Today, we’d like to take a look at the essay questions for this year’s London Business School application. With two of the school’s five essays weighing in at a mere 100 words, it’s true that this school requires less writing than most other applications – but applicants will quickly realize that this does not translate into less thought or effort.
1. In what role do you see yourself working immediately after graduation? Why? How will your past and present experiences help you achieve this? How will the London Business School MBA Programme contribute to this goal? Finally, how do you see your career progressing five years after graduation? (600 words maximum)
See our general tips on writing the standard career goals essay for guidance in tackling this question. One thing to note is that unlike the vast majority of questions covering this topic, LBS’ framework is far from chronological. While this makes for a less linear essay, the good news is that it will be fairly easy to produce a response that is clearly tailored to the school’s question, giving applicants who take the time to do this a slight edge over others who are cutting and pasting content they’ve drafted for applications to other schools. We should also point out that LBS asks for very specific information about your short-term goal and your five-year plan (further underlining the need to be specific when it comes to career goals essays).
2. Please describe your experience of working in and leading teams, either in your professional or personal life. Given this experience, what role do you think you will play in your study group, and how do you intend to contribute to it? (500 words maximum)
While this question seems to invite a broad commentary on the history of the applicant’s leadership and teamwork experiences at or outside of the workplace, keep in mind that the most effective essays are those that provide specific details and vivid anecdotes. A general comment about the various leadership roles you’ve held is certainly in order, but this would be best used as an introduction to an example that exemplifies your leadership/teamwork skills and style. Note that the question about LBS study groups offers applicants a great chance to showcase their familiarity with the program and prove that they’ve done their homework, as well as demonstrate that they’ve thought through the contribution they would make and the strengths they could bring to the program.
3. Student involvement is an extremely important part of the London MBA experience and this is reflected in the character of students on campus. What type of student club or campus community event do you envisage yourself initiating? How would you set about organising this, and how would you communicate it to the wider School community? (400 words maximum)
This question is similar to Kellogg’s second essay, which also gives applicants a chance to discuss their unique interests and activities, and link them to a specific contribution to the community. However, it is different in that it focuses on a club or community event that the applicant would start, and asks him or her to think through the process of establishing a student organization. It’s one thing for applicants to claim they would start a club and another for them to detail how – this is another question that’s unique to LBS and designed to gauge the applicant’s level of research and sincerity. The more detailed the plan you propose, the more invested you will seem in gaining admission to LBS and leaving your mark. One final consideration is that with every applicant to the school describing a club he or she would like to start, it’s important that you proposal is both unique and with mass appeal.
4. Describe any experiences outside of your home country. What did you gain from these? (100 words maximum)
Similar to INSEAD’s fifth personal essay, this question is probing the applicant’s ability to navigate unfamiliar terrain and resolve cross-cultural issues, and our comments on the first of INSEAD’s two options apply to this question as well. You have only 100 words in which to demonstrate your ability to conduct business in an international setting, so brevity will be key.
5. Please explain if you have been involved in charity/volunteer and/or entrepreneurial activities, giving examples of your involvement, the amount of time you gave to each activity and why you chose to get involved. (100 words maximum)
Because you are only given 100 words to work with here, this response will likely look more like a list than an essay (depending on how much you have to work with in this category). It’s important to detail all of the pertinent elements of your file here, so economy of language will again be important.
