{"id":54236,"date":"2022-02-24T04:22:15","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T11:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=54236"},"modified":"2022-02-24T04:22:23","modified_gmt":"2022-02-24T11:22:23","slug":"how-to-get-accepted-to-oxford-said-business-school-podcast-episode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/how-to-get-accepted-to-oxford-said-business-school-podcast-episode\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get Accepted to Oxford Sa\u00efd Business School [Podcast Episode]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Hannah<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Find out what the Oxford Sa\u00efd MBA program has to offer [Show Summary]<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hannah Griffiths, Oxford Sa\u00efd Business School\u2019s MBA Recruitment and Admissions Manager, shares how the school aims to equip leaders to effect change in various sectors all over the world. Additionally, Hannah highlights what it takes to get accepted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interview with Hannah Griffiths, Oxford Sa\u00efd Business School\u2019s MBA Recruitment and Admissions Manager [Show Notes]<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to the 457th episode of\u00a0Admissions Straight Talk<\/em>. Thanks for tuning in. Before we get to our wonderful guest, I\u2019d like to invite you to join me for our next live MBA webinar. I will present \u201cHow to Maximize Your Chances of Acceptance and Reduce Your Stress Before the 2022 Application Season<\/em><\/a>,\u201d and I\u2019m going to present it tomorrow, February 16th. During the webinar, I\u2019m going to give you a plan that can prepare you for a successful MBA application this fall. The presentation is free, but you do need to reserve your seat, and you can do so at\u00a0accepted.com\/457webinar<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It gives me great pleasure to have on\u00a0Admissions Straight Talk<\/em>\u00a0for the first time\u00a0Hannah Griffiths, MBA Recruitment and Admissions Manager<\/a>\u00a0for Sa\u00efd Business School at the University of Oxford. Hannah earned her Master\u2019s in English from the University College Cork and shortly thereafter started working at Oxford in different roles and in different parts of the university. She\u2019s been there for most of her professional career. Since November 2019, she has been the MBA Recruitment and Admissions Manager for Oxford Sa\u00efd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you give us an overview of the Oxford Sa\u00efd MBA program for those listeners who aren\u2019t that familiar with it, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [1:55]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Yes, absolutely. The Sa\u00efd Business School is a business school that is embedded within Oxford University. Our MBA program is a one-year MBA program, and given that the business school is embedded within a world-class university, that does impact the MBA experience in a number of different ways. One of those ways is that the students can expect in the one-year program a lot of academic rigor. Our program is an intensive one-year MBA. It aims to include everything that a candidate would maybe anticipate finding on a two-year program but packed into a 12-month period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main aim of the business school and of the MBA program is to prepare our students to be responsible business leaders and individuals who, as they move through their career in the future, are prepared to tackle world-scale problems, challenges, and to really see business as a vehicle to drive change, be that within the organizations that they work in, the sectors that they choose to work in, in their communities and sometimes on a larger scale in the countries that they choose to be based in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to academic rigor, another thing to highlight that students could anticipate finding on the Oxford MBA, is an incredibly diverse cohort<\/a>. Our student body is largely international. Our current class is 94% international, with 71 different nationalities represented across the class. Diversity of thought is something that\u2019s very important to us at the Oxford MBA as well. We have a very broad range of different sector backgrounds represented in our cohort. That also means that students can expect a diverse range of career outcomes and also a global alumni network that will be very far-reaching in depth and breadth as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And obviously access to the greater Oxford community network, correct? [4:00]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Yes, absolutely, which largely comes from their college membership while they\u2019re with us in Oxford. But in terms of that alumni network, absolutely. They gain the benefit of having a network that they will have via the business school and then obviously another network that comes via the university as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the concerns with a one-year program is that maybe there won\u2019t be an opportunity for an internship. It\u2019s harder to make career changes. How would you address that concern? [4:26]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Really good question and as I said at the beginning, the Oxford MBA is certainly not for the faint-hearted in that it does aim to kind of pack all of those different components into the 12 months that students are with us. We do have the option for students to do an internship when they are on the Oxford MBA. That comes in the summer semester of the program and where the students do have a bit of flexibility in choosing what they would like to spend that final semester on. Some students choose to do some additional electives at that point and to stay with us at Oxford, kind of gain the last couple of months of opportunity to benefit from being part of the wider university. But a good percentage of our students do choose to do an internship at that point, usually about 30 to 40% of the cohort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s also the