As promised when we posted this season’s LBS essay questions earlier this week, below are some general comments about each of the school’s inquiries and some tips on how applicants might approach them.
Question 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? (500 words)
Question 2: Where do you see your career progressing five years after graduation and what is your longer term career vision? (200 words)
For this season, the adcom has broken down the “career goals” essay into two discrete inquiries. This new format clearly underlines the importance of having both a short- and long-term career plan in the MBA admissions process. The change also gives applicants an extra 100 words to work with when compared to last year, with a potential downside being that the compartmentalization of the short and long term discussions might make it a bit more difficult to adapt content written for applications to other schools.
Question 3: 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)
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 it would be wise to use this 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.
Question 4: 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 leading? How would you set about becoming involved in a leadership position and how would you align and communicate the goals and vision for the club to the wider School community? (400 words)
It makes sense that LBS changed the language of this question from “initiating” to “leading;” after all, it’s not feasible that every applicant can launch a new organization. Further, comments on an existing organization that a candidate would like to lead could be even more helpful to the adcom, as these signals might enable them to build a balanced student body and ensure that student groups that are currently active continue to be staffed with enthusiastic participants. Naturally, prospective students will want to think strategically about identifying the club that will best highlight their potential impact or underscore an interest evident in their files. Even though the school gives applicants lisence to discuss an extant club or recurring event, it would be ideal for applicants to comment on a new contribution or perspective they could bring in addition to their remarks on bringing the club’s objectives and vision into like with the community at large.
Question 5: Describe any significant experiences outside of your home country. What did you gain from these? (150 words)
This question allows applicants the opportunity to showcase their international experience, both professionally and personally, and is designed to gauge the applicant’s ability to navigate unfamiliar terrain and resolve cross-cultural issues. The word limit does not afford much room for detail, especially for applicants with extensive experiences abroad to recount, so a sound strategy might be to focus on providing detail about the lessons and skills gained from these situations.
Question 6: Is there any other information that you believe would help the MBA Admissions Committee when considering your application? (300 words, optional)
Much more open-ended than last year’s final inquiry (which asked specifically about the candidate’s “charity/volunteer and/or entrepreneurial activities”), this optional question provides a nice opportunity for applicants to introduce one or two key details about their candidacy that were not covered by the required topics. As is always the case when responding to optional questions, applicants should keep in mind that they are essentially creating extra work for the adcom, so it’s important that they make their answer count and share information that is of direct relevance to their application. While there will certainly be a number of items on which a given applicant could comment in this response, keep in mind that a detailed discussion of just one or perhaps two will be more effective and memorable than a long list of facts. Therefore, in thinking about which to mention here, we’d recommend taking a look at the subjects covered in the balance of the essays and considering an element of your background or personality that hasn’t yet been covered or fully represented.
