pre-mba: freshers' pack (and bank account)

With less than a month to go before classes start, I was getting nervous that I hadn't heard much of anything from either the B-school or Exeter College. My nerves were partially relieved when I received a "Freshers' Pack" from Exeter College. This package, which is sent to all new incoming students (by their respective College), took about ten days to travel from Oxford to New York. It listed an itinerary of mandatory, as well as optional events, that I would attend once I arrive in Oxford. Unfortunately, the first optional event designed to introduce students to their new college, called the "Postgraduate Induction Session," is being held on September 30th, which conflicts with my mandatory B-school orientation. Nevertheless Exeter made up for this by offering to meet their incoming Freshers at the Gloucester Green Bus Station (if requested), which I thought was very nice of them. Exeter is also hosting their "Graduate Freshers' Dinner" on October 6th where the dress code is "Formal & Gown" as new students dine at the High Table by candlelight! Lucky for me the packet also contained an advertisement from "Ede & Ravenscroft" on where to buy such Oxford garb and at what price.


The Freshers' Pack also contained two copies of my housing contract ("Graduate Tenancy Agreement"), which is VERY important when you want to prove your UK address to the immigration officer when you first fly into Heathrow. By and large, the university does not send you an inordinate amount of paperwork, so it's natural to sometimes feel a little worried when you haven't heard from them in a while - especially because they're overseas, making visiting them or calling them difficult. As I poured over the Exeter materials I also read through the red-colored "Handbook for Students" that provides you with useful things, such as a staff directory, and when meals are served in Hall. I was also terribly relieved to find a "Letter of Introduction to UK Banking Facilities," signed by Exeter's Academic Secretary. The one thing I read over and over again in other peoples' blogs is that you want to have your bank account, and cell phone account, set-up as soon as possible. Otherwise you'll fall behind in class while trying to go through this frustrating process. *Important note* One needs a bank account BEFORE they can get a cell phone.

The four main UK banks in Oxford include Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, and Natwest. An excellent chart comparing the banks is available here. I favor Barclays and HSBC, because I think they are more international, having several locations in New York. That being said, you can only open the account in person in Oxford. I believe that HSBC, however, allows you to start the account opening process online, but you must still visit a branch in person to finalize the account.

As an international student you will also find yourself limited to the type of account that you can open. For example, when attempting to sign-up for a Barclays Student Account I was told that I only qualified for their iBank Student Account, because I was a "non-permanent UK resident" defined as "a person who has lived in the UK at least three years before starting higher education studies." Essentially this means we're stuck paying higher fees. The HSBS Passport Student Account charges £84 per year with a one year firm commitment. The Barclays iBank Student Account charges £60 per year. You can print a short application from the Barclay website and pre-fill it out before returning it to the Oxford bank branch located on Cornmarket Street. I'm sure that there exists other banks in Oxford that charge no fees, however, the bank may not be as large or international as the ones I have mentioned.

Other than that, my Freshers' Pack contained some forms that I need to return upon arriving in Oxford. For example, I need to return my Graduate Tenancy Agreement, Graduate Freshers' Dinner reservation, Exeter College Student Contract, Exeter College Graduate Freshers' Information Sheet, and some doctors forms. Most of the paperwork only needs to be signed and reviewed so I'm not sweating it too much. For those of you looking for even more information, I would HIGHLY recommend reading through the Student Handbook published by the Oxford International Students' Handbook.