2013 LBS MiF Applicants welcome!

I had my interview on 23rd may. All the best to all those who are waiting

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I think musings has said this very well. The program one decides is the best match for him/her is a personal choice, based on one's own goals and objectives. If it did not depend on personal preferences, there would not be a dozen highly-competitive programs around the world with different philosophies and teaching styles. There would be one giant business school with thousands of students all learning the same way.

Personally, I am from the US and decided to come to LBS because I had never lived abroad and I wanted an international experience where I would be a minority, which is not possible for me at a US program. I also found the alumni with whom I spoke to be a good match for my personality, where some of the students and alumni at the US programs placed more value on different things. As for jobs, my network in the US is well-established and, given my career goals, I was not planning to rely much on the formal recruitment process regardless of the school I attended. All applicants should bear in mind that competition for top jobs is fierce and no post-graduate program comes with a contract to join Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, or Bain Capital upon graduation. It is fortunate that LastChanceMBA found out that the program wasn't a match for him, but that does not mean that the LBS MiF or another LBS program is not a valuable and rewarding experience for someone else. Someone with "MBA" in his/her title probably should have targeted a MBA program all along.

In defense of my colleagues on the program, I do have to say that I believe the comment that the caliber of students is lower than the US schools is not accurate. Every program will have its share of superstars and every program will have its share of people who make you wonder how they made it. Several MBAs visiting LBS on exchange from Booth and Columbia in the last term, however, told me they were amazed and impressed with the depth of knowledge the LBS MiF students had (no doubt due to the students on average being more experienced than what many US programs accept). Anyone who doubts the quality of the students in the MiF should ask the admissions office to arrange a conversation for them with Justin Magnus, Javier Gonzales, Florian Meyer, or one of the other student ambassadors. Trust me, you don't want those guys showing up on the same day you are interviewing. I am happy to answer any questions as well.

Congratulations to all who have received an offer and best of luck to those who are still waiting to hear. If you have an offer and are considering whether LBS is the place for you, do your homework and talk to several people who have been through the program and see if their goals and experiences line up with your objectives. This is the best way to make the right decision for yourself.

Lapras, congrats on getting in! I know you were nervous about the results, so I'm glad you got in.

Rwk's post is right on the mark. Just because I decided that the LBS MIF is not the right degree for me does not mean that it won't be a great fit and an awesome experience for someone else. My posts were coming from my personal vantage point, and I'm sure others will arrive at a very different conclusion from me. Either way, talk to people, do your research, and make the decision that you will be happy with.

Best of luck to everyone heading off to LBS.

https://lastchancemba.blogspot.com

Congratulations, Lapras!

I'm now waiting for the final result after I had my interview on 3/June.

Lapras, congrats I had my interview on 17th May but haven't received any update as yet. I checked with MiF team two weeks back and they mentioned that an interview report will be sent to you indicating that all information has been received and admission committee will now make a final decision. Did you receive any notification from MiF team about your interview report ?

Hi LastChanceMBA,

despite I can understand some of your points (especially the point taking a UK B-School program as a US-based student who wants to get back to the US), your very last statement is kind of immature and shows imho a lack of objectivity and experience regarding Top-Schools.

Let's go through your points:

1) Which will give me access to more top firms

First of all, I am not aware what your professionals goals are. Hence, this statement might be fair enough. However, when it comes up to investment banking, consulting and PE, LBS is highly frequented by all top notch investment banks (GS, MS, JPM, DB, smaller elite-boutiques such as Lazard, Rothschild, Houlihan Lokey etc...) and top consulters (McK, BCG, Bain etc...). Maybe you can give me an insight what companies are actually in the league beyond Goldman & McKinsey? At least for the mentioned job sectors, I can't agree with your statement.

2) And a much higher caliber of students

Yes, that's actually the point where some people might feel offended Let me simply put a honest question: How do you know? Have you interviewed 200 LBS and 200 Harvard guys to get a representative survey on the skills of the average student? Honestly, such a statement is somehow ridiculous as it lacks any objective judgment.

