The London Business School 2011 Thread

LBS newsflash !!


Over the weekend, a team from London Business School won the annual Wharton Private Equity Competition. The team of <names removed> beat out 18 teams from the top American schools including Harvard, Chicago, Columbia, Kellogg, and Wharton. This follows on the success of the London Business School team of <more names removed> who won the European Private Equity competition at Rotterdam earlier this year.

These achievements are particularly impressive as this is the first year London Business School has entered these competitions.

I am not a current student, but posed the same question at my LBS visit. It depends, popular exchange BSchools are CBS, MIT, Booth. Demand always outweighs supply of available places. The answer is relatively tough to get in. Also rule that foreign students get preference for exchange. So US students less likely to enter exchange BSchools in the US.

Other BSchools are neutral (HEC or other US schools) and others are less popular.
some BSchools in Asia are getting more popular as exchange partners.

Well I'm at Booth right now and somehow it didn't feel particularly competitive when I was applying for it. The most in-demand schools were Columbia, Wharton, MIT, Booth, AGSM, HKU (in no particular order). Plus you get to pick 3 (in your order of preference) and it is very rare that you do not get even one school of your preference.

The rule is you cannot apply for schools in your home country in R1. However there are TONS of spots in R2 for really great US schools. I know several Americans who went to Stern, Kellogg, Tuck and got spots in R2.

Columbia, MIT, Wharton and Chicago were filled up in R1 and none of my American friends got an opportunity to apply for these, but they applied instead to AGSM, HKU, HEC, IESE etc. There are just way too many other cool schools and locations as available options.

I read in a blog or forum post several months ago where someone compared the impromptu presentation to the writing section of the GMAT in that whatever side you choose to argue was far less important than how you thought out and structured your argument. I found this comparison especially helpful. The classic "Intro/3 Main Points/Conclusion" structure is a good standby to keep in mind too.

I had my interview yesterday - it didn't go very well at all. Totally messed up the presentation bit, lost my train of thought in the middle of one the points I was making. So not expecting an admit from there. I also think as I have received an admit from another school the day before my interview, I relaxed too much and didn't really prepare properly or focus on it. Other than that the interviewer just went through my current job, asked about some leadership experiences, international background, why did i get into the industry I'm in now, what am i hoping to take away with from an MBA that will significantly help me in my career, and why LBS (and not the other schools I've applied to). I'm now officially done with interviews etc. Thank God - am a bit burned out by this whole process, I'm going on holiday next week to re-load batteries and relax in the sun. Good luck to everyone else on your interviews!!

I had my interview with an alumni today. We met in a coffee shop and the interview went on for around 90 minutes.

The usual questions of why MBA and why LBS.

Some questions on team work and lots of questions on my industry and specifically on my resume and my application.

Overall a very conversational interview.

Now the waiting game begins.

Just completed my interview- I haven't ever interviewed with an Alum , but I find them way more nicer and friendlier than adcom and 2nd years. I have to admit, this is the truly the first school that I really learned from the experiences of someone else who had gone through the program. Maybe the 30 min on-campus interviews are just not time-permitting to have an engaging conversation. This was definitely an interview experience I enjoyed. Good luck everyone!!

Yes, it is a good sign. But you need to be proactive to address their doubts about your English speaking ability. Just in case they are still not fully convinced, why don't you 'quickly' enroll in an english speaking class and let them know that you intend to improve further in this area.

I am in . . feeling top of the world obviously .. congrats everyone who got in . .i m a re applicant from India and its like a dream come true :D .. looking forward to discuss more ..

Thanks a lot bsd_lover. I am looking forward to discuss more with you, since I have to make a tough decision to choose between Kellogg MMM program and LBS (learning toward LBS ).

There's usually a decent number put on the W/L every round. What are your odds of coming off it? To be honest it is almost impossible to give you an answer. There will be a significant number of W/L'd people who ultimately get a seat in the progamme, but your chances depend on a number of different factors including who pulls out, your background/WE, and at the end of the day your "fit" for the seat that opens up. I used to live with a member of Adcom (not at LBS, but a top US school) and every year she would comment that the hardest part of the job was dealing with anxious W/Ler's pushing for updates etc. I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, but it really is a case of sitting tight and hoping for the best for the next couple of months. Unless there was a massive hole in your application it's tough to do anything to improve your overall profile other than being polite and impressing anyone you meet involved in the programme (without overdoing it of course).

Good luck and I hope it works out for you.

welcome! thanks!

Good initiative buddy. Perhaps look at the title pages for 2010 thread and post some useful links on the master post.

Good luck with the application process.

*I added some of the extra info.

I'd love to post additional info, but I dont have privileges yet, so I have to wait a week...

Anyone out there want to draw some info from the prior LBS threads so we can create a go-to data source on this thread as well? That would be great.

B

Good stuff brad....just went through the LBS 2010 thread and found it very informative....

My profile.....

27 y/o male (Nigerian)
5 years work experience (asset mgt for three and private equity for two) in Nigeria
670 GMAT (89% V, 62% Q)
Took the CFA level two exam last week...hope i pass to get around my low quant score in GMAT
low undergrad GPA

BSD_Lover...notice you were the star of the 2010 thread ......think i got a shot at LBS?

I also plan to apply to Cranfield, Said and Judge in addition to LBS.

Here's to a successful admission's season for us all!

Hi bayoba, not just LBS but many other schools will find your profile attractive. Do the obvious things (i.e. essays, recommendations) right.

Good luck.

Thanks for starting the thread.

I'm actually going to be a reapplicant after getting dinged last year (1st round with interview).

My profile:

27 year old male (American)
A little less than 5 years w/e in public sector consulting in the US.
760 GMAT (99% V, 88% Q)
3.5 GPA

I think I've done a lot in the past year to improve my profile (Extra leadership and ECs), but how worried should I be that I wasn't explicitly asked to reapply in my original ding letter?