Inside the London MBA

Summer Ball rocks to No Donuts for Hilda

The line-up might change every year, as may the playlist, but one thing that doesn't change is the presence of the London Business School Band - No Donuts for Hilda - at all the major social events in the calendar. Whether it's the MBA Tournament in Paris, MBA Admits Weekend, a Thursday night in Sundowners or the Summer and Winter Ball, you'll always find them playing to a packed house of students, staff and faculty.

So, we thought it was time they got a mention on this blog. Here they are playing at last Saturday night's Summer Ball, the traditional end of year party. And if you watch this and want to hear more, you can find extra clips on their You Tube site at http://www.youtube.com/user/LBSBAND

Meet the London Business School Everest team

For those of you that have been reading our blog for a while, you may remember how we told you about the London Business School team who succesfully climbed Mount Everest in May 2007. In doing so, Tori James became the youngest British female to reach the summit as well as the first ever Welsh woman, and Omar Samra (MBA 2007) became the first ever Egyptian to climb Everest. To mark the one year anniversary of this achievement, team leader Ben Stephens (MBA 2007) and his girlfriend Tori James will be sharing their experiences of the world’s highest mountain.

Find out what life in the ‘death zone’ is really like and view some spectacular photography and video footage of the expedition, at

"Everest: our climb to the roof of the world"
Thursday, May 29, 2008
6:30 pm – Pay Bar
7.30pm - Talk
Unicorn Theatre, London, SE1 2HZ (near London Bridge)

Tickets £12.50 when you buy online
Tickets available on the door subject to availability (£15)
More details and tickets available at http://everest2007expedition.eventbrite.com

Final application deadline for Full-time MBA beginning in August 2008

A quick note to remind those people still considering applying for the autumn 2008 intake, that the final application deadline (Stage 4) is Friday 02 May at 17.00 (London time). If you are planning to submit in Stage 4, our advice is not to leave it right up until the last minute to submit your application.  In the hour or so before the deadline the server is EXTREMELY busy!

Although this has been another extremely competitive year in terms of the number of applications received, there are still places available in Stage 4. In order to maintain our unique international and professional diversity, a number of places are reserved for our final stage. 

Stage 4 candidates will receive notification of whether they have been selected for interview via email on 04 June 2008, and Stage 4 interviewed candidates will receive their final admission decision on 04 July.

Confirmation of receipt of documents

Upon submission of your online application you will receive official confirmation via email. Please don’t contact the Programme Office asking for confirmation of receipt of GMAT, references or transcripts. Due to the large volumes of mail that we receive during this period we cannot offer this confirmation. We advise candidates to check with their courier company as to whether the documents have been delivered.

A quick note to remind those people still considering applying for the autumn 2008 intake, that the final application deadline (Stage 4) is Friday 02 May at 17.00 (London time). If you are planning to submit in Stage 4, our advice is not to leave it right up until the last minute to submit your application.  In the hour or so before the deadline the server is EXTREMELY busy!

Although this has been another extremely competitive year in terms of the number of applications received, there are still places available in Stage 4. In order to maintain our unique international and professional diversity, a number of places are reserved for our final stage. 

Stage 4 candidates will receive notification of whether they have been selected for interview via email on 04 June 2008, and Stage 4 interviewed candidates will receive their final admission decision on 04 July.

Confirmation of receipt of documents

Upon submission of your online application you will receive official confirmation via email. Please don’t contact the Programme Office asking for confirmation of receipt of GMAT, references or transcripts. Due to the large volumes of mail that we receive during this period we cannot offer this confirmation. We advise candidates to check with their courier company as to whether the documents have been delivered.

Stage 2 Application Deadline - 04 January 2008

Happy New Year to all of the prospective MBA2010's out there!  The MBA Programme Office has now re-opened following the School closure for Christmas and New Year and we are all preparing for this Friday's Stage 2 application deadline.

We have returned to a huge pile of envelopes and courier packages that have arrived over the holiday period, and an increasing number of online application submissions.  For anyone that has contacted the office with a query over their application, we will endeavour to get back to you ASAP, although there is a slight backlog with the office having been closed.  But rest assured that we will be prioritising the urgent questions that are related to the Stage 2 deadline. 

In the meantime, here are a few answers to some of the more common questions that get asked around application deadlines.

Q. Do you require original copies of my transcripts?

- Yes. Applicants must submit an official or certified original transcript of grades from all colleges, universities and professional schools attended. These must include a comprehensive record of completed courses, grades and class of degree received and, if possible, a class ranking. If the original is not in English then you must provide a certified or notarised English translation.

The Admission Committee will not make a final offer of a place on the MBA programme until they are in receipt of the original transcripts referred to in a candidates application.

Q. Can you confirm that the School has received my letter/package/GMAT score?

- Please do not contact the Admissions Office for confirmation that your references, university transcripts, GMAT report or other supplementary materials have arrived.  We receive hundreds if not thousands of items of post during the run up to the application deadline and to confirm the receipt of these would dramatically slow the admission and reviewing process.