option for students to do a strategic consultancy project at that point in the MBA as well. For any students who are looking to maybe pivot into consulting after the MBA, that\u2019s a good opportunity for them to gain some practical, hands-on experience in that space as well. We find that a large percentage of our cohort does pivot after the program. I don\u2019t have a precise figure for the cohort that just graduated, but it usually tends to be about 65% of the class that will pivot their career after the MBA, with 35% either accelerating or returning to the company that they were part of before they joined us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, do people have any trouble going back to their home country? You said it\u2019s 94% international at Oxford. What about those who want to stay in the UK? Is the UK open to students staying for a couple of years? [6:02]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I should have said in relation to the internship, that\u2019s not tied to the UK solely. We do have students who will go international for their internship opportunities if there is a particular market that they\u2019re keen to move to post-MBA. In terms of the opportunity to remain in the UK once they have completed the program, that is something that\u2019s popular with our students. So ordinarily, about 50% of our cohort will remain in Europe after the MBA, not specifically in the UK, but we do envision that the percentage that opts to remain in the UK will increase in the coming years, mainly due to the introduction of a new two-year post-study work visa that the UK government has recently introduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the summer just passed, our MBA students have access to apply for that visa, and it means that they can work in the UK for two years after they graduate from a program without needing company sponsorship to do so. It\u2019s a great opportunity for MBA students as a lot of them want to gain a couple of years of international exposure after they complete their MBA, and for employers as well because it means they have the chance to have someone be part of their organization for a couple of years, make sure they\u2019re the right fit, and then potentially go on to sponsor them, if they see a role for that person within the organization long-term. It\u2019s a really, really great opportunity for any MBA students who are keen to have the opportunity to stay in the UK after their MBA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You mentioned the college system at Oxford. That\u2019s very different. Can you describe it? [7:44]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a really, really good question and definitely something that is unique to a small number of universities that offer MBAs. For anybody who\u2019s not familiar with Oxford university, it\u2019s essentially just set up or made up of academic departments and colleges. So for students who join us on the MBA, the academic department that they belong to is the Sa\u00efd Business School, and then in addition to their membership of the business school, they have the opportunity to become a member of one of Oxford university\u2019s 39 colleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The college benefits the experience in a number of different ways and is definitely a unique layer that\u2019s added onto the MBA experience at Oxford. The main thing that it provides students with is access to an additional network, not just a network of different people who they\u2019ll meet on the MBA, but people who are studying across a broad range of different subjects, essentially. Students find when they are at their college that if they attend a dinner or a lunch there, for example, they\u2019ll sometimes be sitting opposite somebody who\u2019s getting a PhD in astrophysics and beside somebody who is studying philosophy as an undergraduate. That opportunity to really broaden their horizons, to gain insights, have conversations with people from different backgrounds, focusing on different areas is something that really adds to their MBA experience. It adds a very traditional Oxfordian element to the year that they\u2019re in Oxford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anybody who has Googled Oxford and is familiar with those images of those historic beautiful college buildings will have an idea of what it\u2019s like. Or if you\u2019ve seen Harry Potter and are familiar with the famous dining hall scene. The college offers the opportunity to participate in that. Our MBA students will attend formal dinners at their colleges in those dining halls. They\u2019ll have middle common rooms, where they\u2019ll be able to meet and socialize with other students who are members of their college. They absolutely have access to sports and societies as well. So MBA students will frequently play sports for their college or join clubs and societies at their college as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It gives them access to things like the Oxford Union, the world-famous debating society that is part of the university. A lot of MBA students get very actively involved in that for the year that they\u2019re with us. I think the Oxford brand and the college allows us to attract speakers, guests from across the world that maybe students wouldn\u2019t have access to until they come to somewhere like Oxford. I\u2019ve had conversations with MBA students before who have mentioned that they have gone to a talk at their college or at the Oxford Union and have met the president of the country that they\u2019ve come from. That\u2019s not something that they would ever have had the opportunity to do in their home country, but somehow coming to Oxford has given them that opportunity as well. It really adds in that regard, and then obviously from a practical perspective as well, a lot of our students will source their accommodation, et cetera, via their college. They won\u2019t live on the college campus, because that\u2019s largely kept for undergraduate students, but their college will have accommodation options dotted around the city, and a large percentage of MBA students will access