The London Business School 2010 thread

thanks very much prashok for the response! so do I assume correctly that once you are a current student, you have full access to the entire alumni network?
thanks!

Just got my application through before round 2 deadline...
Here's my profile

GMAT: 710, Q50, V38 AWA 5.0
8 years expereince in Sales in the hi-tech Industy.

Alright, I got a couple of pm's from R2 applicants asking me to share my interview experience. So I thought I would share it with everyone to give back to this forum.

My interviewer was a very senior executive in a top level management consulting firm. He was very approachable and made me feel very comfortable during the complete interview. He was genuinely trying to understand my background, my career goals and my fit with London Business School. Following are some things I remember about the interview:-

1. He set up an interview for one hour and he timed it precisely so that it was over in exactly one hour. This was a little different from other London Business School interviews that I have heard of, where people had interviews lasting 1.5-2 hrs.
2. My interviewer had read my application in and out. He was well prepared with specific questions from my application to verify the authenticity/genuineness/commitment to my career goals. He was trying to make sure that I had not 'bluffed' in my application. This was very much inline with most of the London Business School interview experiences that I have heard of - London Business School interviewers read your application through and through before the interview.
3. He asked following questions in order:-
a. My background
b. How I performed in a team pertaining to a specific example I had put in my app. How did I handle conflict in that team?
c. Cross-questions from my app regarding my career goals. Why have you chosen this career goal? What will you do if your career goals are not met?
d. Why London?
e. Why 2 year MBA? Why not 1 year?
f. Presentation topic. He told me not to worry about presenting for five minutes. I think I presented whatever points I had in 2 minutes. I was prepared and gave a structured presentation - Introduction (basically repeapted the topic he had given), then pros., then cons., and then conclusion (which point of view I supported and why?). I was a little nervous when I began. But as I started speaking, I gained confidence and words and ideas automatically started flowing. [I am not the very best of the presenter nor a very good speaker].
g. Questions for him. I asked him a couple. But he had already got the idea that I had done my homework about London Business School well and had good reasons for applying there. In the end he said that he thought I will be a good fit for London Business School.

I came back and sent him a thankyou mail.

After reeceiving the admission, I again emailed him about my admit and thanked him again.

Hope you guys find this helful.

D.

kudos for the interview debrief danek.
It is inspiring and insightful to read the success stories and I feel that unlike GMAT (which can be retaken in another month) so much more hinges on the interview!

Hi All,

Just a small query:

All colleges boast an "inclusive culture", a "collaborative atmosphere", a "diverse student group", lots of "peer learning and teamwork", "great opportunities to network", an "international experience", and for most big city colleges, a "immersive city".

But, aside from these cliches, can someone distinctly tell me what specifically LBS is looking to hear about "Why LBS?"

Of course, I know that even a little bit of research will talk about Sundowners, about the London Experience, the campus, etc... but don't you guys think that ultimately it is the draw of the brand, and the possible job offers that brings us to these colleges?

Thanks,
Pranay

Pranay,

Even the admission committee is aware of all the cliches' we might use in our essays and theres every chance they get tired of reading them. But when they ask about your short-term/long-term goals and your experiences in the same essay as 'why LBS', they want to see how everything you have done so far and want to do fits with LBS. When you relate all your experiences and goals the answer becomes very personal. You really have to be sure about choosing LBS. All the top colleges have a great brand-value and offer great jobs, but you need to convince them that theres something about you and LBS that just fits together. If that happens, you may end up rejecting H/S/W for LBS. I know i have not exactly answered your question, but as i said, it has to something very personal about you that would eventually draw the adcoms' attention.

I totally agree.
It's about 'fit', so more important is to relate the 'Why' to your past experiences and future goals.

Kudos nice debrief Danek. Is your career goals aligned with your interviewers current career?
It seems some people have interviewers with similar career paths and some have interviewers with vastly different ones.

The reason I ask is I've noticed interviewers often direct questions related to future goals, such as knowledge about the industry you want to go into. While I've done research into prospective companies etc. I wouldn't go as far as to say I know the intricacies of those companies or even my intended field. I'm curious how much you are expected to know but I guess it's really a matter of presenting what you do, and affirming your goals.

Question: If you're considering consulting as your post-MBA goal, would they talk about case studies with you just to test your commitment to the field because so many applicants want to be consultants/IBers because its the thing to do?

All,

danek says something at the very end of his debrief which might seem routine, but which I think is of tremendous value, and should certainly be embraced by those of you fortunate enough to be short-listed for interviews in the coming stages. The comment about sending a thank you note after the e-mail, but then following up with another thank you and notification note about the Offer, is the one of the first steps to building a successful network within the London Business School Community before even arriving on campus in London.

I did precisely what danek just recommended in his/her post, and below, as a consequence, are the ripple effects of those actions:

My interviewer put me in touch with another alumni who works at his firm, and who had been active in a club I'm very interested in joining. I had dinner with that alumni who enjoyed our conversation, and gave me contact information for two other alumni within this club I fancy joining. I had a telephone chat with one of these contacts who, upon hearing of my post-MBA career goals, put me in touch with her brother, who is also an alumni of the programme, but more importantly, who happens to be working in the very industry, and at one of the very firms, I shall be targeting in the January milk rounds in 2011.

All in all, I've managed to network with seven London Business School alumni so far across Finance and Consulting, and I'm reminded that the subtle art of effectively building and expanding an optimal network before, during, and after attending a top MBA programme is one of the cornerstones that drive us to pursue these programmes in the first place.

Well put Doc

yangsta8,

I believe the background 'matching' that LBS does between applicants and interviewers is based mostly on your background to date, rather than post-MBA goals. For example, if you come from an engineering background and want to move into consulting, they might match you with someone who was an engineer in a similar field to yours prior to LBS. Detailed industry-specific questions at the interview would most likely be related to that field, of which you should already have a good understanding. I believe this is done so that the interviewer can assess how well you have performed in your industry, and how reasonable/logical/realistic are your motivations for doing an MBA.

Having said that, if you plan to change careers it will certainly help to show a good level of understanding of your future industry! But I don't think you should worry about detailed questions / case studies / etc about a sector you don't have any experience in.

Thanks for the information vgeri. Yes I would have thought the 'matching' would have been based more on your background rather than future and have no problem talking about my current industry. I think having a background match would almost make the interview a little easier because it will allow the interviewer to understand you better.

I have seen interview write-ups (more for American schools) where the alumni interviewer has a completely different background but I think that's rare. Either way I will focus my prep mainly on my own application, essays, reasons etc. if I'm lucky enough to get shortlisted. How much time did R1 applicants use to prepare for their interviews?

awesome! kudos for sharing the stories are huge pep-up and makes me so much more desperate to be "in"

here is a link (courtesy: boofyhairgirl) for interview prep:
https://www.clearadmit.com/wiki/index.ph ... nInterview

Hello,

I am an R2 applicant for LBS. One recommender has submitted his reco by the 6th. The second recommender is yet to do it. I am banking on the 1 week recommender grace period to be considered for R2.

Hi rockyb,

I'll suggest you contact the adcom directly either through phone or email on your late recommendation and explain the reason. This is because there is no direct source from LBS stating the 1 week grace period.

Regards

@rockyb I spoke to Adcom while submitting my app and they categorically confirmed that you have until the 13th to submit all reccos etc.

Hope this helps

Pranay