Once all of the packages have been opened and collated, should an application be missing any documents the candidate will be contacted by the Admissions team.

If you are concerned about the whereabouts of these materials, please first contact your courier company. If they report that the item has been delivered we will have received the package.

If you are curious as to the status of your references, this can be checked by logging into your online application account and viewing the Referee Status.

Q. My references / transcripts have been delayed and will not arrive until after the Stage 2 deadline. Will you still accept my application in Stage 2?

- If you submit your application by the Stage 2 deadline, we will accept supplementary materials that arrive during the week following this deadline.  If an item is delayed by more than 1 week your application may be moved into the following Stage so that it can be reviewed with using the full information, but you will be contacted beforehand if this is the case. If you do not hear from the Admissions team you should assume that your application is proceeding in Stage 2.

Q. What are London Business School's GMAT and TOEFL insitution codes for use when reporting my score?

GMAT = Z11-J7-50
TOEFL = 0898

Finally, if you are planning on applying for the Stage 2 application deadline please give yourself plenty of time to submit your application and try not to leave it to the last minute. Stage 2 is traditionally the largest of the 4 stages, and several hundred applicants will be working on and submitting applications in the hours and days leading up to the deadline, which can result in the server congestion. 

If you experience any difficulties in submitting your application please follow the Help links within the online application form, or contact our Information Office directly at apply.mba@london.edu or telephone +44 (0)20 7000 7500 

Good luck!

Happy New Year to all of the prospective MBA2010's out there!  The MBA Programme Office has now re-opened following the School closure for Christmas and New Year and we are all preparing for this Friday's Stage 2 application deadline.

We have returned to a huge pile of envelopes and courier packages that have arrived over the holiday period, and an increasing number of online application submissions.  For anyone that has contacted the office with a query over their application, we will endeavour to get back to you ASAP, although there is a slight backlog with the office having been closed.  But rest assured that we will be prioritising the urgent questions that are related to the Stage 2 deadline. 

In the meantime, here are a few answers to some of the more common questions that get asked around application deadlines.

Q. Do you require original copies of my transcripts?

- Yes. Applicants must submit an official or certified original transcript of grades from all colleges, universities and professional schools attended. These must include a comprehensive record of completed courses, grades and class of degree received and, if possible, a class ranking. If the original is not in English then you must provide a certified or notarised English translation.

The Admission Committee will not make a final offer of a place on the MBA programme until they are in receipt of the original transcripts referred to in a candidates application.

Q. Can you confirm that the School has received my letter/package/GMAT score?

- Please do not contact the Admissions Office for confirmation that your references, university transcripts, GMAT report or other supplementary materials have arrived.  We receive hundreds if not thousands of items of post during the run up to the application deadline and to confirm the receipt of these would dramatically slow the admission and reviewing process.

Once all of the packages have been opened and collated, should an application be missing any documents the candidate will be contacted by the Admissions team.

If you are concerned about the whereabouts of these materials, please first contact your courier company. If they report that the item has been delivered we will have received the package.

If you are curious as to the status of your references, this can be checked by logging into your online application account and viewing the Referee Status.

Q. My references / transcripts have been delayed and will not arrive until after the Stage 2 deadline. Will you still accept my application in Stage 2?

- If you submit your application by the Stage 2 deadline, we will accept supplementary materials that arrive during the week following this deadline.  If an item is delayed by more than 1 week your application may be moved into the following Stage so that it can be reviewed with using the full information, but you will be contacted beforehand if this is the case. If you do not hear from the Admissions team you should assume that your application is proceeding in Stage 2.

Q. What are London Business School's GMAT and TOEFL insitution codes for use when reporting my score?

GMAT = Z11-J7-50
TOEFL = 0898

Finally, if you are planning on applying for the Stage 2 application deadline please give yourself plenty of time to submit your application and try not to leave it to the last minute. Stage 2 is traditionally the largest of the 4 stages, and several hundred applicants will be working on and submitting applications in the hours and days leading up to the deadline, which can result in the server congestion. 

If you experience any difficulties in submitting your application please follow the Help links within the online application form, or contact our Information Office directly at apply.mba@london.edu or telephone +44 (0)20 7000 7500 

Good luck!

Join us for an online chat with current students and members of the admissions team

Take this opportunity to put your questions to current students and members of the admissions team direct from the comfort of your desk during our 12 December online chat.

Event details:
•    Date: 12 December 2007
•    Time: 10:00am PT / 1:00pm ET / 6:00pm GMT
•    Where: This event is hosted by Accepted.com

In addition to several members of the MBA Admissions team, our panel of guests includes two current MBA students.

About our student participants:

Kitty Lee, MBA2009.  Kitty is a first year MBA student and MBA Student Ambassador. With dual British/Canadian citizenship, Kitty followed undergraduate studies in Business Administration at the University of Michigan.  Prior to beginning her MBA Kitty worked as a consultant with Mercer Management Consulting in the United States. 

