Meet The Oxford Saïd MBA Class Of 2017

Arfa Rehman

University of Oxford, Saïd Business School

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: Indian citizen/Middle East resident; interested in the intersection of the arts, social sciences, & business.

Hometown: Aligarh, India / Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’ve watched David Fincher’s The Social Network 14 times (so far)

Undergraduate School and Major:

New York University Abu Dhabi, double major in Social Research and Public Policy and Visual Arts

MSc Sociology at University of Oxford

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation: Marketing and Management Intern at Urban Point, Doha, Qatar

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Being part of the first few cohorts of Rhodes Scholars selected from the United Arab Emirates to study at Oxford.

Looking back on your experience, what advice would you give to future business school applicants? My top advice to applicants like me would be to not be put off from applying if you do not have the “conventional” business school applicant profile. As long as you can convincingly and passionately articulate your rationale for wanting to attend business school, you can make a competitive application even if you have an unusual combination of interests like me.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? The Said MBA was appealing to me for two main reasons – the school’s multidisciplinary approach to business as exemplified by the 1+1 program, which allowed me to combine a degree in the social sciences with the MBA, and its focus on social entrepreneurship.

Tell us about your dream job or dream employer at this point in your life? My dream job would involve using the power and potential of art, design, and visual communication for social impact.

What would you like your business school peers to say about you after you graduate from this program? That I helped them think differently and that I made them laugh.     

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