that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are the colleges defined by a specific interest? Are they randomly assigned? Is it an affinity of some kind? [11:15]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s something that MBA students will frequently ask as well because once you are admitted onto the MBA, you do have the opportunity to apply to become a member of a particular college, which a lot of students enjoy researching and deciding on. There are very, very small differences between them. I would say students will sometimes choose based on very practical reasons. The colleges will vary in terms of the number of MBA students that they admit, for example. So some of our students will want to become part of a college where they know that there\u2019ll be a large number of MBA students. Other students want to be part of a college where they\u2019ll have the opportunity to really expand their network and will go somewhere where there are hardly any MBA students. Sports is a big driver in terms of selecting colleges. So all colleges will have sports teams, but some colleges will maybe have a better reputation than others for performing well in certain sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019ll be aspects like that as well. A lot of students will look to alumni. So they\u2019ll look at maybe famous people who have come through different colleges over the years, and the university obviously has quite an exciting, extensive range of alumni that it can boast to have. If you think of somewhere like Christchurch College, for example, that\u2019s where Lewis Carroll was a lecturer and is apparently where he came up with the storyline for Alice in Wonderland. There\u2019s all of that history and tradition, and all of the colleges will have their own unique stories that they can tell. So students will be attracted to different aspects of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a really exciting part of the MBA journey at Oxford. Once you are admitted to the program, the next step then is researching the colleges and deciding which one you might want to apply to and then starting to look at how that can add to your MBA experience.https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8UnuF31f81w?feature=oembed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the 1+1 program at Oxford? [13:32]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We have a two-year program option at Oxford, which is the 1+1 program. It provides students with the opportunity to gain two master\u2019s degrees from the University of Oxford. In the first year, the students will become a member of a different academic department, so not the business school. They will apply to do an MSC at one of the other academic departments across the university, where they offer one of the partner programs for the 1+1. There\u2019s a really broad range of partner programs available, and they are run across a broad range of different departments, such as the School of Geography, the Oxford Internet Institute, the law department. It\u2019s a really, really broad range depending on the area of interest that a student wants to pursue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea is that in that first year, you do a real deep dive into a particular subject area that you have an interest in, a passion for, or that a student sees as being key in terms of being able to move forward in their career after the MBA. Then in the second year, those students who are on the 1+1 join us at the business school, where they complete the one-year MBA program, and that\u2019s an opportunity then to take the knowledge they have gained in that first year and look at how they can apply it in a more practical way. In their career as a business leader, moving forward, how can they apply that knowledge? How can they use it to drive change, to move their career forward, depending on what program it is that they have opted to study?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a wonderful opportunity for anybody who can take two years away from their career. It means you get to spend two years in Oxford, which is a wonderful experience for anybody, two years as part of a college. There\u2019s also an excellent\u00a0scholarship opportunity<\/a>\u00a0attached to the 1+1 program called the Pershing Square Scholarship, which is certainly worth researching for anybody who is possibly considering an application for the 1+1 and provides really great support in terms of tuition fees and living expenses for the two years that you\u2019re in Oxford, but also access to the Pershing Square Foundation and the leadership opportunities that they offer as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would say it\u2019s a less well-known and less popular program than the one-year MBA but is an amazing opportunity for anybody who is looking to maybe take two years away from their career. Again, in terms of supporting a career pivot for anybody who feels that there may be a lacking knowledge of a certain sector or area, the first year of the 1+1 can really provide them with an opportunity to gain that before then looking at how they can apply that practically via the MBA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you have one or two intakes a year? [16:17]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We have just one on the MBA, which is the September intake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What don\u2019t people know about Oxford Sa\u00efd that you would like them to know, or what\u2019s a common misconception about Oxford Sa\u00efd that you\u2019d like to correct? [16:25]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a really great question. I would say that the school is probably best known for its focus on social impact and its focus on entrepreneurship. For students who research the business school and research the MBA, those are probably the two main areas that will stand out to them in terms of what the school focuses on. As a result of that, I would say a misconception is that the MBA at Oxford isn\u2019t for you if you are a finance professional or a consulting professional or somebody who\u2019s maybe looking to move into one of