trinity [week 6]: oxford & cambridge club

A few MBA friends have recently asked me how my trip to the Oxford and Cambridge Club (founded in 1821) in London earlier this week went. They were curious to learn what the club had to offer, how much it cost, why join if you weren't working in London, and in general what my motivation was to join. What better way to answer those questions, then by blogging about it?

I first heard about the Club from an Oxford EMBA alumnus (and now a friend), whom I originally met at an Oxford "Open House" event in New York back in February 2008. One day he invited me to the Harvard Club to go over my MBA application. I was surprised to learn that as a member of the Oxford and Cambridge Club, he was also entitled to visit the Harvard Club (founded in 1887). Then, before coming to Oxford, I read an MBA blog that mentioned an annual Club presentation in Oxford. At this point I was fairly convinced that I would join once the invitation came. But I almost missed the opportunity.

There was a 6-day lag between the time my college received the email from the Oxford and Cambridge Club, and the time it was forwarded on to the Exeter students (important to note that the invite comes from your college and not the business school). Even though I tried to RSVP the same day, the reception at Rhodes House on May 21st was already over-subscribed. Thankfully, the Club also hosted an event in London on June 2nd, which I attended. You must attend at least one of these events to find current Club members who will sign your application as your "proposer" and "seconder".

The Oxford and Cambridge Club has well over 100 reciprocal agreements with Clubs from over 35 countries (visit their "reciprocal clubs" page). When I return to New York this summer, I plan to visit not only the Harvard Club, but also the Yale (includes University of Virginia, Dartmouth), Princeton (includes Columbia, NYU, and Williams), Penn (includes University of Chicago), and Cornell (includes Brown, Stanford) Clubs. As a precautionary measure, I emailed each and every one of these Clubs mentioned, and they confirmed the reciprocal arrangement. In general, they will allow up to 30 visits each year. I don't believe this will be an issue, though, because with five clubs in New York, I certainly won't be visiting any one club more often than twice a month.

To join the Oxford and Cambridge Club you must pay an annual fee, which is based on your age and geographical proximity to the Club. The cheapest rates tend to be for overseas. For example, I would have to pay £460 every year. Now this is definitely more expensive than the £198 "Life Membership" fee to join the Oxford Union, but I think that if you can afford it, then it's definitely worth it. One way to look at is as an investment. All of the most exclusive "gentlemen's clubs" are located next to the Oxford and Cambridge Club on Pall Mall - within earshot of Westminster and Trafalgar Square - yet unlike the other clubs, no amount of money will buy you entry into Oxbridge, which let's face it, makes it even more exclusive than the others.

So, what can you do as a member? I think that the main benefits of joining the Oxford and Cambridge Club are the chance to dine there (breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served 7 days a week), the squash courts, the library and reading rooms where you can recline in an old burgundy red leather armchair with a nice glass of scotch, and the overnight accommodations, which can cost as little as £100 per/night for a single bedroom. To compare, I've paid that much to stay at a budge Premier Inn in the London hinterland (Tube Zone 4).

It's still hard for me to understand why only 10 out of 238 MBAs (4%) decided to attend either of the two receptions. To use my old stockbroker lingo, I would say that MBAs tend to "underweight" the networking potential of joining an elite gentlemen's club, and "overweight" the price tag. I think, however, that just like Long Term Capital Management in 1998, that they might be on the wrong side of the trade. Of course, it's also necessary to address the persistent image of a stuffy old club of pretentious Oxbridge grads. To dispel this rumour, it's interesting to note that nearly 20% of the Clubs 4,000 members are under 40 y/o, and an increasing number of women are also joining. I think that the Club is undergoing a positive transition to more accurately reflect the greater diversity found in Oxbridge today. Hopefully when you come to Oxford you'll choose to be part of that change, too.