Calling all LBS Applicants - (2015 Intake) - Class of 2017

Yeah I am in London, away from family so Diwali celebrations were very mellow for me (yes I am an Indian too! *virtual high-five*). But I did go for a fireworks show. It was good. No drinking happened though. But tonight I am going out for sure. Ever since I have seen and analysed the LBS class of 2016 profiles, in my head the probability of my interview call has gone down drastically. Everyone there seems like a rockstar! Normality is so rare these days

Did you check out the candidates HBS has rejected !!
[url]poetsandquants.com/2014/10/20/who-hbs-dinged-in-the-first-round/[/url]
I sooo totally agree that normality is rare. One gotta be groomed for years to make through HBS for sure. And people just blindly apply to HBS without any consideration, thereby creating false high-demand scenario, which certainly helps none but HBS.

I'm yet go through LBS' class of 2016 profiles. Hmm, sounds like task for the weekend.

Yeah I went through that article two days ago. Again, a very humbling experience! I met a few class of 2016 members recently in an information session. Very strong presence of military profiles.

I haven't met anyone first hand apart from a Tuckie who was on intern in Malaysia. Rest interactions have been on phone or email. Malaysia happens to attract least attention from b-schools for their fairs etc.

You're lucky to be amidst the fanfare, can actually have a first hand experience of most of the schools.

Yeah being in London helps but only in a limited fashion. I mean one can interact with 50 different people but at the end of the day it's the actual strength of one's profile that's gonna count. And yes, the other side of coin is that these meetings makes one realise that a lot more needs to be done to rise to these global school admission standards. Further, everyone then recommends visiting all schools and thats when I thought damn I should have been in the US. That would have helped a lot.

Going to schools is definitely the best way to know them, but MBA fairs etc are certainly better than having physical contact. I know how hard it is get info out of some schools and even now after submitting my apps I have few questions that I find so hard to answers for.
For instance, financing options for LBS' international aspirants are really limited unless a person is EU resident. Prodigy finances barely GBP 24,100 which is barely a quarter of expected expenses. Accommodation options near Regent Park is another concern. Neither is much info available on website nor is it easy to google it up. And it's obvious that the closer one stays to LBS costlier it's gonna be.
I really wanted to get proper answer to these questions and not directions to the webpages which yield no good info.

Forget it... Not going out on a Friday evening can get it me all messed up in the head ..

So, back to the fun part. I came across this in the thread for Class of 2014.


Be positive all! And look forward to receiving this.

6 days to go...

Came across this very interesting blog of Edward Dearing today morning. Hope you all will enjoy it.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwarddearing/2011/10/06/mba-life-an-insiders-perspective/

Seems only neo and applicant221 are the active members here
neo applicant : Anyways, I wanted to know what made you to really opt for LBS? Anything that you found unique about this program ?

I am lurker. Have read all the posts but have not posted much.. Reading all the posts and looking at profiles I don't feel I am in the same league.. If I get an interview invite it would be an achievement itself.

Mr. Lurker. Don't be so sad. Though I'm not aware of how you concluded the you're not in the "same league" (whatever that might mean), I would like to advise you that while quality of profile is important, execution on application is equally (if not more) important too.
Wait with us for next 4 days. Results would be out at 1730 hrs GMT. Then we can decide to either celebrate or drown in sorrow.

P.S. I literally committed suicide on my app. Just hoping that they'll ignore that 1 mistake.

4 days to go!!

I made a ticking clock for this result. Couldn't post the html code for the clock so embedded it in my blogpost. You may access it here.
https://pds656.blogspot.com/2014/10/4-days-to-go-until-first-bell.html

Your dedication is impressive.

What did you do ? I also found a mistake

Actually there isn't a mistake, I proofread it like 6 times..
The issue is that I tried explaining my GPA, which isn't so bad to begin with; but now that I read it, it sounds like mercy plea.
A decent school doesn't like ppl who plead, either you did wrong and gotta accept it & improve upon it or you did wrong and haven't moved on. There isn't a fine line gap, the gap is pretty broad and the mentality gets reflected through the app content. Hence, "the suicide". I improved upon that in my Tuck app though, but there I committed entirely different level of stupidity.
So yeah, guess I still have a lot to learn about these applications and stuff.