Especially in the MIF programme which includes some very senior guys - would you approach someone who is a partner or an MD and tell him in person he is a "low-caliber" student? Probably because he is MD with a smaller company and not with Goldman? Would you tell an associate from MS he is a low-caliber student? I could basically go on infinetely with those examples both for the MIF and the MBA, however, I am aware that picking single examples does not make sense because simply as your statement, it lacks objectivity and representativity. However, one thing is sure and here I fully agree with rwkTX: You can't throw all the different people in a single box and label them "low" or "high"-caliber students. At LBS, just as it would happend at every other top-school, I met some people to whom I would not even entrust a pencil and a calculator (and you never now how they got in) and on the other side you have some totally freaky guys with incredible skills and a blue-chip CV that makes you feel like a dwarf. And of course you will have a lot of people in the middle. Given the requirements to enter a top-school, there is only thing sure about the student body: Most of these people are very smart in a specific area and given their experience and their career to date, they are extremely diverse with very different skill sets and personalities. Hence, it is utterly useless to put them all in a box and try to compare with them with the students from other schools.

3) better name brand and prestige

I kept this point for the end because it is a nice one that indicates that would might end up finding yourself in some trouble when starting your job search. Obviously you are suffering from the severe misconception that a Top B-School will get you a job by its stellar brand name. May I assume that you expect you just need to break into Harvard and once you arrived, all the headhunters are going to call you? Sorry dude, it won't work like this, neither in UK nore in the US. I know some people who started with such an idea and they all had at some point a quite painful awakening.

MBAs are actually a mass product, even on top-level. There is no need for the big global players to hunt the people from Harvard or Wharton as the market is flooded with MBAs and there are even plenty of top-notch people companies can still chose of. A top B-School is a top school simply for the reason that it provides you with a huge network (hence, your point with LBS alumni in the US might be very valid point) and the resources to make your own job search succesful. At LBS just as in case of Harvard, Wharton or Stanford you will get all the resources (contacts, information, recruiting events etc...) from the career centre you will need. However, it is completely up on you how you will manage and use these resources. Believe me, there is no one waiting outside for you just because you have a nice brand-name in your CV. It's not working that way.

Thanks everyone!

@ankurkapur- Yes I did receive a notification which mentioned that after making the decision they will inform me within two days. I guess you should hear something within next week, as someone mentioned in the forum that it can take 2 to 3 weeks. All the best for the same.

Do the admits know yet when the new session starts in August?

Induction day is Monday 26th!

Thanks, I wonder why adcom chose bank holiday for the induction!

I'm in too!!!

Congratulations to all those who got in!! Could you pls share your intervire experience? What all did they ask etc?

Congratulations Nottingham

When did you hear from them? When did you get an email from them regarding your interview report?

Hi Ankur,

I got the phone call from Eugenia telling me that I'm accepted an hour ago! I received my interview report last Friday after I had the interview last Monday.

Hi Apex,

Thank you! My interview started with the self-introduction and lasted more than two hours. The interviewer did ask me a lot of questions, but it was more like a casual conversation! The questions included

- Self-introduction,
- Why MiF (espeically comparing to MBA),
- tell me the most exciting part of your job,
- tell me the most challenging part of your job,
- any international experiences, describe each,
- any experience managing the conflicts with the foreign colleagues and how to manage,
- technical parts (eg. she asked two technical questions about the points that i mentioned in the essays),
- your first and alternative ST goals, and tell me how much you know about the ECM in IB and what qualities they value,
- How to manage your study and social time in MiF programme,
- Contribution to the LBS and MiF,
- Evaluate your undergraduate school and how you performed in that period,
- Your hobbies,
- To be continued... (I'll add here when more questions come up in my mind)

I'm so excited, and look forward to seeing you guys in London soon!

Hi everyone,

Those who are currently part of LBS MiF, please advice what are chances of getting admitted from a wait list? Just got a mail from adcom about my application status. Kindly advice..

Hi all,

Got the offer call yesterday when I was in Canada. Not much details upfront though... and will be on vacation when they send the pack. Does anyone have information about what's in it and how we go about to have more information on scholarships, loans, etc.?

re: interview, I did it on June 3rd with confirmation of interview report on June 10th and offer on June 12th.

The interview was rather short (say 45 mins) but I had to rush it because of my flight right after and the fact that my interviewer was hosting me at his office during peak business hours. Questions were fairly simple:

- Talking about each work experience
- Talking about Canada
- Talking about extracurriculars
- One point that was pushed was MBA vs MIF, especially given my background (7 years exp. in PE, IB, entrepreneurship / CFA / CAIA / very strong extracurricular, etc.). I think that the testing of my commitment was the core of my interview. At some point I was thinking 'so are you telling me not to do the program?'! But I guess it's part of what they are told to do.

Good luck to everyone who is still awaiting a response.

Best,

HR