A lot of readers want to know what it's like being an Oxford MBA. What is it
really like to condense two-years of coursework into just one-year? The trick, of course, is to not
only complete your work and pass the course, but also to make the most of your short time here by making new friends, breathing in all Oxford has to offers, and taking the occasional trip to London (and elsewhere).
It's a fine balancing act. What this invariably leads to for all MBAs, at one time or another anyway, is the ritualistic mad dash to hand in their assignment at the Examination Halls by 11:59AM and 59 seconds. Only in Pamplona, Spain with the "running of the bulls" will you witness a comparable event, and that only takes place in July! Any assignments handed in after noon will be summarily marked down 10% - and don't even bother being a half-hour late, because that will net you a zero.
No flexibility whatsoever. This is not a Saïd Business School rule, but rather University regulations whereby any challenges must ultimately be heard and approved by the Proctors who have no sympathy for you whatsoever. This whole process has led me to the following questions: Do we MBAs have, in fact, too much work, why is this so, and is this the best of all possible worlds?
First, some perspective: You arrive fresh to Oxford in late September, settle in, and start classes a few weeks later, often for the first time in many years. The workload is intense, but over time you learn how to leverage your work groups. The term flies by and next thing you know you have to sit for six exams over four-days wearing sub-fusc. Finally, you return home to celebrate the Christmas holiday, fully aware that you must relish this brief respite, because you know that they don't call the upcoming Hilary term - "Hell-ary" - for nothing.
Hilary term is just as bad as everyone says it is. Although you only have five classes, you now have to spend more time sorting out the different personalities in a myriad of new work groups that you've formed, and on top of that you have this Entrepreneurial presentation and report that you'll work on throughout the Easter break. But it's all worth it, because you may have heard rumours that the weather during Trinity term is beautiful, and since you get to choose all electives, this will finally be the term where you can relax and enjoy yourself. Wrong! Trinity term is back-loaded, so this may seem true initially, but in actuality you'll have about twenty assignments due (1,500-3,000 words each) compared to only eleven in Hilary term. So, what does a typical week actually look like for an Oxford MBA?...well let's take a look:
Sunday, May 23rdPrepare for Real Estate and Corporate Valuation class tomorrow
Host friends at Exeter College for dinner and a tour
Monday, May 24th:Class all day from 8:45am until 4:45pm
Pull all-nighter working on Real Estate assignment
Tuesday, May 25thClass from 8:45am until 12:15pm
Finish Real Estate, and pull all-nighter working on Corporate Valuation assignment
Wednesday, May 26th:Class all day from 8:45am until 4:45pm
During lunch attend a student government meeting (SAB) on the 2010 MBA class pledge
Help an MSc student with his research by volunteering to participate
*Real Estate assignment due by 8:30am
*Corporate Valuation assignment due by 12:00pm
Thursday, May 27th:Class from 8:45am until 12:15pm
Pull all-nighter finishing two assignments due tomorrow
Friday, May 28th:Meet with sector consultant Steven Todd to review my SCP strategy for the summer
*Managing the Project Portfolio assignment due by 5pm
*Marketing Innovation assignment due by 5pm
Saturday, May 29th:Mid-term "Garden Tea Party" at the Perch Inn in Binary
Dinner and tour of Mansfield College courtesy of CK
Sunday, May 30th:Dinner and tour of St. John's College courtesy of Nick
Pull all-nighter working on Entrepreneurial Finance
*Entrepreneurial Finance assignment due by 12:00pm tomorrow
With the help of my iPhone, I think that I do a fairly good job of organizing my life, and squeezing every last drop of productivity out of it. Nonetheless, this up-tempo life-style has both a good and bad side. First, learning how to operate for prolonged periods of time in a heightened nervous state with an endless onslaught of tight deadlines is good training for the business world. We can honestly take anything that our future employer may throw at us.
The downside to this, besides possible burnout and fatigue, is that it leaves little time to prepare for class, and read the case studies. This results uniformly in poor attendance. Part of the reason is that attendance and class participation aren't graded in Oxford, and I'm not sure that they could be even if the Saïd Business School wanted them to be.
In contrast, when I attended class at HBS during the finance Trek to New York and Boston, 50% of their grade was based on class participation, and every seat was filled, and everyone had (apparently) done the reading beforehand. But I'll bet you that they didn't have twenty other assignments due that term that existed outside the class' normal reading list. It will be up to the next administration to choose which assessment regime they want within the constraints set by the University. As for me, I'm well on way to finishing this race.
Every academic term at Oxford culminates with final exams during Week 10. During Michaelmas we sat for 6 exams over the course of just four days. Hilary lightened up, only in the sense that some courses required final papers rather than exams. But Trinity, as heavy as the work load was, consisted of very few final exams, depending on which electives you chose. Having only one final exam to take, Financial Risk Management, I was free to write my papers during Weeks 9 & 10, and also enjoy the rare bright sunshine in England!
One of the best ways to enjoy British life is to go to Wimbledon, which this year lasted from June 21st to July 4th. Tickets can potentially get very expensive. I remember reading advertisements in the Financial Times newspaper back in May that offered Centre Court tickets for the whole tournament for several thousand pounds. Individual tickets seemed to cost at least £300. The goods news is that Wimbledon sets aside over 1,000 tickets for each day of the tournament. All you need to do is to wait in line. Queueing for Wimbledon tickets for the same day has become a sort of sport in its own right. People camp over the night before, and cook BBQ, so that they can be the first in line to get Centre Court, or Court 1 tickets (second best). 
To give you an example, I went on Wednesday for the quarter-finals men's matches. The top four men were all playing: Federer, Nadal, Djokavic, and Murray. We took the earliest possible Oxford Tube bus to London (Victoria Station), which left Gloucester Green at 4:10am. We arrived in London at about 5:30am, which was the exact time that the London Tube starts running. We took the green District Line toward Earl's Court, and got off at the Southfields stop, whose platform was made to look just like a tennis court! From there you can walk about a half-mile to the field where you queue, or just take a taxi for about £11. 
We were on line at 6am, despite that the grounds don't open until 10:30am, and the first match wasn't played until 12pm. Nonetheless, we were #1,500 in the queue. You're only allowed to buy one ticket per person. We just barely managed to get tickets to Court 2, which means that all we got to watch were doubles matches. But the tickets were only £32, and we were just happy to be there. Plus, if you're a HSBC customer, you get free strawberries & cream! If you were interested in waiting in line to get Centre Court or Court 1 tickets, then my advice would be either to go earlier in the tournament when more matches are being played, or stay in a hotel in London the night before, and then take a 2am taxi to Wimbledon.
