The London Business School 2010 thread

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thanks dude..I need all the luck I can get!!!

highhopes09 - from earlier posts and other sites it seems its about a random topic. But what others have mentioned and I agree with is that they are really assessing you on your ability to formulate and deliver a clear argument than the actual details of content. Afterall, they can't expect you to know everything

Happy Monday to everybody,

I got my interviewer details today. Nothing except for name and an email, so don't know how closely our profiles match, except that we are both female. Oh, and she's located in Dallas (I'm in Houston), so it's going to be a drive...

Got my details today.......Like snowinTX, I too have a drive ahead of me (400mi!).

Wow, you got me beat there - I only have 260 (one way).

Maybe it's better for you to fly? What city will you be coming from and to?

As per London Business School tomorrow should be the last day for them to send interviewer details. I haven't received mine. Lets see whether I get to tomorrow.

Spoke to Phillipa today and she said she's sending out my interviewer's details to me tomorrow.

Should be same for me too then.

I got my invite on Friday. I have contacted my interviewer, but waiting to hear back from him.

For me, it is probably going to be in London as I could see in Linkedin that he too works in London.

All the best to everyone.

They matched me with a very senior alumni graduated before 1990... That should be interesting.
I guess I have to revisit the questions I had for the end of the interview.

I got my interviewer details today as expected. She works in the same city so should be fine Now I need all wishes and luck for my interview.

All the best guys!

same here, I am revisiting my questions...
am not sure when did my interviewer graduate, but he is in a very senior position... 2 more days to go for the interview!

Hello All,
I just got done with my LBS interview around an hour and a half ago in New York City. I am actually typing this on the bus back to Boston.

I interviewed with an alum from the class of 1993. He is the Vice-Chairman and chief strategy officer for his company. Amazingly down-to-earth guy. He interviewed me at a conference room at a law firm in Manhattan. He seemed very relaxed about the dress code. He said "dress in any way that makes you comfortable". Since this was an interview, I adopted a semi-formal dress code. The interview was very conversational and I felt oddly relaxed throughout. I just hope I didn't talk too much. So I am guessing all of you want to know the questions. So here goes:

a. How would your team members describe you? Is their description accurate? If so, why?
b. Is there anything about the perception your team members (at work) have of you that you don't necessarily agree with? If so, what do you not agree with?
c. Why did you pursue an Engineering degree in college? Why not music (I play the piano)?
d. What is the biggest thing you would change in your education and why?
e. What do you think are some of the challenges being faced by businesses today?
f. What do you think about the Toyota recall? How would you handle things now if you were in their shoes?
g. Have you faced resistance from members on your team? How did you deal with it? If you didn't face any resistance but one of your team members did not complete the task you delegated to him or her
despite you explaining the requirements to them well, how did you deal with this person?
h. What has been the biggest challenge of your professional life?
i. You are interested in the media industry. What if I gave you a choice between two options:

- I give you $100,000 to start your own media-related venture.
- You go to business school.

Walk me through the thought process you would use to decide between the two options above.
j. If you got admission offers from ALL the schools you applied to, how would you weigh one vs another to make your decision on accepting one?
k. How do you manage your team at work?
l. How have you dealt with a team member that is on an ego trip?

The 5-minute presentation related to the financial crisis. It was a very easy topic - almost disturbingly easy. I was asked to take a stand on a specific question - so not too bad. The real surprise came at the end of the presentation - when he asked me for a counter-argument. Fortunately, I had one in mind which was probably not nearly as compelling as my original argument but it seemed good enough for the interviewer.

I don't know how I fared on the interview. It is very hard to judge. The interviewer was definitely a very nice guy and he really painted a good image for LBS. A huge thank you to all of you that shared your experiences on this forum. It really helped me prepare for this interview. I could not have reached so far without your help. Kudos to our student ambassadors from LBS on this forum (they know who they are!). They are shining examples of what we all should aspire to be at the end of our business school application journey.

Regards,

Pranav

Random update: I'm applying R1 this fall (I was due to apply R1 in 09); I've spent the last few months dying at work (read: building up my cv) and, if possible, I'll be taking a few quant courses at the local university here (read: build up an alternative transcript to make up for my UG degree in English Literature) over the summer to oomph up my application as a whole. I'll be 27 when/if I matriculate in 2011 and uhhh I feel old.

To those of you who've made it this year: Please keep sharing your awesomeness with us!

Recruitment question: Have you guys sensed any underlying age bias amongst recruiters, consulting firms in particular?

Thank you for that detailed report, Pranav. I hope that you are offered admission to LBS!

Kudos to you for the informative writeup!
Sounds like it went well so all the best. Must be a good feeling that it's all out of your hands now!

thanks so much! Keeping my fingers crossed.