Orkhan Gambarlı

Economics, Azerbaijan

I was born in Baku, and I graduated from high school there. I changed two universities before I found myself in the Economics department of OzU. Since the beginning, I realized the advantages of being an OzU student. This was evident from high-class bilateral exchange agreements as well as the internship opportunities abroad. OzU taught to pick a dollar from the ground before someone else would do it. Hence, I took an advantage OzU presented, and spent one year at the University of Minnesota. I did not limit myself to academic opportunities at OzU, and thus applied for two internships abroad through the professional development office. Eventually, I received internship in a bank in Switzerland and in a private equity firm in Hong Kong. Upon return to Istanbul from Hong Kong I immediately started my application to the University of Oxford and I received full support from the faculty. In a very short time I received an invitation for an interview. It was hardest part as the interview was very technical. Several days after the interview I received an offer.

There are many ways one can define the word “success”, whereas for me it represents the intersection of three sets. In my personal case, the three sets were the brilliant professors, exchange and internship opportunities at OzU, and my personal hard work. The intersection of sets generated result, M.Sc. in Financial Economics at the University of Oxford.