Megh Kamath, MBA2009.  Megh is also a first year MBA student and MBA Student Ambassadors.  Megh is from India and studied Mechanical Engineering at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore for his undergrad.  Prior to joining London Business School, Megh’s most recent professional experience was in the UK as an Assistant Vice President at Credit Suisse.

We hope that people are able to log onto this chat, but if you can't make it for this particular event you can view the transcript from the previous event, or, the transcript from the 12 December event will be available in about 5-7 days time.

Calling all prospective women MBAs...

Women play a vital role in the London Business School community; there may not be quite as many female students as there are men (yet!) but they occupy approximately half the club leadership positions around campus. Here in the office we are constantly looking for new ways to encourage top women to apply for, and join, our MBA, so several years ago we became the first business school outside the US to join Forté Foundation. 

Forté is an organisation dedicated to encouraging women to pursue careers in business leadership by providing access to information, scholarships and networking opportunities. Beginning in mid-September,  Forté is putting on a series of events for prospective women MBA students, mostly in locations throughout the USA, but also here in London.  Women business leaders will be sharing candid advice drawn from their own career experiences, and will be joined by admissions officers from the top MBA schools (including London, of course!) who will be able to answer questions and give advice about the admissions process. 

If you are working or travelling in the USA or London, this year's schedule of Forté events is as follows: Boston, September 17th (register by September 13th) Washington DC, September 18th (register by September 13th) Chicago, September 19th (register by September 13th) New York, September 20th (registration is closed) Atlanta, September 24th (register by September 20th) Houston, September 25th (register by September 20th) San Francisco, September 26th (register by September 20th) Los Angeles, September 27th (register by September 20th) New York, October 1st (register by September 24th) London, October 9th (register by October 1).

To register for any of these events, please visit http://www.fortefoundation.org/forum. And if you are able to attend the events in Boston, LA, NY, San Francisco or Washington DC, look out for the London Business School rep!

Introducing the new bloggers of MBA2009!

As some of our regular readers may have noticed, the new batch of MBA2009 bloggers have now been selected and have already started to impart their experiences of the first few days and weeks at London Business School.

So whilst a little belated, we would like to say welcome to Debasri, Don, Hamish, Jerome, Matthew, Melanie, See-wan and Stuart!  Watch this space for their accounts of the coming year.

It's the Admissions season again...

Well, it's that time of year again, and as we welcome the class of MBA 2009 we are already looking ahead to the upcoming admissions season.  There is always a sense of anticipation in the office as the Admissions team gears up for new trips abroad, heading out on the road to meet with all those prospective candidates excited about becoming part of the class of MBA 2010.  That's one strange thing about this job - as classes are named after the year of graduation, we're almost always thinking two years ahead of ourselves!

If you've checked out our admissions pages over the summer months, you'll see that our essay questions have remained the same, but that there are a couple of changes to the later admissions dates.  However, if you are keen to apply early and get your final decision before the end of this calendar year, don't forget that the first application deadline is 19 October.  This year has gone by so fast, that's coming up a lot sooner than you might think! 

We always encourage people to apply early (after all, if you leave it until Stage 4 you'll miss out on most of our scholarship opportunities) but the main thing to remember is that we want to see a thoughtful and well-prepared application. Two top tips for this posting - firstly, don't leave it until the last minute to source the required documentation as it can take longer than you realise chasing after referees and educational transcripts.  Secondly, leave yourself enough time that you can write your essays, put them away for a bit, and then take a second look another day.  You'll be amazed at how an essay that looks brilliant at 3am one morning can suddenly seem to have turned into an unstructured stream-of-consciousness ramble the next!   Giving yourself enough time to re-assess and, if neccessary, correct what you've written, means that you'll present the very best application you can, and give yourself the best chance of admission.

Anyway, enough of that - we look forward to seeing many of you on the road over the coming months, and to reading all those applications...good luck!

MBA2009 Bloggers wanted!

With under two weeks to go until Orientation and the start of term for the new class, the MBA 2009s have been slowly arriving at School and one group of MBA2009s have already begun their studies as part of the two week long Business English course that runs in advance of Orientation.

Meanwhile, the search has begun for the bloggers of MBA2009. An advert went out this week seeking volunteers to follow in the footsteps of Martha, Manish, Sean and Stephen and blog about their exploits during the first year of their London Business School MBA. Watch this space for the new faces of MBA2009 coming soon!

(If you are an Admitted MBA2009 and you would like to learn more about how you can become one of the blog team, check out the posting on Portal discussion > MBA2009 > Programme Office Updates, or email us here.

Chat online with Manish and David Simpson, Associate Dean, MBA Programme

Chat online with David Simpson, Associate Dean, MBA Programme, and Manish Gajria, MBA2008 and MBA blogger, on Wednesday 25 July, noon (New York), 17.00 (London), 21.30 (Mumbai).

