Every week, we give you the opportunity to ask one of our chosen admissions experts anything you want to know about getting into business school. One question each week is chosen for our expert to answer.
This week, the question comes from Vidushi Gupta, a business school applicant from India.
Her question is answered by David Simpson, in charge of MBA and MiF admissions at London Business School. The LBS MBA is ranked fourth in the world by the Financial Times.
Applicant Question of the Week:
Dear BusinessBecause,
What are the most important things London Business School looks for in an MBA candidate?
The Answer:
As our dean, François Ortalo-Magné said recently, we value curiosity and humility in prospective students. We want people who ask questions.
As we strive to build an incredibly global class, we are searching for candidates who value the power of diversity. Not every student will join us with extensive international experience, but everyone must have a global mindset and the desire to learn how things work in different regions and cultures.
We run a highly collaborative learning environment, with international study groups and high expectations of classroom participation levels, so we want active students, who will join us expecting to contribute to the education of others. These expectations run deeper than just the academic performance and into broader student life—whether it be planning the next Women in Business Conference, helping train fellow students on consulting case interviews or organising the Japan Trek.
Our students will be travelling a lot on the MBA, whether through their Global Business Experience, by going on exchange to one around 30 partner schools, joining treks to different countries to network for employment, or just taking advantage of our London location to travel for weekends away.
Although students can plan their own journey through the MBA (choosing elective courses and different options to suit their aspirations), everyone will be required to do some pretty intense quantitative study. So we have quite high demands for candidates to show us that they can succeed in that area, whether through test scores, their education, or through their everyday work.
Self-awareness is important. We want well-rounded personalities who balance drive and ambition with humility and supportive team skills. Recognition that even after being the best in your class or work, you are now just one of many super-bright high-achievers is important.
We want to recruit people who want to make a difference in the world.
We are seeing an increase in applications from people who want to make positive changes to the way people live their lives, whether through social entrepreneurship, healthcare, or sustainable investment.
The strongest applicants are clear that they want to take a long-term view on how to build on their skills and experience, in order to advance in a sector they love or change direction or location. We want people who recognise that the MBA is going to be a unique, life-changing experience. It’s not enough to want to do an MBA just to gain a qualification and secure a particular post-graduation role.
So, if you’re a curious questioner, globally-minded and collaborative, you would be a great fit for London Business School.
Ask an Admissions Expert a Question!
Next week, Scott Edinburgh, founder of MBA admissions consulting firm Personal MBA Coach will answer any question you may have about applying to business school!
Scott holds an MBA from Wharton, and has also previously studied at MIT. Before moving into MBA admissions consulting, Scott worked at Deloitte and JP Morgan.
Do you have a question about your MBA application you'd like to ask Scott? Get in touch!
You can submit your question on our Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn pages, send us an email to info@businessbecause.com, or simply post a comment in the box below!
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