How to get into London Business School (LBS) MBA Admissions 2020

Holding B School Ranking of 1 for 5 consecutive years in the Financial Times’ European business schools list, London Business School (LBS) doesn’t really need an introduction.

It is gold standards when it comes to a business education. The school has three existing campuses, two in London and one in Dubai, and plans to extend their student capacity in 2020.

The school is also located at the center of business in London with over 700 of the world’s leading business right off campus. This opens a whole world of networking opportunities for attendees, which are supported by the school’s own vast network and relations with industry leaders and major business thinkers.

Graduating from the London Business School is more of a global experience than most other business schools that fall in the same league. This is mainly because of the school’s focus at providing globally immersive courses like the EMBA Global program.

The school also has an active recruitment Team which is always up to help prospective applicants in figuring out if LBS is the right place for them. So, if you’re toying with the idea of applying to LBS, and have any doubts about the programs, reaching out could help you resolve them all.

While you can get all the help you need during applications form the Recruitment Team, there are some basics that can help make your decision easier.

So, before we get into how to make a profile that is fit for LBS, let’s look at the basics of the MBA Programs at the school.

Types of MBA Programs

No one MBA Program can suit the needs of every student. This is why LBS provides three different types of MBA programs that suit people at various stages of professional work experience, and career goals. Whether you wish to change industries, or gain knowledge to further your career in the same industry, LBS has your covered.

Let’s look at the three MBA programs offered at LBS in a little more depth.

MBA

The two-year MBA Program at LBS is aimed at working professionals with two or more years of work experience, who are looking to change their industry. The students enrolled under this course are allowed to customize their curse by a lot. The first thing you can customize is the time-frame. Students can choose to finish their MBA in either 15, 18, or 21 months.

They are also allowed the option of an internship of a Entrepreneurship Summer School in their first year. they are also allowed to take time off the course to pursue an internship in the second year if they wish to. The course also offers 70+ options for the students to choose from as electives.

Executive MBA

The executive MBA is a much more demanding program in terms of application. The school requires a minimum of 7 and maximum of 22 years of work experience for someone to be eligible to apply to the Executive MBA course. This20-month long course is offered at both the London and the Dubai campus of LBS.

The Executive MBA at LBS is best-suited for an individual who wishes to stay in the same line of work but also gain business skills to help them qualify for leadership positions.

EMBA Global

This is the most versatile MBA program of LBS in terms of location. The 20-month long EMBA Global program has joint-class weeks and electives available in London, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Dubai. The program is divided into two programs; EMBA Global-Americas and Europe, and EMBA Global-Asia.

The work experience required for this particular course ranges between 5-20 years and averages at 12 years for the current class. It is taught in four-or-five day classes by the faculties of London Business School, The University of Hong Kong and Columbia Business School.

London Business School Fees

The cost of attendance for the various MBA programs at London Business School might seem high, but the school does have a few scholarships to help students out. However, for most scholarships, students need to apply separately through the school’s websites.

This could be a little inconvenient considering most other schools consider students for a scholarship through their application itself.

That out of the way, let’s look at the cost of attendance of London Business School.

Two-Year MBA

The cost of living in London varies from $2,500 to $3,500 a month including rent, study expenses and socializing. The London Business School does not have on-campus boarding and thus the rent is generally quite high.

As far as the tuition is concerned, it is $106,320 for the 2019 intake.

However, before you start fretting, you must take into consideration the earning opportunities like business projects and summer internships that the school provides. In addition to those, here are some school scholarships that are open to all applicants.

1. BK Birla Scholars Programme
2. Bell-Cohen MBA31 Scholarship
3. David and Molly Pyott Foundation Scholarship
4. Gallifrey Scholarship for Social Enterprise
5. London Business School Fund Scholarships
6. London Business School 50th Anniversary Scholarship
7. Mark Le Goy Memorial and MBA1997 Scholarship
8. Mary Ferreira Scholarship
9. MBA2000 15 Year Reunion Scholarship
10. MSc09 Scholarship
11. MSc19 Scholarship
12. Tech Disrupt and Transform Scholarship
13. The Reaching Out MBA Fellowship
14. SARI Foundation Trust Scholarship

Executive MBA

The London and the Dubai stream of the Executive MBA cost very similar to a student. While a self-financed student has the options to pay the fee in five installments over the duration of the program, a sponsored student’s sponsor must pay the fee in just two installments.

The following scholarships are also available to students opting for the Executive MBA Program at London Business School.

1. The Gallifrey Scholarship for Social Enterprise
2. The London Business School EMBA (Dubai) Scholarships
3. Dubai Executive Office Scholarship
4. The 30% Club Scholarship
5. Laidlaw Women’s Leadership Fund
6. The Muna Al Gurg Scholarship
7. The Monica and NavinValrani Scholarship

EMBA Global

The price of an EMBA Global includes the cost of accommodation (including the international assignment) in hotels like the Radisson Blu Portman in London, and the Marriott Marquis or the Marriott Renaissance in New York city. It also includes meals, and all study material as well as career support and extra-curricular activities and other facilities.

