The number one question I have been asked after letting people know I am headed to get my MBA at Oxford has been a variation on the question “Why Oxford?”
From “Why not a US School?” to “Why did you think to apply to Oxford?” this has been a central theme as I talk about picking up my life and moving 3,600 miles away.
So why DID I apply? Why did I say yes? I could tell you about how it is the oldest university in the world (it was 300 years old when the Aztec Empire was founded). I could tell you it was because the business school is ranked in the top 5 international programs. I could tell you it was because I wanted a school where I could focus on making the world a better place instead of making a bottom-line. I could tell you that its because it will expose me to more international students than any other US program. And while each of these is certainly a reason why I justify my choice to go to Oxford, the truth is simply. Magic.
Like most kids from my generation, I found a love of reading in the words penned by J.K. Rowling. I fell into the world of Harry Potter, waiting for MY letter from Hogwarts, standing in line for hours for book launches and midnight movie showings.
Hogwarts & Oxford were synonymous in my mind and after I finished the Deathly Hallows as a college student I paid special attention to anything coming out of Oxford. When I started on my thesis just a few months later, I read papers from the Oxford Internet Institute about the impact of technology on politics and government. My thesis cited these papers heavily and in 2010 I decided to apply for a Master’s program at the Oxford Internet Institute. Here was my chance to get my letter from Hogwarts.
Instead, I was politely rejected (read more here), which turned out for the best because just a few weeks later I received an offer to work at Google. I put Oxford up on a shelf with my Harry Potter books and figured I’d never get a chance to attend. Most importantly, I made peace with that decision.
Flash-forward to 3, almost 4 years into my career at Google. I am looking at MBA programs in the US, visiting campuses across the US to get a feel for the school I want to go to. My chain-of-command at Google went Fuqua, Kellogg, HBS, HBS, Boston College, Larry Page and so I felt the need to get an MBA and not the Oxford Master’s program I had made peace with before Google.
I looked at most top 20 programs and before I started the application process, I took one last vacation with friends before the busy season of the election. We were going to Ireland and I figured I’d leave a few days early and visit London as I had never been before and I couldn’t be THAT close without at least a few days of playing tourist.
One of my precious days in London I woke up early, hoped on a train up to Oxford hoping to see the Bird & Baby pub where Tolkien, Lewis and the Inklings met each week; hoping to see the Oxford Internet Institute and think on what might have been; hoping to see the atmosphere that gave us Oscar Wilde and of course catch a glimpse of the Hogwarts great hall at Christchurch.
I spent 7 hours in Oxford wandering around the city, visiting colleges and just taking it all in. I took one of the last trains back to London, headed to my hotel and promptly had a bout of insomnia. I couldn’t stop thinking about Oxford. It just felt right for me. It wasn’t until I opened up my laptop and looked at the Oxford MBA website that I could fall asleep.
When it came time to pick between a couple of schools, there was little doubt in my mind. It is, after all, the wand that chooses the wizard and in my case, Oxford had chosen me. 
Next week I’ll be back to talk about Oxford Colleges including my own, Lincoln College.