Oxford Saïd MBA Recommendation Questions
The MBA application for Oxford Saïd Business School requires a minimum of two references, at least one professional. If you are unable to provide a letter from your current direct supervisor, then a previous supervisor, an indirect manager, a client, a member of your board of directors, or any other individual who supervises your work would be acceptable. Alternatively, ask someone who managed you in an extracurricular, research, volunteer, or community activity. Choose individuals who know you well through significant, direct involvement with you within the last three years and will provide detailed anecdotes and examples to support their assertions.
Admissions can only accept references from a valid work, professional, or institutional email address and not from Gmail or Hotmail accounts. The Oxford MBA recommendation questions for the current admissions season are below.
2025-2026 Oxford Saïd MBA Recommendation Questions
The recommender is asked to rate the applicant on the following five traits.
Intellectual Curiosity
- Needs Improvement
- Developing
- Competent
- Exceeds Expectations
- Unknown/Not observed
Leadership Skills
- Needs Improvement
- Developing
- Competent
- Exceeds Expectations
- Unknown/Not observed
Ability to Work in a Team
- Needs Improvement
- Developing
- Competent
- Exceeds Expectations
- Unknown/Not observed
Energy and Drive
- Needs Improvement
- Developing
- Competent
- Exceeds Expectations
- Unknown/Not observed
English Language Ability
- Needs Improvement
- Developing
- Competent
- Exceeds Expectations
- Unknown/Not observed
Please upload a letter to elaborate on your ratings you have given the candidate above. Please also indicate, for how long you have known the candidate and in what capacity, what are their strengths and weaknesses, and how you think the candidate would benefit from the programme.
MBA Applywire
My low cgpa was as a result of working part time during my undergrad to cover my expenses and mostly for experience. Parent's business run into financial challenges made things difficult because i had to pay my fees. had CGPA of 3.0+ in 3rd and 4th year in my undergrad(60 credit hours). currently work in commercial bank in CX with 4yrs Work Exp. It will be 6yrs when I apply for the MBA ,I will be promoted to a different unit soon. pro bono consulting for young entrepreneurs. Led youth groups at church and organize capacity building events.
Plan on writing the GRE with 330 as target.
Hoping for a significant scholarship
1. I want advise on how to build my profile to make me an ideal candidate for R1 acceptance and $$$
I have worked for over 10 years in sales and business development and I am currently completing a PostGraduate Diploma in Banking and Finance and I need an a good MBA to enable me pivot into financial services.
Currently working in consulting with a major FMCG/alcobev client, mainly across analytics, supply, and business problem-solving work. Over time, I’ve realized I enjoy understanding why problems exist within organizations and how teams, systems, and decisions can work better together, which is what’s pushing me towards strategy consulting and an MBA.
A lot of my interest in business also comes from seeing how everyday products and operations work behind the scenes. Outside work, I co-founded and ran a digital literacy initiative (1yr 2mo) during COVID where we helped elderly individuals and women from underserved communities learn basic digital tools to stay connected and manage daily activities during lockdown.
I’m currently preparing for the GMAT and exploring schools such as LBS, Fuqua, Ross, Tuck, and a few reach schools depending on how the score progresses.
Veteran. Ivy League undergrad. Planning to pivot into consulting or LDP.
MBA LiveWire
15 / June / 2026