In this Admissions Director Q&A, we return to the UK’s Cambridge Judge Business School to check in with Head of MBA Recruitment and Admissions Charlotte Russell-Green.
After training in Drama and Theatre at Goldsmiths in London, Charlotte transitioned into marketing after graduation and has now worked in the MBA market for over 10 years. She started her MBA career at QS, managing the marketing for the World MBA Tour events in North America, and has worked in marketing, recruitment, and admissions at Cambridge ever since. Her passions at work include building and growing teams, streamlining processes with the use of new technologies, and recruitment and business development strategy.
Keep reading for a deep dive in to the MBA admissions process this year at Cambridge Judge and to find out what advice Charlotte has for applicants.
Clear Admit: What is the one aspect of your program that you wish applicants knew more about?
Charlotte Russell-Green: The Cambridge MBA is truly experiential and collaborative in its learning style with a curriculum and offering that you would expect from a world-class university. But what I think is really important to know, is how practical and experiential the Cambridge MBA is. The world-renowned faculty have cleverly crafted the curriculum to be academically rigorous but also to allow our students to apply and practice what they have learnt in the classroom through real life professional experiences. We have two live consulting projects with corporate clients, a presentation to a simulated executive board and an internship in the summer. In addition to this, we have a variety of workshops available that provide students with a portfolio of hard and soft skills that they will be able to utilize in both their long and short-term career, such as critical thinking, financial modelling, developing resilience and leading with intentionality. These workshops have been developed after working with recruiters to find out what specific skills they look for in MBAs.
CA: Walk us through the life of an application in your office from an operational standpoint. What happens between the time an applicant clicks “submit” and the time the Judge admissions committee offers a final decision?
CRG: Once the application deadline passes, each application is read by two people – a member of the admissions team and the Head of Recruitment and Admissions, with the latter signing off who is invited to interview. All candidates have to be interviewed, either in person or virtually. Once the interview feedback is in, the Admissions Committee meet and decide on who to make offers to. Offers are usually sent out within 2-3 weeks of the interview.
CA: How does your team approach the essay portion of the application specifically? What are you looking for as you read an essay? Are there common mistakes that applicants should try to avoid? What is one key thing they should keep in mind as they sit down to write?
CRG: We get asked this a lot and it is difficult to answer without giving too much away. The essays are the opportunity for us to see how the applicant thinks, responds and reflects, as well as to get an idea as to whether they are a good fit. Ultimately, what we are looking for is an example that best answers the question and shows your capabilities, resilience, self-awareness and critical reflection, as well as a little bit of who you are. Common mistakes include not actually answering the question and mentioning another school’s name (beware of copy and paste!)
CA: Could you tell us about your interview process? Approximately how many applicants do you interview? Who conducts the interview (students, admissions officers, alumni) and what is the nature of the interview (resume-based, application-based, behavioral)? Will your admissions interviews be in-person or virtual for the 2024-2025 admissions season?
CRG: We offer both virtual interviews and the opportunity to come on-campus as a group for an interview weekend. The in-person interview experience includes dinner at one of the famous University of Cambridge colleges with MBA alumni, a careers workshop, lunch with current students and a tour of the city. It’s a great way of meeting your future classmates, connecting with the network and envisioning what your year in Cambridge will be like.
Interviews are conducted by either faculty or a member of the senior leadership team. I generally tell people to prepare for the interview in the same way you would a job interview – know your application and CV inside out, and if you have expressed an interest in a certain industry, research it and be prepared to talk about it.
It varies each round as to how many people we interview. Round 3 is the largest round where we interview, circa. 220, but the other rounds vary from 70-150 interviews per round.
CA: What is your testing policy? Do you offer exam waivers? Why or why not?
CRG: We do require a GMAT or GRE – we accept both in equal measure. We do not offer waivers as not only does a standardised test provides a base-line comparison between candidates, it also provides the candidate with an opportunity to compensate for a lower GPA. We do, however, utilise the GMAC Test Taker Citizenship Data, so that we’re aware of the average GMAT score for different countries, which allows us to compare scores fairly.
CA: In the application data form, many schools ask for information about work experience, activities, hobbies, and much more. What advice would you give to applicants as they approach this component of the application process?
CRG: With work experience, it’s important that we see a clear career trajectory. Although it might seem more impressive to have held a more senior position for longer, we actually want to know the details of the ladder you’ve climbed. If you’ve been promoted, we want to know about it! Therefore, I highly recommend that you use our CV/resume template in our application form – it gives you a solid format for you to display your work experience.
When it comes to extra curriculars, we don’t explicitly ask about this in the application, although there is a place for it in our CV/resume template. It’s great for us to know about your passions and what makes you tick, especially as being a member of a Cambridge College during your MBA gives you access to SO many different societies, sports and enrichment activities. Although, in your application, I recommend raising hobbies if you’ve held leadership positions or had notable success with an initiative that you’ve led.
CA: Tell us briefly about two popular courses at your institution.
CRG: Managing for Sustainability has always been popular as not only is it incredibly important to the future of business, it is transferrable to any sector, function or location post-MBA. There will never be a time that the knowledge learnt in this class is not relevant so it’s got longevity.
Secondly, a course that has boomed over the past few years is AI in Business and Ethics. The interest in AI has been on the up since I started in this job but we’re now at a point where this course is really popular. Like the sustainability option, it’s transferrable to all industries and locations – it is and will affect everyone – so it’s a great course option for post-MBA careers.
CA: Is there anything else you’d like to highlight about your MBA program or Judge admissions process?
CRG: The MBA programme boasts of multiple opportunities to connect with recruiters, companies and the network. The International Business Study Trip sends students to a carefully selected global location for company visits, lectures, networking events and cultural immersion activities.
In addition to this fantastic international experience, we also have a two-day conference in Cambridge for both students and alumni – the “Future Forum”. This interactive and inspiring event, brings in guests speakers from companies including Meta, Google, Lloyds Banking Group, Bayer, Alibaba, Pinterest and Siemens, and provides personal and professional development workshops with expert coaches, as well as multiple networking opportunities.
