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06 Dec 2008, 12:20
Kudos
Bookmarks
Great report, daddybuff. 
That statistic is indeed worrying -- but hopefully things will pick up by the time all of us prospective students are matriculating. Good to know on the interview stats as well -- my preparation for my last two interviews have admittedly yielded lukewarm results -- so I'll need to step that up for my upcoming Oxford interview...
That statistic is indeed worrying -- but hopefully things will pick up by the time all of us prospective students are matriculating. Good to know on the interview stats as well -- my preparation for my last two interviews have admittedly yielded lukewarm results -- so I'll need to step that up for my upcoming Oxford interview...
06 Dec 2008, 16:42
Kudos
Bookmarks
Very thorough debrief, Buffdaddy! Kudos!
I would like to share some of my impressions as well, as I had the opportunity to visit events at both Oxford and Cambridge (and was lucky to meet with Buffdaddy and Pathfinder, who both are great people!
).
I liked both schools - though difference in energetics was definitely perceivable. I would advise the applicants to visit both places, if possible, and spend several days exploring the cities - the experience is definitely worth it. It is hard to say which school they will like better, but I think that those with more rational mind and no-nonsense approach to life would find Said more to their liking, while the people who are not strange to somewhat crazy-artistic and chaotic would prefer Judge.
But, to my opinion, it would be wrong to say that one of the programmes is objectively 'better' than the other. The curriculum at Oxford is definitely more focused on finance and social entrepreneurship - but I'd say that this is an advantage mainly to those who are interested in these areas.
The quality of the applicants is comparable. As for the students - it is hard to say. At Cambridge, they didn't have the panel discussion with students, similar to the one at Oxford, but instructed students to engage into communication with the applicants - and the time allocated for these freeform discussions was considerably greater than in Oxford. I think that this is a better practice, as it allows to talk with a greater number of students. All those with whom I talked were very nice - and again, the quality of the students seemed comparable. But I think that they specially select the participants for this type of events, so I would not have judged the quality of the entire student body at both programmes basing on my impressions from the events.
The estimated selectivity percentage at Oxford - 60% selected for the interview and 60% receiving offers after - seems to me too high for this year situation. I guess smth in lines of 50%-55% would be more realistic. As for Cambridge, they are definitely more selective - the adcom presentation gave the figure of 16%, which make this programme comparable to some of the most selective American schools. I don't know what will be the case this year, as I heard the rumours from some students that they plan to increase the number of places from 150 to 180.
Regarding the (in)famous 'fit-factor' - I somehow had the impression that Cambridge is after something 'exotic' in the profiles (and it seems very similar in that regard to Stanford). How they reach the final decision though, evaluating this 'exoticism' in the context of suitability for the programme, is really beyond my understanding. I would say that in the end, it all comes to standartized evaluation of the candidates on a list of several separate factors; but who knows.
And in any case, it seems hardly probable in current job market situation that either programme will make some careless admission decisions that would have spoiled their ‘employed 3 months after graduation’ – statistics, which, as Buffdaddy noted, will be very disappointing this year. Unfortunately, it means rather sad prospects for ‘risky’ candidates like me…
So, I think that's it. I would like to thank Buffdaddy and Pathfinder once again for their kind words of support: they were definitely what I needed that day!
Oh, and if any of the gmatclubbers have some more questions about my experience in Oxford and Cambridge, I will be glad to answer.
I would like to share some of my impressions as well, as I had the opportunity to visit events at both Oxford and Cambridge (and was lucky to meet with Buffdaddy and Pathfinder, who both are great people!
). I liked both schools - though difference in energetics was definitely perceivable. I would advise the applicants to visit both places, if possible, and spend several days exploring the cities - the experience is definitely worth it. It is hard to say which school they will like better, but I think that those with more rational mind and no-nonsense approach to life would find Said more to their liking, while the people who are not strange to somewhat crazy-artistic and chaotic would prefer Judge.