Join this BusinessWeek.com hosted live event and put your questions to Manish and David about everything from campus culture and living in London, to admissions requirements and the essays that make the Admission’s Committee stand up and take note.

For full details on how to take part visit the BusinessWeek.com website.
The event starts at 17.00 London time.

View the transcripts from previous events.

MBA2010 Essay Questions

The application essay questions for admission to the next Full-time MBA class (MBA2010) beginning in August 2008 have now been confirmed and remain unchanged from those required last year.

Question 1 (500 words)
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? 

Question 2 (200 words)
Where do you see your career progressing five years after graduation and what is your longer term career vision?

Question 3 (500 words)
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?

Question 4 (400 words)
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?

Question 5 (150 words)
Describe any significant experiences outside of your home country. What did you gain from these?

Question 6 (300 words) (This question is optional)
Is there any other information that you believe would help the MBA Admissions Committee when considering your application?

The online application form will be made live at the beginning of September, but for those of you that wish to make a start on the essays, the template document can be downloaded here. Download essay_template_mba2010 (Word doc).

The application deadline dates are currently under review but as a useful guide you can view the dates from last year at http://www.london.edu/mba/admissions.html

London Business School Team Summit Mt. Everest

Huge congratulations go out to the intrepid four-person team from London Business School’s Rock & Mountain Club who have summited Mount. Everest – and raised £000’s for charity in the process.

   
The team set out on their expedition in March this year and summited at the end of May.  Omar Samra (MBA2007) became the first Egyptian to summit, reaching the top together with alumni Greg Maud (SEMBA2003) on 17 May.  Team leader Ben Stephens (MBA2007) summited on 24 May together with his girlfriend Tori James who became the first ever Welsh Woman and Britain’s youngest female to reach the top.

The team are now safely back down the mountain, and will be holding a presentation at London Business School in the near future, offering the community the opportunity to find out firsthand what it is like to struggle against the elements and a severe lack of oxygen to reach the world’s highest point.

The following extract from the expedition blog describes the moment Tori reached the summit:

“There was nothing stopping me on the last 50 metres ascent, not least the fact that there were some un-roped sections which I wanted to get past. I clambered through the prayer flags and sat on the summit, being careful not to let my rucksack pull me over the top and into Tibet. I just sat there and looked at the view; the valleys were filled with cloud but the panorama of peaks was breathtaking. I could even see Everest’s own shadow, spreading out over the Himalaya, diminishing as the sun rose."

For photos of the team and to their full diary of an incredible journey to the top of the world visit http://www.everest2007.net/blog/page/2/.

Our congratulations go out once again to the team for what is an amazing achievement!

Congratulations to our "Best of Bloggers"!

Congratulations go out to London Business School student bloggers Angel Angie, Divine Miss N and Karlitos, and MBA2009 Admit RusGirl who all featured in the recent Clear Admit Best of Blogs Awards.

To quote the organisers: “the aim of this event is to recognize those bloggers who have made an appreciable contribution to the online community, and to identify valuable sources of information and advice for incoming students and the next round of applicants.” To arrive at the final awards, the blogs were judged by a combination of industry professionals and the nominated bloggers themselves.

The overall prize went to Angel Angie, who also picked up specific awards for “Best Resource for Applicants” and “Best Job/Internship Advice”.

The Divine Miss N (otherwise known as our very own Natasja) came a very creditable second (especially since she has been moonlighting on our blog).

Well done to all of the bloggers out there. Keep it up!

Final application deadline - 27 April

A quick note to remind those people still considering applying for the autumn 2007 intake, that the final application deadline (Stage 4) is Friday 27 April at 17.00 (London time).  If you are planning to submit in Stage 4, our advice is not to leave it right up until the last minute to submit your application.  In the hour or so before the deadline the server is EXTREMELY busy!

Although this has been another extremely competitive year in terms of the number of applications received, there are still places available in Stage 4. In order to maintain our unique international and professional diversity, a number of places are reserved for our final stage. 

Stage 4 candidates will receive notification of whether they have been selected for interview via email on 18 May 2007, and Stage 4 interviewed candidates will receive their final admission decision on 22 June.

Confirmation of receipt of documents

Upon submission of your online application you will receive official confirmation via email. Please don’t contact the Programme Office asking for confirmation of receipt of GMAT, references or transcripts. Due to the large volumes of mail that we receive during this period we cannot offer this confirmation. We advise candidates to check with their courier company as to whether the documents have been delivered.

School launches podcast series

The first in a series of London Business School podcasts featuring members of faculty is now online. In the podcasts, members of faculty introduce themselves with a general interview on their biography and their research interests and publications.

In the first podcast Craig Smith, Senior Fellow in Marketing and Ethics, discusses ethical consumerism - are consumers influenced by ethical concerns? What drives corporate social responsibility and are there limits to how far companies can go with it?