A self-financing student has the option to pay the fee in termly installment over the 20-month period of the course while sponsored students must pay the fee in two installments (one for each year).

LBS Application deadlines

The application deadlines for the two-year MBA and the Executive MBA are at 17:00 UK time. While, any applications received by the school after the March deadline will be considered on a case by case basis.

Two-Year MBA 2020 intake

Executive MBA January 2020 intake

EMBA Global May 2020 intake

Eligibility, Requirements & Application process of London Business School’s Two-Year MBA

1. The applicant should hold an undergraduate degree or an equivalent qualification.
2. The applicant must have a minimum of two-years of full-time work experience.

If you qualify for both, you can start your application process with London Business School. the application form is not a one-sitting form and can be filled over multiple sessions. This gives an applicant the freedom to really develop their application over a period of time, making changes to previous questions as they seem fit.

The application is only complete once the applicant pays roughly $258 in application fee through a credit card.

Once the application is complete and considered by the admissions committee, you will either get rejected or receive an interview call with an alumnus in your region (selected by a regional Admissions Manager). Subsequent to an interview, the admissions committee will either shortlist, accept, or reject your application based on the feedback by the alumnus.

Now getting to the application itself. Following is a table of the various steps of application and the requirements for each step.

Starting compensation received by MBA graduates

While most schools will provide an applicant with the best jobs available in their home country, LBS is a school with a much wider global reach. The business school has over 47% placement in countries outside of the United Kingdoms, where the main London campus is located. Recruiters consider LBS a core school to hire from.

LBS has also tailored their MBA program after a strong R&D process involving top recruiters around the globe, which makes the graduates a sought-after pool of potential employees.

Here’s a sneak-peak into the starting compensations after an LBS MBA degree for major industries.

Tips to get into London Business School’s MBA Program

Some tips and tricks work for all business schools and MBA programs. But each school has a personality of its own. It has values, skills, and culture that will have a focus different from its competitors. This is why having an individual or customized plan of attack for each school is important.

1. Attend an LBS MBA information session

   Needless to say, to truly know what a school endorses, your research needs to be anything you can find on the internet. No matter how many pages of research you read up on London Business School, the information a current student, faculty, or alumni could provide will be priceless when you look for the right skills to highlight in your essays.

   The London Business School holds information sessions in various cities and has an interactive networking meet right after the session. You can use this meet to reach out to alumni, faculty or students present in the session to ask deeper and more personal questions about their experience and the environment at LBS.

2. Show curiosity and collaboration

   Drawing more on the ‘asking questions’ part of the previous point, an admissions committee member, David Simpson, reveals that London Business School admires an inquisitive mind.

   He says that the school values applicants who show curiosity and collaboration. Since LBS has one of the most diverse MBA classes, the school emphasizes on applicants having a collaborative nature as being a good fit for the school. make sure that your essay has an essence of your collaborative nature as well as other skills like leaderships and innovation.

   Also, when you go for an Interview, remember to ask questions that you could have for the school. Don’t read a few blogs and ask the basic generic questions on there. Ask real questions about what London Business School can offer you as an MBA student.

3. Have a global-mindset

   This would probably be the most important part of these tips. LBS endorses a Global education with various semester abroad or international project/seminar opportunities offered to the students every year.

   So, even if you have no international exposure, you would still require to have a mind that is open and welcoming to all the new experiences and cultures that the school will expose you to throughout your MBA.

4. Be very clear about LBS’ place in your goals

   Lead with passion. Don’t let any spaces in your application that generalize your need for an MBA education. Make sure all your answers to questions are specific in regards to how exactly an LBS MBA will help you.

   While writing the essay, tie up your career goals to LBS’ culture and student life. Pick out specific things like a global-mindset, or a collegial environment, things that LBS is known to have, and use those as things that will benefit your career growth.

   Also, make sure you tell the admissions committee that you wish to be a part of LBS not just for the MBA but even post that. Don’t be obnoxious about this. If you can slide the fact that you will be a dedicated alumnus, then make sure you do it.

5. Apply in the first or second round

   LBS has a much smaller class than most of its competitors. While Harvard or Stanford have MBA classes over 900, LBS doesn’t cross the 500 mark.

   This means two things; first, it has a close knit and collegial community even after the competition of an MBA class, second, the seats get filled faster and only a few seats are left by the time the third or the fourth rounds approach.

   To make sure you get the leverage of having all or most seats at LBS’ MBA program open for the taking, try to apply in the earliest rounds possible.

6. Have a brief for your essays

   While having a brief answer to essay questions is how I suggest attempting your essays, if you choose to write the whole thing without it it’s perfectly fine. But, make sure you create a three-line brief answer to the same.

   When you get through to the interview round at LBS, you will be asked questions that will require a long answer if unprepared. However, if you know the basics like ‘Why MBA?’, ‘Why now?’, and ‘Why LBS?’, you’ll be able to give precise and clear answers to such questions.

   All of the questions mentioned above are basically what your essays will be the longer versions of. So, having a brief of the essays will give you an answer that you can customize for such questions.

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