins the story of how I ended up on this flight. Our team won the Oxford leg of SVCIC and we were put on a flight to the US to participate in the finals. We were quite excited, as our school has won the event twice before and being a school famous for social entrepreneurship with the Skoll Centre located in our school, we were all the more keen on bringing the trophy back home. But as Mother Nature would have it, a snow storm; flights are cancelled, the event is cancelled, everything is in disarray and I am on my way back to London after getting to have dinner in Toronto. So a weekend in the US turned in to a dinner night in Toronto. After this journey I am sure my bed will look all the more inviting. Originally posted on the FT MBA blog |
26 Feb 2014, 00:52
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28 Feb 2014, 09:32
Dinged...no waitlist also..as per the adcom...feeling bad...all the best to all admitted ones... 
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Hi Generic [Bot],
Here are updates for you:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Tuck at Dartmouth
AGSM at UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
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