The second in the series of features Richard Portes, Professor of Economics. Prof.Portes talks about London's importance as global connection capital, as a centre for coordinating a wide area of research and, in fact, as a centre for making connections that are useful for both students and employers.

Listen to the podcasts here

Everest update - 10 days and counting

Omar Samra, Ben Stephens, Greg Maud (London Business School students and alumni) and Victoria James (partner) are now making their final preparations for their attempt to climb Mount Everest. They will climb the mountain from the South Side from Nepal. The team will depart London for Kathmandu on the 25th of March to begin their 10 week journey which will take them through some of the hardest terrain and toughest conditions known to man. Some time in mid May, weather permitting, they will reach the summit of Mount Everest. Omar is trying to become the first Egyptian to achieve such a feat and if Victoria is successful, she will become the first Welsh woman and youngest British woman to do so.

You can follow their progress and send your words of support while they are on the mountain through the team website www.everest2007.net and on Omar's personal website www.omarsamra.com/everest.

We wish them well, and look forward to writing an update on their safe return!

Prof. Len Waverman speaks at Google HQ

<><>

Mobiles, The Digital Divide, And Google Len Waverman, Professor of Economics at London Business School, recently addressed an audience of Google executives at their monthly Tech Talk at the Google and Mountain View HQ in Silicon Valley, USA. This invitation came about due to Professor Waverman's work into the economic impact of telecommunication technology in emerging markets. Professor Waverman's research focuses on how communications networks form a key component of the infrastructure crucial to a nation's economic growth, joining the ranks of roads and electricity. In his speech to Google executives he argued there are signs that the explosion of mobile telephony across the developing world is shrinking the digital divide and providing real opportunity for economic growth in the world's poorest regions. Here's your chance to listen to what he said!

Join our online chat on 22 Jan

Want to find out what makes London Business School the top choice for an international MBA? Wondering what your future employment prospects are with a European MBA? Just started your research into top tier business schools? Here is your opportunity to put questions to our community from the comfort of your desk or armchair.

Join members of the London Business School community for an online discussion, hosted by Accepted.com, on Monday 22 January, 18.00 (GMT). The panellists lining up to field your questions include:

- David Simpson, Senior Admissions Manager, Full-time MBA.

- Diane Morgan, Associate Director, Career Services. Diane's specialist areas of recruitment include the Energy, FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), Retail, Healthcare, Pharma and Biotech industries.

- Payton Dobbs (USA), MBA2007. Prior to joining our MBA, Payton worked at Deloitte Consulting. Payton spent last term on exchange at the Kellogg School in Chicago and his summer internship at Google in San Francisco. Payton also contributes to this blog.

- Grace Maa (Taiwan/USA), MBA2008.  Grace graduated from Princeton with a degree in Politics and Political Economy. Prior to the MBA she worked as a national speaker in Educational Services at The Advisory Board Company (healthcare) in Washington.

- Rajat Maaker (India), MBA2008.  Rajat holds a degree in Economics from Delhi University and prior to joining London Business School was working as a Project Leader with Electrolux both in Sweden and in Australia.

If you can't make it for this chat you can view the transcript from the previous event which may answer some of your questions.

Another year, another deadline

Happy 2007!  This is the first day back in the office for the MBA Programme Office team after the School closure for Christmas and New Year.  It's a bit of a shock to the system after 10 days of festivities, but the admissions year is no respecter of hangovers, and we have the Stage 2 application deadline fast approaching this Friday, 05 January.

We have returned to a vast array of envelopes and courier packages that have arrived over the holiday period, and an increasing number of online application submissions.  For anyone that has contacted the office with a query over their application, we will endeavour to get back to you ASAP, although there is a slight backlog with the office having been closed.  But rest assured that we will be prioritising the urgent questions that are related to the Stage 2 deadline. 

In the meantime, here are a few answers to some of the more common questions that get asked around application deadlines.

Q. Can you confirm that the School has received my letter/package?

- Please do not contact the Admissions Office for confirmation that your references, university transcripts, GMAT report or other supplementary materials have arrived.  We receive hundreds if not thousands of items of post during the run up to the application deadline and to confirm the receipt of these would dramatically slow the admission and reviewing process.

Once all of the packages have been opened and collated, should an application be missing any documents the candidate will be contacted by the Admissions team.

If you are concerned about the whereabouts of these materials, please first contact your referees or the courier company through whom you have sent the package.

Q. My references / transcripts have been delayed and will not arrive until after the Stage 2 deadline. Will you still accept my application in Stage 2?

- If you submit your application by the Stage 2 deadline, we will accept supplementary materials that arrive during the week following this deadline.  If an item is delayed by more than 1 week your application may be moved into the following Stage so that it can be reviewed with using the full information.  If you have a particular query regarding this please contact our Information Office at mbainfo@london.edu

Q. Can my referee's submit their references via email?

- Yes. If they wish to send their letter of recommendation via email, they should address it to reference.mba@london.edu  (Note: We do not require a signature from referees that submit their forms via email.  The referee's of accepted candidates will be contacted by the School at a later date in order to confirm the validity of the reference.)

