Full transcript
0:07- Hello and welcome everyone.
0:11We'll just give a moment for everyone to connect
0:15to the session, to the webinar.
0:23Right, hello again, welcome to this masterclass
0:29on applying to the Oxford Master's
0:35in Applied Financial Economics.
0:37We're going to try and take you through a bit of,
0:42some of the tips on how you can apply to this programme
0:45and what we're looking for.
0:47And just so you're aware,
0:49I'm joined today by at Akhbar Hussein.
0:53He is a senior admissions advisor like me,
0:57and Joe Nicholson, our head of recruitment
1:00is also on the call, so.
1:06Just move to the next slide here.
1:12Right, so just a bit of housekeeping to start off.
1:17This is being recorded
1:19and this will be shared with you within a few days
1:23of us finishing.
1:26So yeah, just be patient.
1:28If you've registered,
1:29we will automatically send you that recording.
1:32It's not instant, but after a few days,
1:35once we've had time to look through the sort of subtitles
1:40or the closed captioning, we can share that,
1:44and we will open a Q&A at the end of the session.
1:50But for the first part, we're just going to present
1:54and then Q&A is saved for the end.
1:57So please, if you have any questions as we're going along,
1:59just make note of them
2:01and then we'll address those at the end of the presentation.
2:06If you have a question that is quite specific to you,
2:11you can address them to the mafe.admissions inbox.
2:17And if that question is kind of related to whether you think
2:20that you're actually a good fit for the MAFE,
2:24if you're a bit unsure,
2:25we're also going to share Joe's email
2:28at the end of the presentation
2:30and he's the one who can kind of have
2:31a more detailed conversation with you about,
2:34you know, whether your profile is a good fit
2:37for the programme, whereas the admissions inbox is great
2:40if you have a, if you have a question
2:42about our application requirements or the technical aspects
2:46of the application form.
2:48So again, we'll reiterate that
2:51when the emails come up at the end.
2:53But again, specific personal questions you might want to,
2:57want to save for the inbox
2:59as opposed to this presentation.
3:01And then if there's, if there's an issue
3:04where you are not able to hear me or something,
3:07then please just use the chat box to make us aware,
3:11but hopefully nothing like that will happen.
3:14Right,
3:19so here's a little overview
3:22of what we're going to be covering today.
3:25So I'll give you a kind of general overview
3:29of what we're looking for in a candidate
3:32and our application deadlines.
3:34And then Akhbar will will take us through in more detail
3:38some of the academic requirements,
3:41what we're looking for in your employment history,
3:44GMAT/GRE scores, English requirements,
3:48the essay, the Kira Talent video interviews,
3:53your letters of recommendation,
3:55and then I'll sort of summarise what we're looking for
3:59in your application checklist
4:01and what you need to be careful with there.
4:04And then we'll finish with potentially
4:07a half an hour of Q&A.
4:15Oh, and I see something, oh, in the chat,
4:20but that's all right.
4:22I think that's been sorted.
4:23So the MAFE is a two-year, part-time course,
4:29which is a hybrid course.
4:31So it's mostly online
4:33and can mostly be done in your own time at your own pace
4:38to some extent
4:39with four in-person residential periods,
4:44the first of which is a bit longer
4:46than the rest of the residential periods.
4:48So it gives you kind of the best of both worlds
4:52in the sense that you can continue working
4:57while you do this degree.
5:00You can do it from where you live yet you get to have
5:04that in-person Oxford experience, the college experience,
5:09and you get to meet up with your cohort in person.
5:13So it really does offer the best
5:16of both worlds in that sense.
5:19This programme is designed
5:20to build on your existing experience in finance
5:26or consulting if that's, if that's your industry.
5:29So we're generally looking for mid-experience professionals,
5:34so those with up to seven years of experience
5:38in finance/consulting or a related sector.
5:42That number is, it's somewhat flexible
5:47if you are right on the cusp
5:48of that sort of seven year limit,
5:50this would be the kind of case
5:52where you'd want to get in touch with Joe,
5:54the head of, head of recruitment
5:57and he can discuss your candidacy in a bit more detail.
6:00But this is sort of generally what we're looking for
6:04in terms of experience.
