You attend an MBA fair, work your way around the stands, collect a stack of brochures, and listen to a few short presentations. A week later you realise you learned nothing you could not have found on each school’s website.
This is a common experience. I had it myself while I was considering applying to Oxford.
The problem is rarely the event. It is the preparation. Having supported a number of candidates through this process — and reviewed what they took away afterwards — here are five things worth doing beforehand.
1. Stop trying to see every school
At a one-to-one event, each meeting lasts around 25 minutes. Realistically you will manage four to six schools in a day.
Despite this, many candidates try to visit as many stands as possible because they are already there. The result is a series of surface-level conversations and no real insight into any of them.
Identify around three target schools in advance and concentrate your time there. Use the remaining slots on schools you had not considered but that fit your criteria. You will leave with far more.
2. Ask questions that only that person can answer
“What makes your curriculum distinctive?” and “Do you offer scholarships?” are answered on the website. Spending your 25 minutes there is a waste of a rare opportunity.
Prepare questions that require the person in front of you to think:
- Where have graduates with a background similar to mine — same industry, same level, same function — ended up?
- Looking at my profile, what would give an admissions committee pause?
- How many candidates from Japan were in the last cohort, and what are they doing now?
The third question cannot be answered with a generic line. If you get a specific response, you learn something real about the fit.
3. Bring your CV
A surprising number of candidates arrive empty-handed. But for an admissions representative, being able to see your background changes the conversation entirely.
It does not need to be polished. One page in English, as it stands today, is enough. Simply being able to say “this is my background” allows the other person to give you advice that is actually about you.
4. Be able to explain how you would fund it
Will you self-fund? Seek sponsorship from your employer? Take a loan? Have you discussed it with your family?
Candidates who leave this vague tend to stall after they receive an offer. I have seen several people work for a year on an application, receive a place, and then decline it for financial reasons.
To be direct about it: at current exchange rates, tuition at a top school is a significant investment, and it is unlikely to be recovered through salary uplift alone in the short term. If you still believe the degree is worth it, be able to articulate why in your own words. That work pays off later in your essays and interviews.
5. Write it all down the same day
What you heard in a meeting becomes vague remarkably quickly. Before you go to bed, note down for each school: who you spoke to, your impression, the specific things you were told, and any follow-up action.
When you come to finalise your target list, these notes will be what you rely on.
Meet us on 5 September in Tokyo
Next Stage Oxford will be at Access MBA Tokyo on Saturday, 5 September 2026, at The Tokyo EDITION, Toranomon. Entry is free.
Session — 13:05 to 13:30 “Inside Oxford: The Experience, the Network, and Life After Graduation”
A talk on studying at Oxford Saïd Business School: college life, the cohort, and how a career changes afterwards. It covers what rarely appears in a brochure — what studying alongside a full-time role actually involves, and the practical side of funding a degree. Q&A at the end.
One-to-one Resume Review — 25 minutes
An individual CV review from the perspective of an Oxford MBA graduate and Certified Public Accountant: how your strengths are presented, how to handle concerns in your profile, and where you stand in your preparation. You will receive a written summary at the end.
As per point 3 above, please bring your CV. Meeting schedules are confirmed at the registration desk on the day, so arrive early if you would like a slot.
▶ Register free https://www.accessmba.com/l/2ij
Places are limited.