But, to my opinion, it would be wrong to say that one of the programmes is objectively 'better' than the other. The curriculum at Oxford is definitely more focused on finance and social entrepreneurship - but I'd say that this is an advantage mainly to those who are interested in these areas.
The quality of the applicants is comparable. As for the students - it is hard to say. At Cambridge, they didn't have the panel discussion with students, similar to the one at Oxford, but instructed students to engage into communication with the applicants - and the time allocated for these freeform discussions was considerably greater than in Oxford. I think that this is a better practice, as it allows to talk with a greater number of students. All those with whom I talked were very nice - and again, the quality of the students seemed comparable. But I think that they specially select the participants for this type of events, so I would not have judged the quality of the entire student body at both programmes basing on my impressions from the events.
The estimated selectivity percentage at Oxford - 60% selected for the interview and 60% receiving offers after - seems to me too high for this year situation. I guess smth in lines of 50%-55% would be more realistic. As for Cambridge, they are definitely more selective - the adcom presentation gave the figure of 16%, which make this programme comparable to some of the most selective American schools. I don't know what will be the case this year, as I heard the rumours from some students that they plan to increase the number of places from 150 to 180.
Regarding the (in)famous 'fit-factor' - I somehow had the impression that Cambridge is after something 'exotic' in the profiles (and it seems very similar in that regard to Stanford). How they reach the final decision though, evaluating this 'exoticism' in the context of suitability for the programme, is really beyond my understanding. I would say that in the end, it all comes to standartized evaluation of the candidates on a list of several separate factors; but who knows.
And in any case, it seems hardly probable in current job market situation that either programme will make some careless admission decisions that would have spoiled their ‘employed 3 months after graduation’ – statistics, which, as Buffdaddy noted, will be very disappointing this year. Unfortunately, it means rather sad prospects for ‘risky’ candidates like me…
So, I think that's it.
I would like to thank Buffdaddy and Pathfinder once again for their kind words of support: they were definitely what I needed that day! Oh, and if any of the gmatclubbers have some more questions about my experience in Oxford and Cambridge, I will be glad to answer.
08 Dec 2008, 17:36
Kudos
Bookmarks
Great post Green oak. Kudos.
My interview is scheduled with Mr. Stephen Todd. will it be possible for you to share any info on him. Said website lists him as a Sector Consultant in High-Tech and Tech Consulting. Considering that i am interested in Social entrepreneurship, I couldnt understand the relationship. Any Gmatter who has any info on him pls share.
My interview is scheduled with Mr. Stephen Todd. will it be possible for you to share any info on him. Said website lists him as a Sector Consultant in High-Tech and Tech Consulting. Considering that i am interested in Social entrepreneurship, I couldnt understand the relationship. Any Gmatter who has any info on him pls share.
08 Dec 2008, 19:19
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thanks for the report, greenoak!
Interesting take on the environments/cultures at each school. I would say I'm pretty practical and rational myself, but I'm usually attracted to artistic and eccentric girls, so maybe I should visit Cambridge pretty often as well.
Interesting take on the environments/cultures at each school. I would say I'm pretty practical and rational myself, but I'm usually attracted to artistic and eccentric girls, so maybe I should visit Cambridge pretty often as well.
But, since you touched this matter – well, I’d say that the Open Day at Said had a somewhat lower proportion of girls:guys than the figure reported in their class profile. At Cambridge, they had not the open day, but the interview event, so the ratio f:m was closer to the one on the programme. But if you’re really after the artistic type, I would advise you to turn your attention to the students of another subjects within the university. You know that both Ox and Cam have the college systems, so, as a member of the college, you will have the opportunity to communicate with people with very different backgrounds, majoring in the variety of subjects. Creative, artistic, older, younger – you name it 
on Christmas Eve , and then they are probably on holidays until beginning of January 
. That's too late to give an answer for R1.5, especially that interviews 
will be held on Jan 19th.
