Comments from Student 1:
Scheduling the Interview: I was assigned an interview date and time on an official MBA Open Day at Oxford.

Location of interview: On campus

Preparedness of Interviewer: The interviewer had reviewed my application thoroughly and had already developed pointed questions about my strengths and weaknesses as a candidate.

Interviewer University affiliation: Faculty member

Atmosphere: The atmosphere was very formal and the interviewer did not smile once. A second person sat in on the interview but did not participate; I was not told why they were there. It was not a relaxed environment.

Questions asked: Tell me about (the company I work for). What are the challenges you see for (your company) in the future? Why did you choose to work for them? What are your goals post-MBA, and what is the timeframe? What do you think will be your biggest challenge during the MBA program? Why get an MBA now instead of waiting a few years? What would you do if you did not get an MBA now?

Length of interview: 30 min

Additional comments:
-Be prepared to defend any potential weaknesses in your application when you walk into an Oxford interview. As they are only slotted at 30 minutes, it appears that the adcom narrows down your application to the few doubts they have about you and directly address those issues.
-I would also suggest adapting to the atmosphere of the interview. This interview was very formal, and when I attempted to establish a conversational tone initially it fell flat.
(I was not accepted at Oxford; I found out via email within a week.)

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Comments from Student 2:
My experience with the interview process at Oxford Said Business School was a bit atypical due to my personal situation at the time.

My application to Oxford SBS was the third one I sent. I was therefore invited for an interview after I had already been admitted to two other top business schools. I therefore decided to opt for a phone interview.

The scheduling of the interview, as well as the entire admission process at SBS, left me with a sense of extremely professional and smooth organization.

I was interviewed by the Head of MBA Program – Dr. Chambers. The interviewer was obviously extremely well acquainted with my profile and my essays.

The questions were typically around my motivation and future plans after the MBA.

The tone of the conversation was relaxed and friendly. Dr. Chambers was very polite.

The call lasted around 45 minutes, equally balanced between interview questions and my questions on the school. In my opinion Dr. Chambers did a great job at providing helpful information on the SBS MBA program.

I received a feedback on admission by email about 10-15 days later.