hilary [week 7]: Q&A student panel

Now the tables were turned. Slightly over one year had passed since that blistering cold February night when I set course across the Atlantic with Lisa for my Oxford MBA interview. I strategically scheduled my interview during an “Open Day” to maximize my visit. Now flash forward to Friday where I found myself seated opposite 60 eager applicants as part of an MBA student panel.

Owing to its relatively small size of 250 MBAs, the Saïd Business School interviews every short-listed MBA candidate before accepting them. Granted - some applicants opt for the telephone interview, but I was SO determined to get admitted into my top b-school choice, that I left nothing up to chance - and flew to Oxford to meet my maker face-to-face. Following my interview, I waited four painstaking weeks before learning their final verdict.

Similarly, many of the applicants who had come today were approaching the end of their journey, hoping for the same release. As I walked into the Rhodes Trust Lecture Theatre to sit next to some of my MBA classmates, I felt all eyes descend upon us, eager to glean whatever nuggets of wisdom they could find. First question…

How did you go about picking an Oxford College?

The University of Oxford is comprised of 38 colleges and 6 halls, of which 35 colleges currently accept MBA students. This is quite an impressive statistic – higher than Judge at Cambridge– indicating general acceptance of the newly minted MBA program within the larger University. The three colleges that don’t accept MBAs include Nuffield (alumnus Mohamed El-Erian), Somerville (alumnus Margaret Thatcher), and University (alumnus Bill Clinton). Every college boasts its own history, replete with rich tradition and fabled alumni. Colleges typically provide housing, food, religious service, and a Middle Common Room (graduate community) to MBA students apart from the b-school. You really can’t go wrong with any of your choices.

About one-third of the class becomes members of the de facto business college, GreenTempleton. Colloquially known as GTC, GreenTempleton offers housing right across from the b-school at Rewley Court, making it a popular choice for MBA with spouses, and families. Another 40 MBAs journey to St. Hugh’s where it is rumored to share a border with Scotland due to its geographic distance. Although I must confess it’s difficult to take issue with a college that has its own private-label wine.

For those yearning to become a member of a top sporting college, then you might do well to choose Brasenose. With its entrance idyllically situated opposite the Radcliffe Camera, Brasenose also has new housing near the b-school. In addition, "boaties" proudly display their “black and gold” as they can claim the oldest boathouse in the world (founded 1815).

Referred to as “the House,” few would pass on a chance to join Christ Church where they filmed the Harry Potter dining room scenes. This year we regularly played poker in the same MCR where Albert Einstein spent his time in 1931. But get ready to work. Their novice rowers practice perhaps more than any other college – often 8 times a week! After all, the novice rowing competition held during Michaelmas term is called the Christ Church Regatta.

As you walk down the centuries old Turl Street you’ll discover three very ancient colleges: Exeter (1314), Lincoln (1427), and Jesus (1571). Exeter’s view overlooking the Radcliffe Square has been consistently voted as the “best view in Oxford.” Exeter offers sumptuous en-suite housing, but you have to trek to Cowley to get there. In contrast, Lincoln offers centrally located quarters on Bear Lane (City-Centre). They’re so small and cramped, however, that you would have to travel to Greece to find something more Spartan. Finally, few colleges can out fillet Jesus and its MBA disciples when it comes to best food.

Whiles it’s impossible to profile every college, I certainly recommend taking a walk down Oriel Square toward the old cobble-stone Merton Street where you will pass Oriel before reaching Corpus Christi and finally Merton. All very beautiful colleges, you can often tell how old they are based on whether they kept to the traditional stone slab quads, which Corpus and Merton have, or whether they transitioned to the ubiquitous green lawn made fashionable in the 1850s. Oriel prides itself on having a strong rowing tradition, and this year they took a surprising number of MBAs (circa 15). Whereas Corpus is cozy, Merton is monolithic.

Arguably the oldest college in Oxford, Merton (1264) basks in resplendent glory of having developed the first archetypal “quad,” which was later adopted by the other Oxbridge colleges. Following one of the stranger Oxford traditions, Mertonians observe the “Time Ceremony” every October where they hold hands and walk backwards around the Fellows’ Quad while drinking port in order to maintain the space-time continuum. You might think that after all this revelry it would be difficult to walk straight, let alone think straight. Nonetheless, Merton regularly outperforms its peers academically by finishing toward the top of the Norrington Table every year.

If you believe in the Golden Rule: that he who has the gold makes the rules, then you might want to consider St. John’s, which is the richest of all the Oxford Colleges. This is also where former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair went to school. They are rumored to have the largest wine cellar in all of Oxford. With a rather large endowment in its own right, New College has trained several Hollywood actors including Hugh Grant and Kate Beckinsale. The New College Cloisters, along with its giant oak tree, were featured in the movie, Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire.

Meanwhile the more judicious among us should deliberate the merits of Magdalen College, which has educated two US Supreme Court Justices. Famous for having its own deer park, Magdalen was rumored at one point in its long history to keep the number of deer equal to the number of teaching fellows. This undoubtedly placed enormous pressure on faculty not to defect, lest they be served a never-ending staple of venison. But the biggest kept secret is that Magdalen offers free housing to the one MBA it accepts.

Although the answer I provided during the actual Q&A wasn't so in-depth, I do believe that I communicated the same basic point. There is not one perfect Oxford College. They all possess a unique charm. The larger point to be made is that this collegiate system is what separates the Oxford MBA from other b-schools. And if you find this enchanting, then choose Oxford!

*During the Q&A I was asked many other questions related to jobs, families, work/life balance, etc. Please write a comment below specifying which topic you would like me to address next*