6:10This programme is, has an applied focus.
6:13So this is designed to fit in well with your current work
6:19and should be very, you know, it should be closely related
6:23to the work that you're doing,
6:26and again, have quite an applied focus to it,
6:28less theoretical than some programmes.
6:38Just to show you some of the deadlines
6:41that we've got for this year,
6:44so we've already passed the first two stages
6:47of admissions, but Stage 3,
6:50the Stage 3 deadline is the 22nd of May
6:53and then you would need to have your recommendations
6:56and your Kira completed by the 29th of May
6:59and all of those deadlines fall
7:02at just before midnight at UK time.
7:07These deadlines haven't been determined yet
7:11exactly for next year,
7:13but they're likely going to be a bit earlier in the year.
7:16So keep an eye on that, we will,
7:19we will post that when we,
7:21when we know the exact deadlines,
7:23but they are likely to be a bit different next to year.
7:30Right, and just to talk a bit about
7:32what we are generally looking for
7:34and then I'll hand over to Akhbar
7:36and he can talk a bit more about the specifics
7:39of what we're looking for in your application.
7:41But first
7:42and foremost we're looking for applicants
7:46with strong intellect.
7:48So you're going to show us this through your,
7:52your academic history,
7:53so how you've performed at undergraduate level,
7:56perhaps you've done another master's
7:59and you've got strong results at that level,
8:05we're looking for signs of independent thought,
8:08so signs that you are able to think for yourself
8:12and come up with new ideas.
8:16We're also looking for a strong career plan
8:18and how you aim to use the MAFE
8:24to progress your career.
8:25So the essay is very much focused on this
8:28and how you intend to progress your career.
8:35That's what we want you to talk about,
8:36sort of the next five years.
8:38And we also want to see that your current work experience
8:43leads to what you want to do next.
8:45So there needs to be a sort of connection there
8:48with the MAFE sitting at the centre of how you plan
8:51to connect your current work experience
8:53with what you want to do in future.
8:56And finally, we're looking for excellent soft skills,
9:01communication, collaboration, leadership, stamina.
9:05This may be displayed somewhat through your essay,
9:08but in large part you're going to show this to us
9:11in your Kira video interviews,
9:14telling us about the experiences you've had
9:17and yeah, proving to us that you are a great communicator,
9:24that you know how to lead,
9:25that you've been through these sorts of experiences before
9:28and you know how to deal with these sorts of issues.
9:34Right, I'm going to hand over to Akhbar now
9:38and he's going to go through the academic requirements next.
9:44- Thanks very much, Daniel.
9:45Good afternoon everyone.
9:46I hope you're all doing well and welcome to the webinar.
9:49So yes, I'm just going to talk
9:51through the academic requirements
9:53and the specific requirements for the MAFE Programme.
9:58So firstly, you would require an undergraduate degree
10:01with the equivalent of a first class
10:03or strong upper second class honours in the,
10:06with an equivalent in the UK system.
10:09So for example, if you have a GPA of 3.5,
10:12outta four on the four point scale in the US system,
10:15that would be an equivalent to a first class
10:18or strong upper second class depending on how you've scored.
10:23So you can check the university's guidance
10:25on the University of Oxford website
10:27for the specific international qualifications.
10:32In addition to that,
10:33you can also email us as in the admissions team
10:36to confirm the requirements if the,
10:38if a specific country is not listed.
10:40So you're more than welcome to email us
10:43and we'll be happy to look into that for you
10:45to give you an equivalency just to ensure
10:48that you do meet the academic requirements
10:51in terms of the undergraduate degree,
10:54we say that no particular subject or discipline is required.
10:57However, the degree is highly quantitative
10:59so there's no requirement to have studied economics
11:01or finance.
11:03So do bear that in mind.
11:05Please also note that higher national diplomas
11:07are not accepted when assessing the MAFE,
11:11an application for the MAFE Programme.
11:13And please also make sure
11:14to complete the qualification section
11:16of the application form
11:18and you can select, it gives you a dropdown list
11:21and you can select the nearest subject on the dropdown menu.
11:25In addition to that, what we do require
11:27is a copy of your final transcript, so a copy,
11:31or a copy of your latest transcript
11:33if you're still performing your degree
11:35and if you have not yet completed it.
