London Business School MBA 2022-2023 Essay Tips

While the application essays for London Business School might not have changed from those of last year, they still require just as much attention. So, before you begin drafting your work, try to take the necessary time to acquaint yourself with the program at LBS: dig into the curriculum and wider school offerings, join events and engage with alumni, and try to discover what makes LBS stand out for you.

If you’re serious about applying to LBS, be sure to also keep track of its MBA deadlines.

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 properly answer this question, you have to first zero-in on what post-MBA goals you’d like to target. Whether they’re 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 positions. If you’re unsure of how to approach this section, try to source opinions on natural career paths from peers and mentors in your network.

For the next part of the essay, it’s vital to identify matching skills between your previous occupations and future roles. Often, it’s easier to work backwards 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 your application.

The final parts of the essay should respond to the question, what value will LBS bring to your future career? The most important mistake to avoid her 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—so, ideally, you’ve taken the advice we mentioned in the introduction to heart. LBS wants applicants who understand the demands of their future occupations and are able 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 write an optional essay? It’s tempting to think that your profile and your response to the first question are strong enough to hold up the entire application on their own, but, in the vast majority of cases, avoiding this question will cost you the chance to show the admissions committee how much you really stand out.

A common approach here is to choose a topic related to internationality or diversity that syncs up well with the values at LBS. In this case, you could first assemble a list of personal experiences that had to do with foreign, cross-cultural or diversity-based events, be they from your personal or professional life. Afterwards, you should try to identify those that best illustrate your strengths or your impact on others, as well as those that would most contribute to LBS and its community.

If you don’t have any such experiences, don’t despair: instead, 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 London Business school.