Oxbridge 2011 applicants

@Conrad

I don't think any MBA school or its admissions director would openly and fully endorse FT Rankings.

Sean Rickard of Cranfield has a post similar to yours:
https://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/cs/b ... nking.aspx

I mentioned the rankings to just support my point that in current scenario there are better alternatives for Indians and Chinese. I am actually pissed off at your govt.'s attitude. After spending all that money and going through your competitive admission processes, if I am still viewed as a "job thief" I should better stay at home.

@Conrad

Also I noticed that in your post you mention why Asians should get an MBA from a non-Asian MBA school. But you are forgetting that many of the applicants and most of the selected candidates from countries like India have significant international exposure through work (isn't international experience something you look for in the candidates?) and often more than the 1 year that a UK MBA school would provide. I think its now the UK and EU students who need to get some Asian experience.

@oldhorse. I understand how you feel. I am not British, I am here on a working visa, like many other non-EU nationals. I am from Singapore and my parents were immigrants, as were their parents before. I would like to think that three generations of Chuas have contributed to Indonesia, Singapore and the UK.

There is a genuine concern that the current visa regime, which was designed to allow highly-skilled people like yourself to benefit from and contribute to the UK, has loopholes which has allowed lower skilled people to enter the labour force. Whether you agree or disagree with the baseline philosophy that there should be free movement of labour regardless of skill levels is a separate matter.

Unfortunately, the current proposals for tightening the Post-Study Work Visa has been more over-reaching than a simple closing of the loopholes. Business schools and universities in the UK recognise the damage that this could do and we, as well as many students, have made their views known through the consultation process. It is now up to the government to weigh the pros and cons of their proposals. You can read my post from December about the visa changes.
https://www.thecambridgembaadmissions.co ... -unknowns/

But ultimately, I see this as a test of whether UK business schools are really as global as we have said all these years. Because if we are global in our outlook, then our fortunes will be tied, not with the UK, but with the global economy and to the areas of fastest growth, or the areas with the most interesting socio-economic problems that our MBAs will feel inspired to solve. Even before the visa changes, many of our students have been switching their focus from the UK to emerging markets --- the person with the highest number of job offers from last year's class was from India and he went back to India to a great job, and he started a new business as well to tap into India's growth.

And the fact that we are a global business school is why many of our UK, EU and US students attend Cambridge. They benefit from the interactions with a global cohort, and they gain global experience through consulting projects like our Global Consulting Project. Just to give you an example, for the team that is going to China to help a company that is trying to tap into the fitness market there, we have an Australian, an American who worked in Europe, and two Chinese. For the group that is going to Thailand to help an NGO, we have a Dutch-Canadian, an American and a Malaysian.
The dynamic will be very different in an Asian business school.

@oldHorse and Conrad,

you both raise valid points. In my opinion it really boils down to the individual who is applying to these schools, whether he/she wants to stay back in the country of education or go back home for job. I dont think the Govt is at fault for making such *rules*, I believe its the politicians, who are doing this to gain momentum. The only thing I am happy about is that unlike us schools most of which won't help in any immigration process etc, atleast UK schools are reaching out to the govt for to re/consider their position on visa situation.

Hi guys!,

I have interview invite from Oxford. Can someone from R1 share their interview experience. How do you answer question such as "what is the weakest part of your application". I wonder what is safe to admit !

Also do schools have access to list of other schools I forwarded my GMAT scores to. I wonder what to reply to questions such as " what other schools have you applied to and why is our school the best ". Some of the schools I have applied to are way ahead of Oxford in everything, I will look stupid if I say I still want to join Oxford, but I don't want to say that oxford is my fallback choice.

Thanks

And a Korean who is learning Thai and a Finn.

mackd, I think it's safe to admit anything, if you can be humble about it, explain why you think it is a weakness, and how you need to work on it. After all, if you had no weaknesses you wouldn't need to go to b-school at all!

Did anybody get confirmation of the interview dates?

I sent in my four preferences the day of the notification, but haven't heard anything back yet.

I got confirmation of the date and time

Posted from my mobile device

Thanks, I got my confirmation today. The interview is scheduled for the 14th Feb. 4:30am EST .

It might be a stupid question but in case one does not secure admission at oxford. Do they return the transcripts back?

quick query regarding the SAID interview - do we get to know the name of the person who is going to interview when we receive the interview confirmation?

PS: I posted this query in a new thread. My mistake and I do apologise.

Got my interview confirmation also!

ATB guys!

I have been following this thread with excitment and am happy to say that I have an interview in Oxford next week . Scared and excited at the same time!
About the interviewer, it said in the email confirming my interview date that they only know a few hours in advance who will be the interviewer, so we will not be told beforehand, I guess.

If you do not wish to hand over your original transcripts, I was told that they will take copies when you come to the interview.

When I had my interview for R1, they did take the transcript for photocopy and returned those to me after the interview.

Mostly AdCom conducted interviews when we had our interviews. Around 14 people turned up for the day and interviews were conducted by 3-4 AdCom members lasting 30-45 minutes each.

ATB.

Cambridge interview experience was great. Some thoughts:

- If you can, I highly recommend attending the dinner the night before. It gives you an opportunity to meet other candidates and current students and to see the inside of one of the colleges.

- I would be prepared for the interview, but don't be too nervous. Be yourself, show them who you are, I really think that's what they're looking for. Be able to explain weaknesses in your app, but don't harp on them. They've invited you for an interview, so they're already taking the stand that you can overcome any weaknesses to succeed at JBS.

- Take every opportunity possible to speak with the other candidates, current students, and MBA admissions staff. The whole experience provides you with a much better understanding of the types of students who attend Cambridge and of people who might be in your class. They will also give you a lot of information that you can't find on the website or even from walking around the school.

- Bring an umbrella and a jacket. Even if the forecast doesn't call for rain, bring an umbrella. Better safe than sorry.

- If you have the time, walk around the city and the college. Get a map and get a better feel for where everything is and what the city's like. Remember that, unless you live in England, you probably won't have an opportunity to return to Cambridge after interview decisions are sent. You'll have to submit your college choices pretty quick and it will be helpful to have at least some sense on where you might want to live. You'll also want to know that you will enjoy living in the city for a year.

Have fun and good luck! Let me know if you have any more questions