11:37So an interim transcript would be required
11:40if you are in the final year of your degree,
11:43we would need to see the individual module results thus far.
11:48And confirmation of enrollment,
11:49let's say if a master's degree has only just begun.
11:52So some of you may have just started a postgraduate degree,
11:55a master's degree,
11:56so we would just require an an enrollment letter
11:59as part of the application
12:02and you can also upload under relevant qualification
12:05via the status page on the portal on the application portal.
12:10Moving on to the next slide.
12:13So in terms of work experience, so for the MAFE Programme,
12:18it's four candidates for,
12:20who have up to seven years work experience
12:22in finance consulting or related industry.
12:26Ideally candidates will have at least two years'
12:29full-time work experience in finance or consulting.
12:32However, this is not a strict requirement.
12:35If you do have slightly more
12:38than seven years' work experience,
12:40then by all means do you get in touch with us,
12:42you can get in touch with Joe to head of recruitment,
12:46discuss your candidacy,
12:48and it's the same for candidates who may be just on the cusp
12:51of having two years' full-time work experience.
12:55Again, ourselves and Joe can have a look at the,
12:57your suitability for the MAFE Programme
13:00if you fall within that category
13:03in terms of employment history,
13:05so you would need to provide a CV so you would need
13:07to add the most recent role first.
13:10And within that,
13:11you can include all relevant internships in your CV
13:15and in the employment history section.
13:18The next part is define your current role.
13:20So only complete if,
13:21complete this if you are currently in full-time employment.
13:24Otherwise you can leave that blank.
13:26And as mentioned earlier, if you could upload a CV,
13:29it would need to be ideally one page,
13:31but up to two pages is accepted.
13:33And again, if you could just highlight your most recent role
13:36and any previous internships that you may have undertaken.
13:40There is a template on the portal
13:42so should you need any help with that,
13:43you can download that which is available.
13:48Moving on to one of the other requirements,
13:50which is the GMAT or GRE scores.
13:52So at the top of the slide there you can see
13:55the recent average scores admitted for MAFE students.
13:59So the GMAT 10th edition, we,
14:03that's no longer available.
14:04However we are, we still accept some of those scores
14:08within this transition period.
14:11But there you can see some average scores,
14:13so the GMAT focus and overall score of 711,
14:16the GRE quantitative score is 168
14:19with the GRE verbal at 166.
14:22So that just gives you a kind of flavour
14:24of what the average scores are.
14:26And yeah, we do advise you to aim as high as possible.
14:30So as the programme is highly quantitative,
14:33so that is a requirement.
14:36Again, there's no preference between the GMAT or GRE.
14:40We accept both, like I said,
14:42the 10th edition still accepted
14:45during this transition period.
14:47You would've need to have taken your GMAT
14:49or GRE test within the last five years.
14:52So scores are, scores which are valid
14:54from September, 2021 or later, we would consider those.
15:00Like I said, there's no minimum scores,
15:02but we do advise you to score as highly as you can.
15:04But remember the programme is highly quantitative
15:07and analytical.
15:08So that's our kind of party line
15:10when it comes to advising you on the GMAT
15:13and GRE requirements.
15:17The official scores must be sent to the admissions team
15:19and there's two ways you can do this.
15:20So you can provide the official PDF score report.
15:24So we require the screenshot with your details
15:27and scores on that.
15:28And you can also share the official scores via mba.com
15:33if you've taken the GMAT test,
15:35or the ETS portal if you have taken the GRE test,
15:39and just a personally, as soon as you get those,
15:41if you could share those scores with us,
15:44that would be great because until we have those scores,
15:47your application would be at a halt.
15:48So yeah, it just gives us the opportunity
15:51to progress quickly with the application process
15:54once you share those scores.
15:57And finally on this slide,
15:58you must do both of these by the application deadline.
16:02So you must submit either the GMAT
16:03or GRE scores by the application deadline
16:07which Daniel mentioned earlier.
16:10Moving on to the next slide.
16:12So now just going to talk a little bit
16:15about English proficiency.
16:17So there is an English requirement for the MAFE Programme.
16:21You could be entitled to a waiver or an exemption.