those two sectors after the program. The reality, in terms of the makeup of our cohort and in terms of the sectors that our students go on to work in after the MBA, those two sectors are actually quite well represented. About 45% of our class will come from those sectors in advance of doing the MBA, and about 50% of our class will go on to work in those spaces after the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are large aspects of the program in terms of the curriculum itself, but also in terms of the co-curriculars that are designed to support students who are looking to move into those spaces. Obviously, in terms of the core courses themselves, there\u2019s a large number of those that are finance-focused. For students who are looking to pivot into that space, there is the opportunity to really study those subjects in-depth on the MBA. One of our most popular co-curriculars on the Oxford MBA is our Finance Lab, which students who are interested in accelerating their career in finance or moving into this space really benefit from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, with students who are looking to pivot into consulting, I mentioned the strategic consulting project already that they can do in the summer semester. Our career development center also runs a consulting development program throughout the academic year to support students who are looking to move into space. Certainly, in terms of the finance focus, we have some world-renowned finance faculty at the business school. I would say that\u2019s probably the more common misconception, that maybe if you are somebody who isn\u2019t interested or doesn\u2019t have experience of social impact or entrepreneurship that maybe Sa\u00efd\u2019s not for you. The case is actually quite the opposite. We do have a focus on both those areas, but we equally have a focus on finance, consulting, and a number of other industries as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sa\u00efd asks for the transcript, test score, a one-page resume, two references, a supporting statement, and then an online assessment before it starts evaluating the application and deciding whom to interview. What happens after the applicant submits and takes the online assessment? [19:06]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m sure there are lots of people who actually wonder, so that\u2019s a really good question. Once the applications<\/a> come through to us, they are processed by members of our team. That usually can take two to three weeks, depending on what stage of the application process we are at, and once they have been processed, their application will then be reviewed by the admissions committee. It will be reviewed twice by two individual members of that committee, and it will then be reviewed a final time by the more senior members of that admissions committee before a decision is made on whether or not that candidate will move through to interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The applications at Oxford are really viewed holistically. There isn\u2019t a particular component of the application that holds more weight than others. When we are reviewing the applications, all of the different components are taken into account, and we\u2019re really trying to get a sense from someone\u2019s application of who they are as an individual and what they could add to the cohort if they were to be admitted<\/a>. Essentially, that\u2019s it. That process in terms of review usually takes between two to four weeks, depending on the stage of the deadline that we are at. Students will then be informed if they have been selected to move through to interview, and then that process will run usually again for about three to four weeks before students will learn if they have been successful and have been admitted to the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of applicants think that it\u2019s all about the GPA and the test score. What else are you looking for? [20:54]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I would say to anybody who has that concern, particularly in relation to GPA, which people will reference often, do not let that be a barrier to applying for an MBA. Try not to spend too much energy worrying about it because the GPA is the one component of the application that candidates can\u2019t influence. They have already completed their degree so essentially if they have a concern around that area, I would say the best mindset to have is how you can focus on the other components that you can still control and make sure that they\u2019re really strong so that they essentially outweigh any concerns that you might have about your GPA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would take a similar approach with the GMAT, to be honest. It is an important aspect of the application, but essentially what we\u2019re looking to see via your GMAT score is that you are somebody that would be able to cope with the academic rigor of the program, particularly with the quantitative element of the program. There is a broader range of scores represented across our class than candidates would often anticipate, and students who come through with a lower GMAT score<\/a> are people who demonstrate strength in other areas of the application. That\u2019s sometimes via the work experience that they\u2019ve had across their career to date. They\u2019re individuals who are able to show us that they\u2019ve enjoyed good career progression, that they\u2019ve maybe had good international exposure across their career to date, that they\u2019ve had leadership opportunities that they\u2019ve been able to embrace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The personal statement<\/a> really allows applicants to give us a sense of their individual stories. Again, we\u2019re really looking for authenticity, to try to get a sense of who somebody is via the application, and then similarly through the online assessment, which I think is a really key component of the application in terms of showing the committee a little bit more of your personality. It gives us a sense of your communication style, of the experience you have that you might be able to draw on and