Q. What are London Business School's GMAT and TOEFL insitution codes for use when reporting my score?

GMAT = Z11-J7-50
TOEFL = 0898

Finally, if you are planning on applying for the Stage 2 application deadline please give yourself plenty of time to submit your application and try not to leave it to the last minute. Stage 2 is traditionally the largest of the 4 stages, and several hundred applicants will be working on and submitting applications in the hours and days leading up to the deadline, which can result in the server slowing up. 

If you experience any difficulties in submitting your application please follow the Help links within the online application form, or contact our Information Office directly at apply.mba@london.edu or telephone +44 (0)20 7000 7500 

Good luck!

And the new Dean is.......

Robin Buchanan, Senior Partner in the UK of Bain & Co Inc.  Following much speculation, including an accurate prediction in this morning's Times! Mr Buchanan was announced by the School as the successor to Dean Tyson.

As quoted on the School's website:-

London Business School is delighted to announce that Robin Buchanan is to be its new Dean. Buchanan is currently the Senior Partner in the UK of Bain & Company Inc., the global business consultancy. He will bring to the School over 30 years' experience of providing advice on strategy, organisation, operations and acquisitions to international business clients. Buchanan was elected Managing Partner of Bain in the UK in 1990, and became Senior Partner in 1996.

Buchanan will be the seventh Dean in the School's 42-year history.  He succeeds Laura Tyson who will be returning to the University of California at Berkeley as Professor of Business Administration and Economics at the Haas School of Business.

Read the official press release (PDF)

Stage 1 Application Deadline – Tomorrow!

The Stage 1 application deadline is just around the corner (Friday 20 October at 5pm – London

time).  If you are planning to submit in Stage 1, our advice is not to leave it right up until the last minute to submit your application.  The hour or so before the deadline tends to be EXTREMELY busy on the server!

Confirmation of receipt

Once you have submitted your application you will receive official confirmation via email. Please don’t contact the Programme Office asking for confirmation of receipt of GMAT, references or transcripts. Due to the large volumes of mail that we receive during this period we cannot offer this confirmation.  If any of your supplementary materials fail to arrive with us, you will be notified by a member of the Admission team.

Review and short listing decisions

Once received, the applications will be processed and reviewed by our highly experienced Admissions team who will select candidates for interview. These decisions will be sent out via email on 17 November.

Watch out for a posting on interviews coming soon!

Can't make it to an event? Post your questions online

Don't forget to log onto our online chat taking place tomorrow (Tuesday, 10 October, 18.00 London time) and put your questions to our panel of admissions reps, career consultants and students (Including non-other than our MBA blogger - Natasja).

So, if you have been reading Natasja's bloggings and have a question you would like to put to her, this is your chance. Likewise, for any of those last minute questions prior to the Stage 1 deadline, this is a great opportunity to put them to our admissions team.

The panel will also include Diane Morgan of our Career Service, who will be able to field any questions on recruitment at London Business School.

The line up:-

ADMISSIONS

• David Simpson, Senior Manager, MBA Marketing and Admisisons
• Felicity Irvine - MBA Marketing and Admissions Officer for Asia & Africa

CAREER SERVICES

• Diane Morgan – Associate Director, Career Services. Diane's specialist areas of recruitment include the Energy, FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), Retail, Healthcare, Pharma and Biotech industries.

STUDENTS

• Natasja Giezen, MBA2007, and MBA blogger. Currently on exchange at NYU-Stern in New York. You can read much more about Natasja here on the blog.
• Dana McNabb - MBA2007. From Canada. Just started Year 2 of the MBA last week. Dana worked as a Marketing Manager for General Mills in Canada prior to the MBA. Dana is involved in many of the student clubs at London Business School from sporting to social to business and is co-President on the Marketing Club at London Business School. Dana spent her summer internship working with Nestlé in Switzerland and has recently returned from a student organised trip to the Munich Beer Fest. Dana will spend the Spring term on international exchange at the Australian Graduate School of Management in Sydney.
• Asbjørn Kastaniegaard – MBA2007 from Denmark. Asbjørn worked as a General Manager with A.P. Moller - Maersk prior to the MBA. Asbjørn is also involved with several student clubs at London Business School from business to more social. He is also one of the lead guitarists in the London Business School student band which was invited to perform at the May 2006 MBAT (Business School Olympics) hosted at ISA, France. He and his wife are both in London accompanied by their one year old daughter. Asbjørn spent his summer internship working with Bain Consulting in Sweden.

This online eventis being hosted by Accepted.com.  For details of how to log on and take part, please go to http://www.accepted.com/chat/schedule.aspx#mba

Around the world in 80 events

Just as work is gearing up for our first year bloggers, it's also the silly season for the Admissions team! The office has been quiet lately as the admissions officers have travelled to all four corners of the globe to meet with the MBA class of the future.  While Graeme is preparing for this evening's San Francisco MBA Fair and another in Houston on Thursday, Tamsin is preparing to fly to Mexico for a 6 city tour of Latin America. Felicity recently returned from the Asia MBA Tour, and with other team members having visited Brussels, Copenhagen, Chicago, LA, NYC and Toronto, the team are currently racking up a few air miles.

