Judge Business School, Cambridge

Am planning to apply for the 2008 intake.

I had applied... had some problem with process and then got admit from Oxford so stopped trying.

Which, in your opinion is better for consultancy/entrepreneurship/reputation?

Thanks.

Madhu

entrepreneurship - definitely Oxford
consultancy - well the best one is INSEAD. Oxford is also doing good. No idea about cambridge.
reputation - well, in UK I guess both are same. In US some people say Oxford is slightly reputed than Cambridge. but I really don't know what that 'slight' factor means.

in any case, have been dinged by cambridge without an interview

what is your profile like and how does it stack up with Cambridge's average profile?

Indian female - 31 years old
GMAT 690 (80% quant, 85% verbal)
9 years experience in the hotel and airline industry - worked with Marriott, Hitlon, Emirates Airlines and Le Meridien
Career progression : started as receptionist and am currently asst. sales director (6 promotions in 9 years)
International experience : 6 years in Dubai, 3 years in UK of which for the last 1 year, I have been incharge of UK sales for a hotel resort in East Europe. Never worked in my home country, India
Undergraduate degree : Hotel Management & Bachelor of Arts (India) - First division/distinction
Extracurriculars - For the last 4 years, extracurriculars have been mainly toddler activities like baby gym, music, football and other sports - there is a great emphasis on these in the UK - and to be honest, it was very important for me to balance motherhood with a demanding career.


I dont know how it compares with the typical Cambridge student profile. My sister is currently a student at Cambridge and she had 2 yaers experience as a software engineer in india and a GMAt of 730.

Do you think my profile would fit a top tier business school - what aspects do you feel i should work on?

Appreciate your feedback.

Madhu

Your profile looks great, not sure why Cambridge dinged you. Should request a feedback if possible.

You could definitely improve your gmat score, but you really dont fall in that indian IT category so 690 is quite strong (and yours specially is very balanced!). Another aspect could be that you have 9 years of work experience, so what would an MBA do that 9 years of experience have not taught you so far - basically why you need an MBA at this point in your career.

Have you considered an Executive MBA??

Hi,

I am looking to start my own hospitality consultancy firm - so was looking at getting some entrepreneurial insights and also some consultancy experience, which is why I need the MBA. If that was the reason for the ding, I am sure I could have argued it out convincingly in the interview.

GMAT - I dont think that could be the cause - I am not sure if they look for 750s etc but have asked for feedback - let's see what they come up with.

I do seem to be a lot less confident about Insead and LBS now though - despite feeling they were pretty good applications.

I think your profile would fit INSEAD and LBS much better, considering both those programs are pretty international. Cambridge probably dinged you because they were worried with their yield!

Hey, you do my confidence a world of good! Though I was dinged by LBS too - heard R4 this year was very competitive with many offers having already been made by the end of R3, I have been invited for interview for Insead. I am keeping my fingers crossed! Between the 3, Insead was my passion anyways!

Hi MadhuRajesh.

I share your pain. I was dinged at Oxford after an interview, with no explanation why, especially after my interview went very well.

I think the major factor in applying to Oxford and Cambridge may be age, they are trying to follow the Harvard style MBA, which is more academic and students are younger, I think the average age at Harvard is 28. For what it's worth I was then offered a scholarship by Cranfield.

Best of luck,
Andrew

I have no evidence to suggest it is the case, but it wouldn't take much imagination on my part to just put this down to the way Oxford and Cambridge are culturally.

I would imagine it may be a while before they get the transparency of other schools (most likely when they are convinced of their own elite status).