As a short note before we jump into an analysis of this year’s essays, the London Business School MBA questions have not changed from those of last year. Moreover, if you’re interested in the latest LBS MBA deadlines, be sure to follow the link.
ESSAYS
What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these? (500 words)
To begin answering this question, you need to zero-in on what post-MBA goals you’d like to target. Whether short or long-term, these objectives have to follow a natural and realizable career path, while retaining some sense of daring. It may sound difficult to accomplish, but your success depends on how well you understand the potential curves and detours in your target roles. If you’re unsure of how to approach this section, try to source opinions on natural career paths from your network.
For the next part of the essay, it’s vital to identify matching skills between your previous occupations and future roles. Sometimes, it’s easier to work backward from the major accomplishments that you’ve experienced towards the skills that they illustrated. To add some colour to the essay, try to elaborate on some of these successes, especially if they don’t appear in other sections of the application.
Finally, you need to show what value LBS brings to your upcoming career. The most important mistake to avoid in this part of the essay is a lack of specificity. London Business School is very open about sharing information on its courses, professors and tools, as well as facilitating meetings between candidates and alumni. They want applicants to have taken the time to understand the demands of their futures occupations and to link them to a programme that best meets those needs.
Is there any other information you believe the Admissions Committee should know about you and your application to London Business School? (Optional) (500 words)
The most common question we get is, must I really answer this optional question? It’s tempting to think that your profile and first essay response are strong enough to hold up the application all on their own, but, in the vast majority of cases, avoiding this question will cost you the opportunity to show the admissions committee how you stand out.
While there are many topics you can choose to write about, applicants often benefit from concentrating on one of the aspects that LBS prides itself on most: internationality. You can begin by searching for stories linked with foreign experiences or cultural interactions. After collecting a list, try to identify those that best illustrate your strengths, and would contribute most to LBS and its community.
If you don’t have many international experiences or diverse background, focus on meaningful personal events that highlight the most positive traits of your character. It would be best if those stories also include instances of teamwork or leadership, especially if you can tie them to a greater level of participation at LBS.
Applying to a London Business School is an arduous yet rewarding process. So, if you’d like to put yourself in the best possible position to be accepted, you can connect with one of our LBS experts today.