Apart from the obvious perk of getting to see a bit of the world for free :-) the admissions team will tell you that one of the most rewarding aspects of the job is watching some of these event attendees make their way through the admissions process and arrive on campus at the start of term.  One of the key benefits to prospective future MBAs coming to these events is the opportunity to speak with not only the admissions representatives, but also locally based alumni and (where possible) students. (Natasja, currently on exchange in NYU, has been helping us out at 2-3 events in New York and Washington.)

There is a lot of discussion and planning around where the School hosts or attends events. Manpower, time, money and market size all play a part in which venues eventually get picked, and needless to say we are never able to get to everywhere that we would like. This year, the School's degree programmes will be involved in near to 100 admissions events.  However, if you none of these are close enough for you to attend, there are a few different options open to you to find out more:-

1. Log on to one of our online Q&A discussions. These are held in conjunction with Accepted.com and offer you the chance to post questions to members of the admissions team, students and Career Service staff.  The next chat is scheduled for 10 October at 18.00. For details of how to log on and to read the transcripts of previous chats, go to http://www.london.edu/mba/contact.html

2. Contact our Information Officers. Our team of MBA Information Officers are available from 08.00-17.00 Mon-Fri, at +44 (0)20 7000 7500 or mbainfo@london.edu

3. Keep reading this blog!  Some of the same insights that you would gain from speaking to our students at an event will be available in our blogger's postings right here.

Application now live

The new application for the full-time MBA programme beginning in August 2007 is now live. You can check up on our admissions criteria and start your application on the School website.

The first application deadline is 20 October 2006 (17.00 London time).  If you need help with your application do get in touch with our MBA Information Officers at mbainfo@london.edu or telephone +44 (0)20 7000 7500.

Alternatively, why not join us for an online chat on 12 September, 18.00 (London time), in conjunction with Accepted.com, where you will have the chance to put your questions to David Simpson, Senior Marketing and Admissions Manager.

In addition, our admissions team will soon be travelling the world (44 cities across 28 countries) to meet with prospective students at our various information sessions and MBA fairs.  Find your nearest event on our information session webpages.

Everest expedition update

As we speak/write, Omar Samra and Ben Stephens (MBA2007s) are beginning their 6 week journey to the summit of Cho Oyu (8,201m) in Tibet. Cho Oyu is the sixth highest mountain in the world and straddles the Nepalese/Tibetan border, just West of Everest.

This climb is in preparation for their Everest attempt next year, when they plan to tackle the mountain from its South Col route, the same route taken by Sir Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. Cho Oyu, only a few hundred metres short of Everest, -40C cold and requiring the use of supplementary oxygen, serves as a perfect training ground to fulfill their Everest dream next March/April.

In the last months, Ben and Omar have combined 12+ hour working days and intense training regime  to be in shape for this climb. Wish them luck!  You can follow their progress at www.everest2007.net (team website) and  www.omarsamra.com/everest (Omar's personal website) where they will be sending updates on their climb.

Positions filled

The search is over!  Applications to join the ranks of the Inside the London MBA Bloggers closed on Monday and today we have contacted the lucky few who have been selected to blog about their first year on the MBA Programme. Watch this space for the new faces of MBA 2008.

Situations vacant: First year bloggers wanted

The summer break is officially over! The class of MBA2008 were officially rolled over to their new “Student” status today – which means they get full access to the internal discussion boards, can pick up their swipe cards for entry to the School (a few did so today), can use the gym and library (although the gym is currently closed for the summer refurb).  It seems like the summer gets shorter every year – it’s only been 5 weeks since we waved goodbye to MBA2006.

What’s currently a trickle of the new class arriving on campus will turn into a stream over the next week or so. The official start of term isn’t until 28 August but there’s an increasing number of the new class arriving to begin the search for accommodation.

Meanwhile, the search has begun for the bloggers of MBA2008. An advert went out today seeking volunteers to write for this blog. Watch this space for the new faces of MBA2008 coming soon!

And now for something different

One of the unique features of the London Business School MBA is the Shadowing Project, and the Shadowing Project that is being undertaken by Nick Wai, MBA2007, is certainly unique!

Right now as we speak/write, Nick is crossing the Atacama Desert in Chile whilst shadowing Mary Gadams, London Business School alumna and founder and CEO of RacingThePlanet.  Nick has somehow managed to juggle his summer internship position at Reuters in London, with his week-long expedition on the Atacama Crossing, a seven-day, 250-kilometer footrace across the driest place on Earth AND write a diary for the FT.com! 

