The London Business School 2009 thread

how many ppl are in the facebook group you are talking about? i joined one that was posted on businesweek... it only has 12 people. if there is a more popular one, please provide link! thanks...

The largest one has 44 members now. It was posted on the portal. The link is :
https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2 ... 317&ref=mf

Prashok - have you been granted access to the Facebook group? I'm still waiting...

Waiting as well...

Hey guys, I'm a R2 applicant, and I've gotta say, the more I read about LBS, the more excited I get. However, the one thing that bothers me a little is the cost - factor in the pound, the cost of living in London, and things start to get a little expensive. I'm wondering how you guys (especially internationals) are thinking about this, especially in the current economic downturn?

BTW, I'm not looking to get into investment banking or consulting post MBA (hours too long) and I'm starting to worry about graduating with a huge loan on my back. I'm also not from a rich family and already have a smallish loan I need to pay off - I'm in net debt right now ... mainly for personal reasons (illness in family).

What are your thoughts on this?

Have you seen the pound lately? $1.4633 per 1 Pound is the exchange rate. It's dirt cheap, but who knows how long it will last.

I got into the facebook LBS group today, Prashok. FYI, I was never notified under my notifications or on my home page, I just clicked on the group link and got in.

Hey agold, I should have mentioned but I'm an Aussie - the Australian dollar has been hit hard, so the exchange rate for me is not good.

BSchool - the GBP is still at a near all time low against the AUD (appx 2.15) which is pretty good if you have a lot of AUDs stashed up. But if you're like me (i.e. empty cupboard) - you will need to secure financing via an HSBC loan. Total costs appx 85K GBP - so its not cheap. But you'll earn in pounds - you'll also secure internships. So its not that bad altogether. Think about folks from India etc. who are in a much worse state thank to weaker currencies. Also compare what an American MBA will cost --> 90KUSD for fees is more expensive that 45KGBP at the moment (in fact if you do the math you'll work out that based on the current rates LBS may actually work out cheaper than the US)

I know I'll need to work in the UK for a little while after the MBA to pay off the loan - But that was one of the aims post MBA anyway. I suppose it also depends on the personal loan situation - how bad is it ? How will you keep up with the requirements while not earning (and this applies to both US and London MBA programs).

Try and click on it - you're definitely a member I can see you in the list.

[quote="bsd_lover"]BSchool - the GBP is still at a near all time low against the AUD (appx 2.15) which is pretty good if you have a lot of AUDs stashed up. But if you're like me (i.e. empty cupboard) - you will need to secure financing via an HSBC loan. Total costs appx 85K GBP - so its not cheap. But you'll earn in pounds - you'll also secure internships. So its not that bad altogether. Think about folks from India etc. who are in a much worse state thank to weaker currencies. Also compare what an American MBA will cost --> 90KUSD for fees is more expensive that 45KGBP at the moment (in fact if you do the math you'll work out that based on the current rates LBS may actually work out cheaper than the US)

I know I'll need to work in the UK for a little while after the MBA to pay off the loan - But that was one of the aims post MBA anyway. I suppose it also depends on the personal loan situation - how bad is it ? How will you keep up with the requirements while not earning (and this applies to both US and London MBA programs).

Yeah I agree with you. Currently GBP is around Rs 71 in India, its lower as compared to before when it was around Rs. 85. So its better than before but its still conversion rate is high.

Thanks, dude -- looks like I'm indeed in now. Now, I need to find a good picture to update my profile with...

P.S. My name is Ashok for anyone else in the group!

pretty hard to guess huh



I received a VERY schmick package from LBS today. A brand new portfolio with all sorts of goodies (a USB key, greeting cards, portfolio pens, latest edition of business strategy review etc.) Very nice of them - must have cost a fortune to produce and ship out. It had some rather nice touches - a mini London lonely planet was included (Lonely Planet founder and CEO Tony Wheeler is an LBS alum).

The letter suggested that they'd make any scholarship decisions by Jan 16th and that scholarships are very competitive (which pretty much means that I shouldn't bother raising my hopes).

Never know, there could be several admits with the same 13-letter last name....

Just got my package today as well -- very slick indeed! And just in time -- I leave the States in a few hours....

Safe travels!

Thanks! Now I'm trying to get used to all this humidity and heat over here...

Hi:
How long before the deadline should we send our GMAt scores to Schools. I just send mine to LBS. Th GMAT has send an email stating that "Please allow three weeks for a program to receive your score report" .



Thanks,
Abhay Singh