Oxford Said’s essay topics remain unchanged this year.  With a total of 3,000 words between two essay topics, Oxford presents a unique challenge in terms of sharing important and relevant information about one’s candidacy while staying on topic. For this reason, careful reflection and outlining is even more important when approaching this sort of application than one with a long series of shorter answers.

Essay 1: Explain why you chose your current job. How do you hope to see your career developing over the next five years? How will an MBA assist you in the development of these ambitions? (1000 word maximum)
This is a very standard career goals essay, although applicants must specifically explain why they chose their current jobs. In addition, you should note the explicit five-year goals timeline; while it’s certainly fine to look beyond this is in your essay and cover longer-term objectives, it will be important to develop the five year plan in depth to tailor your response to the question. As is the case with any essay of this sort, you’ll also want to comment on the specific merits of the Said Business School even though the question doesn’t mention this directly.

Essay 2: Which recent development, world event or book has most influenced your thinking and why? (2000 word maximum)
This question, which covers the range of world geography and topics factual and fictional, is about as broad as they come. The rather high word limit makes responding to the question all the more challenging, as many applicants find it difficult to sustain a coherent and relevant discussion over 2000 words. In selecting a topic, think carefully about what your event or book selection will tell the reader about your concerns and priorities, ideally selecting a subject that is in accordance with the positioning established in the first response. In terms of structuring the discussion, it might be helpful to think about ways that this book, development or event has influenced your actions as well as your thinking; this could provide a way to introduce a fair amount of information about your experiences and candidacy while keeping to the topic.