Similar to its European competitors, the London Business School places great emphasis on having an MBA class with a global mindset.
Before you start writing your MBA essays for LBS, give yourself ample time to network. Since LBS doesn’t have extensive essays like many other business schools, networking becomes crucial for an MBA applicant to share more of their personality and story with the school.
Pre-COVID-19, LBS had the option for MBA applicants to make campus visits and meet with Student ambassadors. However, they have now moved to Online Sessions to make up for the lack of in-person visits.
London Business School Essay Questions
London Business School keeps its MBA application essays very simple. They have one mandatory question that all MBA applicants are required to answer and another optional question.
Since LBS has only one mandatory question, MBA applicants are advised to also answer the optional question to provide the admissions committee more insight into their candidature.
Question 1. (500 words) What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these?
The London Business School admissions committee is looking for the answer to the following questions through this essay:
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What are your Post-MBA Career Goals?
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This concerns your short-term as well as long-term career goals. Don’t simply mention your career goals. Provide LBS’ admissions committee with the story of how you decided upon your career goals. Provide them with recent instances that made you realize you were interested in a different industry, function, or moving up the ladder in your current role.
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Why LBS?
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This is where your networking activities would come in handy. During networking, you would have found out about the various clubs, faculty members, electives and other activities at LBS. Use the unique aspects of the LBS environment and the people and events associated with it.
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What are your transferable skills?
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This question is asking how your experiences, personal or professional, till the date you answer this essay question, have made you capable of fully optimizing your LBS MBA. What are the skills you have acquired throughout your life and how can they be honed or multiplied during your time at LBS to help you reach your post-MBA career goals.
Tips to answer LBS MBA Application Essay Question 1
1. Don’t try to create another MBA resume while you answer this question. LBS only has two essay questions, and they both have a 500-word limit. Thus, you can’t afford to repeat information from your profile that you have already shared, like your resume.
2. Adding on to the previous point, this essay is not the place for all of your professional accomplishments. If you want to share more accolades from your professional life, request your referees to share such instances. Let your MBA resume and Letters of recommendation give a glorious review of your professional life.
3. Make sure LBS caters to your post-MBA career plans. Since LBS has its own set of recruiters that return year after year, they are less likely to take a chance on a student that can’t be placed with one of these recruiters. In simple terms, if your potential recruiters aren’t present in the list of recruiters, you might need to provide more proof of employability to the LBS admissions committee.
4. Make a strong equation of Employability via London Business School.
Equation of Employability: Past+LBS MBA=Short-Term Goals+Long-Term Goals
5. Tell them how you’ll customize the LBS MBA. LBS is a very flexible MBA Program that allows students to select their courses and tailor it to their own needs. Creating a seamless story of how you wish to tailor your LBS MBA program to achieve your career goals will surely create an impression.
Question 2. (500 words) (This question is optional) Is there any other information you believe the Admissions Committee should know about you and your application to London Business School?
This Essay question is the perfect opportunity for you to explain any shortcomings in your MBA profile.
Being a top school, London Business School receives applications that look perfect on paper. The school won’t hold it against you. They aren’t looking for applicants who only look perfect on paper, rather have a wholesome profile. But, meeting all the other stats such as the average GMAT score, average GPA, average work experience helps.
So this additional essay can be used in case you don’t meet any of these criteria.
Here are the things you can address in the optional LBS essay.
- Low GMAT Score
- Low GPA
- Low Work Experience
- Gaps in Work Experience
- Your choice of recommenders
- If you’re a re-applicant, use this essay to detail the personal and professional growth you have done in the past year.
Remember that this essay is not for you to blame any person or event in your life for your shortcomings. Instead, it is for you to convey how despite those shortcomings you will be a great addition to the LBS MBA class.
Now get to work as you’ll create multiple drafts of these essays before you write one you will be proud to send to London Business School!
