CKLaw wrote:
goodbyeboy wrote:
CKLaw wrote:
Hello everyone!
I would be really grateful if you could give some help to my school selection. I have been admitted to both Cambridge's and Oxford's MBA. Cambridge offers me bursary, while Oxford hasn't offered any funding.
Background: I've worked in the financial service field with 10+ years of experience. Core skill sets include corporate valuation, financial modelling and project management. The short-term goal after MBA will be joining the financial service teams (e.g. transaction advisory, valuation) in Big 4 or other MNCs, while I will keep my mind open for opportunities in consulting or technology. I'm trying to make a sensible choice that fits my career goal.
Cambridge:
Pros - Lower cost (tuition fee after bursary is over GBP10k lower than Oxford), adjacency to Silicon Fen so more opportunities for technology, more experiential learning (at least three projects with real companies in the curriculum)
Cons - Smaller cohort that may affect network post-MBA
Oxford:
Pros - Finance Lab that strongly benefits a finance career, larger cohort
Cons - Higher cost
Initially, I considered that Oxford MBA might align with my career goal better because of the Finance Lab. Yet, the cost difference after taking into account the bursary has made me hesitate. Also, I have been told by a CJBS alumni and, surprisingly, a current Oxford Said student that CJBS is indeed a better school for finance (according to the CJBS alumni, this is due to Cambridge's stronger background in science subjects). These comments, together with CJBS's strong ties with Silicon Fen which may bring more opportunities in the tech sector, makes me consider accepting Cambridge's offer now.
May you share your thoughts on the two schools? It will be very helpful if I can receive more opinions and review the comparison from different perspectives before making the final decision.
Thanks very much for helping. Wish you all a happy and Merry Christmas in advance
Hi,
When people ask about Judge vs Said I always ask them back - are there any scholarships to consider?
If yes, then you should go to that school. In this case, you should go to Judge. 10K is a lot of money.Judge and Said are practically the same in terms of reputation and ranking. When it comes to its umbrella university, I think Oxford has a slight edge outside of the U.K.
I do think that Said's bigger alumni will benefit you in the long run, but smaller cohort brings different sets of benefits.
You shouldn't buy too much into Judge's Silicon Fen connections or Said's Entrepreneurship center. They are nice, but it's very unlikely that they will have major impact on your career both short and long term.
Also remember that both of them are 1 year program. I strongly recommend you to have a solid action plan before and after you get there. Semesters are really really hectic, and it's really difficult to balance yourself with school work and job applications. Exploring other options is nice but realistically, if you have a strong background in finance, then you should focus on that while you are there.
Forget about both schools' alumni comments about the finance sector. They make no sense. If you don't get hired in Said, it's very unlikely that you will get hired with Cambridge nametag, and vice versa.
Good luck.
, thank you! Your advice is straight-forward, strong and at the same time fair.
If you have spare time, may you further elaborate the benefits of a smaller cohort? I’m thinking maybe the bonding would be stronger, or the support from the school at individual level would be better, but it will be great if I can understand this better from a business school alumnus.
Also, in your MBA experience what elements benefited your career development the most? Do you perceive that those elements would set Said apart in the comparison with Judge, or the two schools are also closely comparable in these areas?
Hi,
Well, if you are in a smaller cohort, you get to bond with them more, so you will have more chances to turn them into "friendship" rather than "connections". Of course, if you are not a type of person who's into these kind of bonding things (which is totally fair and OK) then you will probably benefit from bigger cohorts.
Most schools have systems called clusters, blocks, or whatever they want to call them, to help people build relationships anyway; you will probably only hang out with the people you regularly see in your classes unless you actively reach out in events. Smaller cohorts will lessen the burden on that end.
If the school has less than 500 students, I don't think it makes major differences in terms of individual support from the school. Only time you'd need a personal touch and attention from the school would be from the career center. Seriously, both schools are still young, so they have a long way to go when it comes to career center; though I'm sure both schools are working very aggressively on it.
Just understand that no matter what school you choose to go to, just understand that career centers are very overrated. You will have to stay proactive and do the most of the job; they can only guide you where to find the doors; you are the one who has to seek, knock, and enter.
What helped the most was the friends and people you meet. You learn to challenge yourself and accept the fact that you're not the smartest or the brightest star; so, you become humble, seek help, collaborate, and improve yourself from the others. They do peer reviews on your resume, connect you with people, and sometimes even hook them up with jobs.
Now, will this set Said apart in the comparison with Judge? I doubt it; as I said earlier, they are quite identical. They attract quite similar minded people with same range of scores, and their school system is very similar.
So ultimately, it comes down to very realistic subjects; price, lifestyle and "vibe". Lifestyle and vibe are subjective; price is not.
Good luck.
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18 Dec 2020, 02:39
