Application Overview

Hi, my name is Saman Tariq Malik, and I'm from Pakistan.

I'm Morgan Moore. I'm from Indiana in the US.

And we're going to talk to you about the reference letter.

I started my process by writing out the names of every single person I knew who I thought would serve as a potential reference. So that included basically everybody but my friends, all of my professors, all of my professional supervisors, and not your family. All my mentors, not my family, although that would've been really handy.

I went for those professors who had worked with me extensively, who were aware of my work, but also of my research interests and long-term goals with regards to where I want to be, let's say five to 10 years after I complete my studies.

I thought, okay, well here are the people that I think will make the strongest claims or who know me best out of all these people, or I also thought about how the reference letters matched up with each other, so this person will say how I was on a campaign, for instance, so I don't want to include another campaign reference. I want this professor to say something about how I'm really studious. So I came up with all of that, contacted them, emailed them early on in the summer, followed up, followed up, followed up, followed up.

It is, at the end of the day, your responsibility to make sure that the reference letter is submitted on time.

Don't be afraid to reach out and follow up with your recommenders, especially if they aren't responsive or you don't think that they remember the timeline. We get notifications via the online portal that says, this person has submitted or this person hasn't, on the Embark website.

For some people, the recommendation letter process is the hardest part of the application. Others, it's an easy part, but I think bottom line is if you give yourself enough time, come up with backups, realize that it's a lot of responsibility for you, but also for other people and just sort of staying calm throughout the process, I think it's easily manageable.

Hi, I'm Nur.

And I'm Cameron.

And we're going to talk about the social engagement event. I actually didn't know anything about the social engagement thing. I was shortlisted, I went to Jordan for the interviews and then they sent us an email telling us that you have this dinner and that's it. So I didn't really know what to expect.

The social engagement was just a reception and a meal where you got the opportunity to meet some of the panelists, some of the former Rhodes Scholars and a lot of the different applicants that were involved. And it happens before the interview, and you just get a chance to talk to everybody in a relaxed social setting.

You don't have to impress, you don't have to perform. You've already impressed them by your CV and that's why you were shortlisted.

Some people prepare, some people don't.

I remember I had so many interesting conversations on the politics of the Middle East and the refugee crisis.

I got there, I was sweaty and ridiculous and I didn't want to talk to anybody. So I was essentially just going, taking appetizers and trying to not make a fool out of myself in front of all of these important people. But as the night went on and I started to enjoy the experience, it ended up being really cool.

And it's once in a lifetime experience as well. So just go be your best, do your best, but be yourself. Yeah, that's what I would say.

Yeah, I like it.

Hi, I'm Xilin.

Hi. I am Mbali.

We are going to chat about the personal interview. So the last stage of the application process is usually panel interview and you'll be walking into a room and there will be a panel of interviewers. You'll be chatting with them for 30 to 45 minutes.

Interview process varies from different constituencies. In some, they interview you many times before this final round. And in my final round, I was given a slot. I arrived. I was very feeling very confident. I had done this before, but the panel are really trying to stretch you. They're really trying to get to the core of who you really are. I really responded to a question in a very emotional way, and I think that's the type of leader that I am. I'm leader that thinks, I'm a leader that also feels, and you need that when you're fighting for justice.

Do you have any practical suggestions for the preparation of the interview?

Find a friend to ask you questions and go through what you wrote, everything from your personal statement to your CV.

For me, I actually look through all of my CV, as you do, and I am trying to question myself, who is this guy? Why this guy is doing so much stuff?

That's important. That's important. No one really stresses how much you need to know yourself when you're in the interview, and I think that is the advice that I would give to someone. It's about you.

It's about you. Totally agree. Yeah.