16:24So for example,
16:25if you're a national of one of the following countries,
16:27which you can see on the slide list highlighted in yellow,
16:31if you are a national of one of those countries,
16:33you could be entitled to an English waiver,
16:35which would mean you wouldn't need to take for example,
16:37an IELTS test or a TOEFL test,
16:40but your first language must be in English
16:43and you must have been living in one of the,
16:45one of those countries above most of your life.
16:49So if you are unsure,
16:51if you have any specific questions relating to that,
16:53by all means you can email us
16:54and we can also look into that for you,
16:57whether you would be entitled to an English waiver.
17:01There is also something called an academic waiver.
17:03So if you are,
17:04if you have completed your, a full-time degree,
17:07which is at least nine months long
17:09and completed no earlier than May, 2024 for 2026 entry,
17:14so within the last two years,
17:16you could be entitled to an academic waiver.
17:20However, all the courses, modules
17:22and exams must have been conducted in English.
17:24And again, sometimes this is highlighted
17:27on the transcript or an, or a letter.
17:29So you could provide that to us.
17:32You could upload the transcript
17:33and letter from the university
17:34confirming the language of instruction.
17:37And if you do meet those criteria, then yes,
17:40you would be entitled to an academic waiver.
17:41So therefore you would not need
17:43to undertake an English language test.
17:46There is also,
17:48finally on this slide there is also a professional waiver.
17:50So if you've worked at a technical advanced level
17:52for at least two years in one of the countries above,
17:55again you can provide some evidence of,
17:57if you can provide some evidence of that,
17:59you could be entitled to a professional waiver.
18:02So you must have used language components.
18:04So reading, writing, listening, speaking
18:07and work experience completed,
18:09that work experience must have been completed
18:11no earlier than 2024.
18:13So again, it must be within the last two years.
18:15And again, if you can provide some evidence of that,
18:18that would be great,
18:19and we can, yeah, give you an English waiver based on that.
18:25So just moving on to the requirements,
18:29if you are not eligible
18:30for either of those previous waivers which I mentioned,
18:33then you would need to meet
18:35the English language requirements
18:36and prove your English proficiency
18:38before joining the programme.
18:40So you would need to take a secure English language test
18:44and then submit scores with your application.
18:48If successful, you can take the test
18:49as condition of the offer.
18:51So we could add that as a condition
18:53if you've not yet taken an English language test.
18:56So tests must have been taken in September, 2024
19:00or later for 2026 entry
19:04and scores must have been achieved in one sitting.
19:06So you can't take multiple tests,
19:08you have to have had taken the test in one sitting alone.
19:13There are minimum scores overall and for all components.
19:17So reading, writing, listening, speaking,
19:20and just to, just to highlight the tests
19:23that we do accept are IELTS academic,
19:26so not the IELTS Online test, IELTS Academic,
19:29which is one of the most common forms of tests
19:31which candidates do take,
19:34then the TOEFL tests after 21st of January of this year
19:38are not accepted, however,
19:40tests that were taken before this date,
19:42we would still consider.
19:44There is also the Cambridge Advanced
19:46and the Cambridge Proficiency
19:48and also the Oxford Test of English Advanced, sorry,
19:52Oxford Test of English Advanced tests,
19:53which is also one of the secure English language tests
19:58you could take so there are,
20:00there are different options there
20:01for you to consider, but the most common one would be IELTS.
20:06In terms of, you would need to provide an admissions essay
20:09and it's based around what's attracted you
20:11to the MSC Applied Financial Economics
20:13and how do you think the programme will enhance your career
20:16over the next five years.
20:17So we do require an essay, maximum of 500 words,
20:21however, there is, you can slightly go over by 10%.
20:26We advise to avoid focusing on past experiences
20:29or achievements.
20:30So what you would be required to do
20:31is concentrate on present and, on the present and future.
20:35So where you are now
20:36and where do you want to be in five years time,
20:39we'd like you to demonstrate in your chosen programme essay,
20:44sorry, demonstrate research in your chosen programme
20:46inside business school.
20:48And also one of the other themes to cover
20:49would be how is the MAFE going to take you
20:51from your current role to the next step in your career.
