Read This Before Your Application to the London Business School

A step-by-step guide to go about B-school applications.

Before we dive into the juicy bits of this article, here are a few things that I would like my dear readers to know. Firstly, I had originally authored this article on Quora in 2020 after receiving an admission from the London Business School (LBS). Secondly, although the content in the article is aligned with the application process of LBS, it reflects my own opinions and experiences and those of my colleagues who went through the same process. Finally, this article is written from the perspective of a non-UK resident.

Photo by Felipe Gregate on Unsplash

Now, let’s dive in!

LBS first shortlists the candidates based on their online applications. The shortlisted candidates proceed to the final round which is an interview round. Final admissions are based on the interview round.

Here I’ll be explaining how to crack the first stage — the online application stage!

Let’s start with the documents that you would need at your disposal: You will need your transcripts, ID cards, scorecards of IELTS / TOEFL and GMAT, your CV, and some additional certificates that represent your extracurricular activities and work experience.

Now how to go about the application?

1. LBS does not have an SOP system. There are a few “essay questions” that you have to answer. These questions are along the lines of: How will the course help you achieve your academic and professional goals? How will you contribute to the school? Why did you choose this particular course? What do you do for leisure? Tell us some fun facts about yourself etc.
2. These questions look easy. Don’t they? Well, there is always a catch! Remember that you need to be coherent throughout your answers! For example: If you say that you chose a particular course at LBS because you want to work in a non-profit organization, then you have to be careful that the rest of your application is consistent with that answer. For instance, you have to be very careful while talking about your corporate aspirations. In such a scenario, you would really need to justify how the latter supports your former goal of joining a non-profit.
3. Most students think that the essay questions are disjoint, and they do not always pay attention to their answers to the previous essay questions while writing the remainder of the application. Always remember that these essays are not disjoint. You have to be consistent in your answers. You need to adapt a particular style of writing while working on your B-school applications.
4. I cannot stress enough the importance of using correct grammatical sentences, a good vocabulary, and appropriate keywords that describe your profile/essay answers. Please proofread your entire application before submitting it.
5. The next important part is your CV. Your CV should be consistent with your essay answers. It is important to pay attention to the strategic placement of points in the CV. For instance, if you are an experienced professional, please include your experience in the first half of your CV. This helps to capture the attention of the evaluators in the admissions committee. Next, the usage of strong keywords and phrases that align with your goals and motivation helps in bringing a coherent structure to the CV. It also allows the admissions committee to analyze the strength of your profile at a glance. Remember, most evaluators form a first impression within the first 10 seconds of reading your resume. Make sure that you nail your first impression and drive home the intended points.
6. Next, we arrive at questions that seem insignificant at first, but do carry a significant weightage in your application. These include questions like: Does your GMAT score correctly reflect your quantitative abilities? Did you have any international experience before? There are no right or wrong answers for such questions. However, the way you expound on and justify each answer says a lot about yourself and your skills (analytical, lexical, emotional etc.) For example: You shouldn’t say “No, I didn’t have any international experience” Instead try explaining why you didn’t have any international experience, what did you gain from the domestic experience and what do you expect from your next international experience.
7. Another significant part of your application is the letter of recommendation (LOR). The LORs should implicitly be in conjugation with your goals and resume. If you are on friendly terms with your referee(s), you can even draft the LOR answers yourself and ask your referee to write his/her recommendation based on similar lines. By this, I am not implying that you ought to write the entire recommendation yourself. However, informing the referee about your expectations and goals plays a significant role in the language that they would use for your LORs. How to co-draft a LOR? That’s an entirely different topic! Although you can consider some points like the relationship that you have with your referee, the target colleges, the nature if your profile, coherence with your SOP or essays, etc. while co-drafting any LOR.

I believe that I have covered most of the points required for a strong LBS application in the pre-interview round. Remember that no part of your application should be treated in isolation. All the aspects are interconnected. Presentation, language and intention are the mantras. The chances of getting an admission shoot up drastically if you are able to strategically highlight certain portions of your application.

I hope this article helps you. Let me know in the comments below if you want to know more about any specific point :)