share with your classmates, if you were part of the program, and all of those things are of equal importance to us when we are deciding whether or not it\u2019s somebody who we would want to put through to interview and ultimately admit to the class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do you need both the online assessment and the interview? [23:12]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes candidates do assume, I think because we have the online assessment, that it has replaced the interview so it\u2019s good to clarify that it definitely hasn\u2019t. The online assessment is brief in terms of the amount of information students can provide. It involves them video recording answers to three questions, but those answers are 90 seconds or 60 seconds in length. It gives us a taste of what that individual might be like, but probably doesn\u2019t give us enough of a sense of their personality and how they might be within the cohort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interview also allows us the opportunity to explore some of the other components of the application in a little bit more detail. Particularly the career plan is something that we will talk to candidates a lot about at the interview and also, as I said, really trying to get a sense of who they are and of what they might add to the cohort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think\u00a0the interview is a really important part of the process<\/a>\u00a0because it\u2019s their opportunity to learn a little bit more about whether they think the business school is the right place for them. We\u2019re very aware that a lot of candidates who apply to the Oxford MBA are applying to a number of other business schools as well, and so the interview process is an opportunity for them to try to get a sense of, \u201cOkay, is this a business school where I would fit? Is this a program where I can really benefit in terms of my future aims and the career outcomes that I\u2019m looking to achieve?\u201d The interview is maybe more conversational than candidates would expect, and it does really give them that opportunity to make sure that the business school is the right place for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I assume that right now, all interviews are virtual? [24:55]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before COVID, were some interviews virtual and some in person? [25:00]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, absolutely. Pre-COVID, the majority of our candidates still did their interviews online. We used to run a number of in-person interview days at the business school for candidates who were UK-based or had easy access to the UK and they were invited to travel and have their interview in person. We would also have members of our teams who would travel to different cities around the world at different stages and offer the opportunity for in-person interviews to candidates that way as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, since the pandemic, those two routes have gone so all of our candidates are currently doing their interviews online. We certainly have an appetite to return to being able to offer some in-person interviews in the future if we can. I think for this recruitment cycle, it\u2019s unlikely, because our stage one, two, and now three applicants will all be doing their interviews on Zoom. So for stage four, I would imagine that we will do the same thing. But certainly in the future, if we are able to reintroduce the in-person element, we would definitely like to do so.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve obviously reviewed a lot of applications at this point in time. What is the most common mistake that you see applicants making? [26:06]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a really interesting question and it\u2019s one I wonder if different members of our team would answer differently, depending on their experience of reviewing applications. For me, the biggest mistake that a candidate can make is trying to fit a profile that they think the business school is looking for, rather than being themselves via the application. Oxford is well-known for having an impact focus, and I think as a result, based on the research they\u2019ve done in advance of the application, candidates feel that they have to mention something about having an interest in impact or some experience of impact and that if they don\u2019t get that across in their application that Sa\u00efd won\u2019t be interested in them as a candidate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re almost trying to give an impression of themselves that they think the school is looking for when in reality, what we\u2019re really looking for is to get a sense of who each candidate is. We really encourage people to be authentic.<\/a> I mentioned at the beginning that diversity of thought is really important to us at Sa\u00efd, and that means that yes, there\u2019s huge value to having individuals in the class who either have experience of working in impact or who has a passion for impact, but we also need to hear the opinions and voices of people who have no experience of working in that space and who maybe think that it\u2019s a challenge to introduce that focus in a finance career based on the experience that they\u2019ve had to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We value all of those opinions, and there\u2019s space for all of those candidates in our cohort. Oxford is all about debate, discussion, challenge, and so we need a myriad of different voices represented across our cl<\/a>ass. I would say that\u2019s the biggest mistake an applicant can make, is thinking that they need to come across as being a certain type of individual to be admitted to the school. We\u2019re looking for you just to be yourself, and there\u2019s space for everybody, regardless of the opinions that they have or where their passion lies. That\u2019s the biggest piece of advice I could give via the application. Just do your very best to be yourself and give us a sense of who you are.https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_hSj8GnaaxA?feature=oembed<\/p>\n\n\n\n