The London Business School 2010 thread

Excellent, thank you!

The more I think about this recruiting issue, the more I believe that the GMAT angle has been blown out of proportion a little, or else the 700+ GMAT as a requisite for getting into top firms is more of an American phenomenon than something that happens frequently at London Business School...or perhaps a little of both!

Guys,

Has anyone received the offer pack and the email with the portal login info yet? I guess we should receive it before Christmas break.

D

hi danek, i got the offer pack the day after the admit email, it was couriered with fedex (I live in London). haven't got the portal access yet though.

A little late, but congrats to the R1 admits! Sounds like this year will be another great one for GMATclubbers at LBS! For the waitlisters, be prepared, but don't lose hope. Both bsd_lover and I can attest to many waitlisters in our class that were able to make it work out at the end.

Admit packs are usually sent out via express mail, so you should receive them in a few days, or worst case before the end of the year for international packages. Portal access will come out a few weeks later, and you'll get a separate email for that -- so I would expect that in January.

Last year, scholarship decisions were also sent out around this time -- the adcom will usually send another email outlining the current status of scholarship offers, and when all scholarships have been awarded.

hope LBS will leave some $$$ for round 2s...

Hey all !

Sorry for the delayed update, I was out of the country with spotty Internet access. I was disappointed to see the Ding email. I thought after the interview I had a really good shot, and cant quite pinpoint what happened along the way.

Regardless, Ive had to tell myself that a ding isnt the end of the world, even if it was from my number one school. Life goes on. Congrats to everyone who got in !!

Hey mate sorry to hear that. Glad to see that you are taking it rather well. As I said earlier - these admits / dings / waitlists should never be taken as a reflection of personal capabilities.

Still no news from jmoore3 and waitingforanswers

bsd_lover and Prashok,

I wondered if London Business School, like a great many schools in urban settings, provided discounted mass transit options for its students. For instance, instead of paying full price for an Oyster Card or unlimited all-zone Travelcard, does the School guarantee subsidised versions? It would be really helpful to know this as a few of us start putting our budgets together. Can you tell us what the School's position on this is? It is a little early, I know, but I saw someone on another forum put up a post about housing budgets.

ok. That was me and this is more appropriate to current students. bsd_lover/prashok, any inputs on this.

Looking at various student blogs, SA website and google, I think 200-250 pounds per week is what we are looking at for a studio and 250-350 for a 1 br flat if we want to live at a walkable distance from school (St Johns Wood, Marlyeborne, bakers street etc). We may be able to save some if the apartment is shared. I was looking at the possibility of living 3-4 miles away from the school and saving some money. I could find a couple of college accomodations with studios for around 125-150$ per week. I need to figure out if commuting even this distance would cost as much as the rent saved. Also if biking is an option at all in this part of London (ofcourse, weather will be an issue!).. I wuld be more inclined to a studio accomodation with a shared kitchen.. what would be the right budget, the blogs I have come across are all pretty old.

You apply for a student oyster card once you get your LBS student card / ID number. You do it on the London transport web site (its the same for all students in London not just LBS students). Once you get this special student oyster card, you will get 30% discount on all monthly weekly and yearly pass type purchases (however no discounts on pay as you go).

Those housing figures look about right -- apparently we are doing better than the MBA2009s and MBA2010s in that regard, since housing prices dropped considerably once the economic crisis hit. Within our class, we have seen flat sharing range from 150 to 250 GBP per week for a private bedroom, depending on flat quality, distance from campus, and whether or not an ensuite is included.

Baker Street and Marylebone are the most popular options, given their walking distance. But there are indeed students living in St Johns Wood and Maida Vale, which are slightly further (and cheaper -- Baker Street/Marylebone in Zone 1 and can get very expensive). Still, other students live even further in Swiss Cottage, Finchley Road or Camden. We even have some people living in faraway distant lands south of the Thames.

Generally, people stay closer to campus during the first year, as classes can potentially start at 8:15 and end as late as 6:30, plus time spent at the library and study group work, etc. Second-year students tend to move out into other parts of London so they can explore more of the city (and since classes are only 2-3 days a week).

In terms of budget, the figures on the LBS website are still fairly accurate. To put it in perspective, LBS caps living expenses at 20k GBP per school year (i.e. 9-10 months) for the purposes of US loan borrowing, so that is basically the high-end. I would say 1500-2000 GBP per month is a fair estimate, with the potential for lower expenses if you live frugally.

Transport is fairly simple, as mentioned -- student passes are 30% off, though if you live within walking distance of campus, it might be better to just get a top-up Oyster account, since you may not need to use transport that much. For example, a monthly Zone 1-2 pass (including buses) is 70 GBP with the discount, or 720 GBP for an annual pass. There are plenty of bike racks on campus as well -- bsd_lover is the expert on biking to campus...

Cost of other things (groceries, etc.) is reasonable IMO, considering London's size. Personally, my biggest expenses have been housing and entertainment/going out (I've been blowing through the leisure budget by double almost every month ).

Thanks so much prashok. I guess I needed a reality check!

1500-2000 GBP is a scary number! I better get down to some serious planning or applying to any funding opportunities..

bsd_lover, how far do you bike? Do you live in one of these areas. Is weather not a constraint ?

I bike about 2 miles (10-15 mts). I live near Swiss Cottage / Finchley road. I have stopped biking ever since the snow got thick (basically from last week). It does get cold and miserable at 7.30 in the morning and riding limits your options (i.e. you can't ride a bike in a suit, which sucks because you need to wear suits during most events, so you need to ride home, change and catch a bus to attend the events).More importantly, biking is quite dangerous. I do it because I minimise risk by biking out of peak hours in inner non-busy streets but even then I've had some close shaves. My advice - avoid biking if you can help it.

Thanks bsd_lover.

Yeah, London can be a bit tough on a student budget -- especially since the area around LBS is very pricey. For example, St Johns Wood is supposedly the fifth most-expensive postcode in the UK -- where your neighbors are Kate Moss, Sir Paul McCartney and Jude Law.

Still, a more modest lifestyle will definitely help save on the living expenses, perhaps closer to 1200-1300 GBP. The first adjustment everyone has to make is to stop mentally converting the prices of items back to their home currencies, and to tone down expectations when it comes to housing (size and quality). Even the small things (like packing lunch or taking advantage of the £3.85 on-campus buffet) can make a difference since eating out tends to be expensive. The LBS Survival Guide (I forget if it's released with your admit pack, or once you pay the reservation fee) is pretty detailed on how to manage your budget to a reasonable figure.

Thanks prashok..

This question is more about the course content. Is there any course handbook or a programme guidelines book which details number of credits required for graduation, number of electives one can take, how one can make use of the flexible nature of the program in terms of duration, what are the rules etc. The only thing I could find on the website is the brochure which is very generic.

Thank you.

To fellow admits/prospective students,

This is the guide prashok was referring to and it is pretty useful and covers most aspects of student life:

https://www.londonsa.org/prospective_stu ... 0Guide.pdf