20:53So it's all about forward thinking, what you're doing now
20:56and how, where you intend to be within the next five years.
21:01And then moving on to the next slide,
21:08so another part of the application process
21:10is the Kira Talent video interview assessment.
21:13So after you submit your application,
21:15usually within 24 hours you would be,
21:18you would receive a link
21:19which can be found on the status page, on the portal.
21:23And the Kira deadline
21:25is one week after the application deadline,
21:28so here is, what you'll need is you'll need a webcam
21:32and so where you, where your answers would be recorded,
21:36so you'll be provided with six questions,
21:38five shorter verbal responses,
21:40you have 30 seconds to practise
21:42and then 90 seconds to record your answer.
21:44And then at the end there is one longer verbal response
21:47where you have 30 seconds to practise
21:49and 2 minutes to record.
21:51So you do get some practise time within that period.
21:56And yeah, best advice would be to,
22:00to answer as honestly as you can.
22:02They're based on competency-based questions
22:05and what I would advise is to avoid reading from a script
22:08'cause we can tell when candidates read from a script
22:11so please do avoid that.
22:14Yeah, so one of the focuses is
22:18to make sure that your personality shines through,
22:21hesitations and brief pauses are fine,
22:23we completely understand
22:24and sometimes you may need a bit of time,
22:27do make notes during the practise run,
22:29but do not, like I said, do not write from a,
22:31do not write a script.
22:33Using AI to produce your answers
22:35will disadvantage your applications,
22:36so again, don't use that.
22:38That's another thing to avoid.
22:42Remember to give evidence, examples for each answers
22:44'cause we will be looking at that
22:46when it comes to scoring your Kira Talent answers
22:50and certain questions will ask you to demonstrate awareness
22:53of financial/economic trends.
22:56None of these questions are particularly technical,
22:58but that usually is one of the last questions
23:01where you are asked a question about financial
23:04and economic trends.
23:07Moving on to the next slide,
23:09and finally from me,
23:11yeah, so we do require letters of recommendations.
23:14So when you apply, recommendation link is sent by email
23:19when you click send to the recommender,
23:22do contact the admissions team
23:24if a referee cannot receive the recommendation link
23:27and then we can reach out to them
23:30in order for them to provide a recommendation letter.
23:34Referees must complete multiple choice survey
23:36in addition to providing a recommendation letter.
23:40So that's based on your competencies.
23:41And then you can upload the letter of recommendation.
23:47So the deadline for receiving recommendations
23:50is one week after the application deadline
23:53for your chosen round.
23:54So which we are currently moving into Stage 3.
23:59We've recommend at least one academic reference.
24:01Three, (clears throat) excuse me,
24:04three academic or three professional references is fine.
24:08If you're currently studying,
24:09one referee must be an academic at your home institution,
24:14excuse me, if you gimme a second,
24:20yeah, no personal email addresses, so no Gmail or Hotmail.
24:24It would have to come from an institution email address
24:27and no family or friends,
24:29and choose people who you know well,
24:31not necessarily the longest.
24:33So that's all from me.
24:35And yeah, like I said,
24:36happy to take any questions at the end.
24:39- Thank you, Akhbar.
24:41So yeah, we're nearly through to Q&A now,
24:47but just a final note, this is really important.
24:52When you've submitted your application,
24:54you will get through to this bit,
24:56this application checklist,
24:58and it's really important that your checklist
25:02has all green ticks by the deadline.
25:07So of course the Kira
25:10and the letters of recommendation,
25:12the deadline is a week later than the application deadline
25:15so you wouldn't need to have provided those
25:17by the application deadline but be aware of the deadlines
25:22and make sure you have all green ticks and no red crosses.
25:28If you have any red crosses
25:30or something's not working the way you expect it to,
25:33just email us and let us know.
25:36Usually we can sort that out even, yeah,
25:40even if it's shortly after the deadline,
25:43we might be able to help you out.
25:46The issue really comes if you email us
25:49two weeks down the line
25:50and we've already processed all the applications,
25:53then you're likely going to be out of luck
25:55and pushed into the next stage
25:59or potentially the next year if you apply in Stage 3.