FROM LBS Current Students Blog: MBA: Facts & figures

I remember when I was at a crossroads, trying to decide whether to do an MBA. I used to read the Admissions and the Student Blog, trying to avidly gather information, facts, figures, stories, that would help me picture how life would be when doing an MBA and how would I fit in. I used to think: I want more information. How about this? How about that? This is my stab at it. In this post I am trying to give you those facts and figures that I felt I missed.   The application. How competitive is it, really? Success rate:For the 2016 class, there were 3000+ applications and 411 made it through. GMAT: The GMAT average is 700. The range, 600-800 (yes, some people got 800).   The class profile. How diverse is it, really? Age:The age range is 23-38, with experiences ranging from 2 to 13 years. The 2 year experience ones are a very small percentage, and only coming from top-notch consultancies. Diversity: Massive. There are 65 nationalities. I remember joining thinking I really would like to experience diversity. I just couldn’t grasp how much of it there would be. From the moment you join, you are part of  a study group that does all 1st year projects together and – trust me – spends massive amounts of time together. Take the profile of my group as representative: Indian, Portuguese, Brasilian, American with Chinese background, Singaporean that has spent a significant amount of time in the US, and me, Catalan having worked for a long time in the UK. That’s in terms of nationalities. Now let’s look at previous employment: Founder and MD of a start-up with 2 million turnover, assistant VP at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Associate of an Investment company, management consultant, management consultant and me, Satellite Project Manager at Airbus Defense & Space. Age range: 27-33. And if I went into personality types, you would see there is a significant range as well. I knew there would be diversity. But to that extent? It’s amazing.   And once you are in, what? Let’s get to the knitty-gritty. The course started on the 18th of August (yes, August). First week: The first week is called Orientation week. It’s light. You do introduction, and a series of workshops of topics like Ethics or Case Studies. The highlight of the week is the Away Day – a day full of Team Building Activities to get the study group starting to work as a unit. First month: 1 Orientation week + 3 weeks of what’s called Pre-term. In the pre-term you do: - Understanding General Management: A case-study based course in which you see what general management is. - Global Leadership Assessment for Managers: a three-day course that focuses exclusively on leadership and personal development. It includes a 360 feedback, a NEO questionnaire, and a 1×1 with an executive coach. It’s great. - Business Writing and Communication: Two half day workshops focussed on business writing and presentation skills. Good reminder. - Corporate Finance: The first of the core subjects starts in the pre-term, allowing for a staggered core subjects start that will ease your transition into the academic world. The rest: The rest of Term 1 has strategy, Economics, Financial Accounting and DMD (Data Models & Decisions). MBA Term 1 is hard. I mean it. It’s hard. I studied Aerospace Engineering at top notch university and graduated top of the class. And I can tell you that this MBA, so far, is hard. Why? Because the workload is very high and because, if like me, you came from a different background, you need to adjust your way of thinking to the different disciplines. Why do I say the workload is very high? The lectures are 2:45h long with a 15 minute break in between. Before every lecture you generally need to read a case study or a book chapter. There are a significant number of post readings, maybe 3 academic papers. So far, 2 months in, I have done 1 exam, 7 individual assignments and 9 group assignments. 2 more exams next week. You do the maths. Oh, and by the way, let me throw the bomb right now: All exams happen on weekends. What? Yes. Accept it. Move on. But it’s worth it. It is definitely worth it. We have come here to learn. We wouldn’t be learning if we were simply scratching the surface without getting the hands dirty and exploring the concepts to a certain depth. And achieving that depth requires time, and practice. The course is well-organised, though. The fact that you start Corporate Finance before the rest of the subjects tells me immediately that the Programme Office is aware of the workload and knows what they are doing. You will see. I still cannot get over the fact that exams are on weekends though – I need to give feedback on that… I hope that those of you that, like me, were looking for actual details on what the MBA life is like (the Academics in this case), have had some of their questions answered. If you have any question, please ask!

Thanks mshrek. I think active is another word for the phrase "I cannot help but come back to this forum every five minutes even at work"

I am sure neo will have his reasons but for me, the main reason is quality of LBS people I have met. Through some common links, I have spoken to several LBS alumni and a few current students as well and they were all so willing to help and guide. Plus, you have to give credit to the location here. It attracts some special people plus an easy access to recruiters is a great advantage.