The London Business School 2010 thread

Thanks; I have another questions. I quit my job last month to focus on my own business but I'll be starting a 9-5 job in October (a week before R1 deadline!). I'll be listing the new job in the "current employment" section but will the one month gap look bad on the application?

Will you still be involved with your business even after you start the 9-5 job? Perhaps you could frame it like:

Company A - June 2008 - August 2009
Own business - August 2009 - present
9-5 Job - September 2009 - present

Otherwise, you could put down that you worked on your own business from August to September, but be prepared to show some kind of achievement or responsibilities even for that one-month timespan.

I can definitely show some achievements for my month "off", but the online app (understandably) only allows one entry in the current employment section.

My story's something like this:
Company A: June 2007 - August 2009
Own business: June 2008 - present
Company B: October 2009 - present

Since my business is a non-profit one that I will most likely be involved in for a very long time, I can talk about it in length in my essays and include it in my resume.

Would you suggest I explain the one month gap in the optional essay, or is the "Why did you leave this position?" field in the "previous employment" section sufficient (i.e. I wanted to gain more experience in field X but before beginning my new job, I spent a month improving my own business)?

I also another question: How important is salary and does AdCom use it as an indicator of some sort?

Thank you so much for bearing with me

Hey all,

Regarding transcripts, howd you go about uploading them ? Do they have to be official ones from the universities, or can they be a copy and paste type of deal from the university's website ?

1) It really varies. The first term is very intense. 4-5 days a week is normal. But things ease out by January (because of milkrounds/job hunt). Second year is awesome, because you can really tailor your classes and have as many as 2-3 days off. Students often pursue outside interests such as extra job / classes during this time. Some folks tailor the course to finish in 15 months. These folks never really have much time for anything else because they are swamped with classes and assignments all the time.

2) The one big negative I can talk about is LBS's own brand management. I don't think LBS as a school markets themselves as aggressively or as persuasively as the American schools. Yet I know the quality of the students, faculty, location is up there with the best. Although this is perhaps because we don't have a large endowment like the American schools do.

3) Culturally LBS is VERY different from schools in the US. The diversity is well known, but one unspoken fact about LBS is its highly collaborative nature. Some American schools go out of their way to advertise their collaborative culture. However LBS folks are perhaps even more collaborative. We have to be; we are all in an unknown city (except the 10% locals) and LBS is our community and support network. The bonds that we're already forming will last us a life time. Students are mature folks who have had extraordinary experiences. I fit in with this group. This was the most important reason for me to come to London. There are folks here who have had admits from some of the best American schools, they all seem to be here for similar reasons : Location of London, Diversity and internationalism of peer group, collaborative culture etc.

4) Dont use that as a reason for attending b-school (it will lead to an immediate reject letter). Although schools know that many students come to school with no clear plans, they expect the students to write about well defined career paths in their essays. This is common for all top schools. Some might call this hypocritical, but from the school's point of view, it is important that their students can identify potential career paths and can articulate them clearly in their essays.

No problem! In that case, probably best to explain the gap in the employment section. Personally, I don't think the one-month gap is too long to warrant an optional essay (especially in this current climate where gaps of several months might be prevalent), but if you feel it would give you more space to discuss your reasoning and talk about your own business, then you could go with the optional essay as well. Just be sure that you are adding more information and value about your background than what it is mentioned elsewhere -- adcoms in general won't like reading an optional essay unless it truly shows a facet of your profile that is not evident in other parts of your application.

In terms of salary, I have only seen it used in the ROI and other statistics. I can't think of any way it would be used in admissions decisions.

Best to ask the office on this one if you don't have access to a transcript document. I used a scanned copy of the university-provided unofficial transcript document. Not entirely sure if you can just copy/paste from your university's website...

Hey Prashok and/or BSD,

I spoke to someone in admissions and I'll be visiting on October 9th. Do either of you know what happens during the drop in session? Will I sit in on a class or is more just question/answer with an admissions officer or current student?

Thanks!

Franklin

Thanks so much for all the info BSD & Prashok, it's priceless.

I haven't done a drop session myself so I dont know what is involved exactly (I think prashok did one last year). My guess is that at the very least you will get a tour of the campus and meet some student ambassadors. My classes finish at 12.30 on that day and if I am not stuck doing assignments, I'll be happy to catch up.

Just an update - I'll be applying in R2 i/o R1!

Yep, this is mainly what the drop-in session entails. It may be worth checking with Admissions to see if you can sit in on a class as well, though (they would have to arrange this separately).

Just curious about what recruiting is like for those from the US that go to LBS and then want to return to the US to work. Has anyone heard much about people doing this? How is the school viewed in the US? I would love the international experience, but would be slightly nervous about this.

Recruiting to US is surprisingly good IF you have US work authorisation.This is not an issue obviously if you are American. Only about 20-30% of the class usually does have the authorisation (Americans, Canadians, green card holders). We have a US finance trek scheduled in October where we'll be specifically speaking to various bulge bracket and mid market firms, however we have been warned about the work authorisation issue. After attending some other presentations, I observe that its actually easier to recruit for the US if you have non-finance aspirations.

It can depend on the industry/company -- but as bsd_lover mentioned, the work authorization issue is one of the main considerations for international students wishing to work in the US. If you are already eligible to work though, most of the larger firms (especially finance and consulting) do recruit for their global offices, including the American locations.

In terms of reputation, this can be somewhat dependent on location and industry as well. We have many students from the Northeast (mainly NYC), which is also reflected in the stronger alumni base in that area, especially in finance. Because of this, I feel the school has a more notable reputation in that region versus the West Coast and Midwest. That said, there are still sizable alumni clubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago as well. Overall, I think those that do know of LBS will already know that it's a strong school comparable to the M7. However, the challenge is getting everyone else to recognize the institution in the first place, especially recruiters in industry or non-profit.

In our class, there are quite a few Americans who are looking at returning back immediately after graduation -- so it isn't a rare occurrence. I personally don't plan to return to the US for some time, as I am focusing on Europe/Asia post-graduation -- where the LBS brand is on par with H/S/W in some places.

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NEED ADVICE: I had applied R1 Jan. 2010 INSEAD; R3 Aug. 2009 LBS; Oxford; and IE. I got into IE & Oxford. Got waitlisted at LBS & INSEAD. I declined the offer at Oxford, and decided to join April 2010 term at IE. Left my job in August and have gone on a long holiday trip. Gave up any hope on LBS. Am still waiting for a positive or a negative reply from INSEAD. All packed and ready to join IE.

Long behold, today I got an admit email from LBS for class of 2012, starting Aug. 2010. I am totally confused. I have already left my job. Tell me if I have to decide between IE & LBS, what should I do? Suppose I get into INSEAD also, it gets even more confusing. Although INSEAD might be an easier decision as it starts in Jan. Please help me make a decision here.