26:03It's also worth noting
26:04that anything you upload generally takes,
26:08it can take, it usually takes probably 10 to 15 minutes
26:12to upload, but it can take up to 30 minutes
26:15depending on how busy the server is.
26:19So just give it,
26:23give the system time whenever you upload anything.
26:27And also when you complete your Kira,
26:30that will not show up on the application checklist
26:33for a little while just because it takes time
26:36for the Kira platform to communicate with our,
26:39with our admissions platform.
26:40So don't panic,
26:42if you do Kira at the 11th hour,
26:45nine o'clock before the application deadline
26:49or the Kira deadline, that's going to be fine.
26:52Even if it's not a green tick by the deadline,
26:56we'll see that you did the,
26:58you did the test before the deadline so no need to panic.
27:01But I would say do your Kira before 9:00 PM
27:04on the Kira, (laughing) on the Kira deadline day.
27:10Right, that concludes the presentation,
27:13here we've got two email addresses listed here.
27:19So we've got Joe's, so if you've got any questions
27:25about sort of whether you're a good candidate
27:29for the MAFE, Joe is the person to get in touch with.
27:35If you have questions about the sort of technical aspects
27:38of your application,
27:39then get in touch with us in admissions.
27:45So great, that is the end of the presentation.
27:50So we'll now open up the Q&A.
27:53Let me, it looks like it is,
27:59should be open now so please feel free
28:03to write in any questions you might have.
28:14- Yeah, Q&A box is open now so if you have any questions.
28:17Yeah, like Daniel said, feel free to type them
28:20and yeah, happy to read them out.
28:23- And yeah, Joe, maybe we've sort of introduced you
28:27but why don't you introduce yourself as well
28:29and just say hello, yeah.
28:32- Yeah, will do, thanks both, really great job.
28:34Really, really informative session.
28:36Great to get an overview of the programme
28:37and the application process.
28:39Yeah, I thought I'd jump on and say hi.
28:41I can see lots of familiar names from people I've spoken to
28:44so nice to see that you've joined the session.
28:48Yeah, if there's anything you'd like to discuss
28:50in terms of specifics relating to your profile, experience,
28:53suitability for the programme,
28:55reach out if we haven't been in touch already,
28:57really happy to set up a one-to-one consultation.
29:00We can have a chat and discuss the programme in more detail,
29:03your experience
29:04and how it aligns with, you know, your learning objectives
29:07'cause you want to make sure that you're joining the programme
29:09that's the right fit for you.
29:10So really, really happy to do that.
29:13Also in the chat I will just share,
29:16there's an event coming up that we have on the 6th of May
29:21that's a really good kind of follow-on from this session.
29:24It's really designed as a faculty masterclass
29:27and like a taster of what kind of the academic sessions
29:29will be like on the programme.
29:31It's with Shumiao Ouyang who's a professor of finance,
29:35and he'll be leading this session.
29:36So I will just post a link in the chat now
29:39for anyone who hasn't already registered.
29:42I would highly recommend registering
29:44and joining that session
29:45and then keeping an eye out for any other future ones
29:47that are coming up over the next few months
29:49'cause there will be ones for you to join.
29:52So yeah, I hope that's helpful as well.
29:57Yeah, I think from my side, just to reiterate,
30:00if anyone wants, you know,
30:02to have a discussion we haven't already, please reach out,
30:04if we've already been in touch,
30:05just let me know how I can support as you're going through,
30:08going through the motions over the next,
30:10over the next few weeks and months, happy to support.
30:14- Great, we have a question, so I'll read it out
30:18and perhaps I can try and give some insight into an answer
30:25and Joe, maybe you can also give
30:27your thoughts on this as well, so,
30:29"There are certain internship opportunities
30:31that are full-time in nature
30:32and structured as an annual contract.
30:35It's just that the designation is termed
30:37and it's an intern instead of, let's say, a junior analyst,
30:41will such experience be counted
30:43towards full-time work experience?"
30:48I dunno how you would look at that, Joe.
30:51And I mean, I can maybe answer from the admissions side,
30:55I would say, if it's a full, if it's full-time in nature
31:01and it's an annual contract,
31:02I would say in the application form you can put that down
31:06as full-time experience.
31:07I don't know what your thoughts are, Joe.
31:11- Yeah, I would agree.