As Nick states in his diary “One of the features of the programme is the shadowing project, where each of us has to shadow a leader of our own choosing for a week to learn more about leadership in action first hand”.

Wanting to try something a little different with this project, Nick searched through the alumni directory and came across Mary and her company - RacingThePlanet - in the Hong Kong alumni chapter.  Following a brief correspondence, Mary invited Nick to follow one of the races, and the rest is history.

Follow Nick’s daily diary with his introduction, Day 1, and photo gallery.

I’m not sure about racing across a desert, but the Pisco Sours sound great!

All is quiet..for now

Campus is very quiet at the minute. Over 800 degree programme students (including 304 members of MBA 2006) graduated at the beginning of the month, and the majority of MBA 2007s are in the midst of their summer internships. The tranquility of campus won't last for long however, as the new class of MBA 2008 will begin to arrive through August.

As the summer is a bit slow in terms of news from around campus, we thought we would highlight some of what our MBA 2007 bloggers are doing now.

The summer break normally sees the MBAs head back into the workforce for a 8-12 week internship. Natasja's patient search for the right job appears to be paying dividends, meanwhile, RSR.pt is more than happy to be getting paid for something he would be doing in his spare time anyway.

KV has managed to change both industry and job function to get his internship with an American investment bank in London, and the Divine Miss N is enjoying her work on the strategic side of a marketing consultancy, and certainly appreciates the relaxed dress code.

Out in India, Al Martine has been writing about his first week settling in at Infosys, and the some of the more interesting taxi journeys that he has experienced in Bangalore!

Closer to home and not following the usual internship path, Gaurav has been blogging about the first few days of the Summer Consulting Team, not to mention the cricket at Lord’s.

Last but not least and staying in the field of consulting, FutureGuru provides us with a day-in the-life guide to consulting. Sounds easy ;-)

That’s just a few examples of what some of the class are doing during their summer break. To get a whole host of stats on where people go and what they get paid, go to the School website.

Hot in the city

Well the English summer has well and truly arrived!  The MBA Programme Office was melting as temperatures hit 33C (91F) on Monday, the hottest day of the year so far, and it looks set to continue with the BBC Weather Centre predicting London temperatures to reach 37C (99F) on Wednesday, breaking the July record of 36C.    (While lecture theatres and study spaces benefit from air-con, some administration offices still go without! Although it does fuel our national obsession of talking about the weather!)

At least with official engagements finished for the time being we can come in casual dress, and we  also have the bonus of being based just across the road from Regent’s Park in case anyone wants to top up the suntan during lunch. (Regent’s Park is one of 8 Royal Parks that provide 5,000 acres of green space to Londoners. Put in context, that is around 6 times bigger than NYC’s Central Park.)

These are a few pics taken in the park this lunchtime. 

On a “work” front, summer is usually the quiet(er) time of year for the admissions team. The calm before the storm of the autumn fairs and information sessions.  The new promotional brochure is being designed, the events schedule is being finalised, the application form is edited, and the final few places for this year’s class are being allocated.  The final admissions deadline passed last Friday, so 95% of the new class is now known, but there will still be a little movement from the Wait-list right up until the beginning of class in late August. 

That's enough for now. I'm off to get an ice-cream!

Essay Questions 2006/2007

The Admissions Committee met at the end of last week to determine the essay questions for the coming admissions year, and this is the result.  One or two changes have been made to last year’s questions, notably that Question 1 has been split into two.  Following a little bit of confusion last year, the wording of Question 4 has been tweaked in order to make it clearer (Tip: There is no need to think of a club that does not currently exist).

New to this year’s application, Question 6 has been added following several queries as to where applicants might submit additional information that they wanted to relay to the Admissions Committee.  However, this question is optional.

Question 1 (500 words)
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? 

Question 2 (200 words)
Where do you see your career progressing five years after graduation and what is your longer term career vision?

Question 3 (500 words)
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?

Question 4 (400 words)
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?

Question 5 (150 words)
Describe any significant experiences outside of your home country. What did you gain from these?

Question 6 (300 words) (This question is optional)
Is there any other information that you believe would help the MBA Admissions Committee when considering your application?

The online application form will be made live in a few weeks, but for those of you that wish to make a start on the essays, the template document can be downloaded here. Download essay_template_mba2009.doc

New admission dates 2006/07

Hot off the press, the Admission Committee have just released the new admission dates for the Full-time MBA Programme beginning in September 2007.  Admission is divided into 4 stages, the dates of which are:-

Application deadlines:
Stage 1: 20 October 2006
Stage 2: 05 January 2007
Stage 3: 23 February 2007
Stage 4: 27 April 2007
(Applications must be submitted by 17.00 London time).

The online application is currently being edited for the new admissions year and should be ready in late summer, however we expect to release the new essay questions later this week. View the full list of admissions requirements on our website.

What will you be doing this summer?

When we were setting the "Inside the London MBA" blog site up, we asked our current MBAs to come forward and tell us about their blogs, or any interesting news items that we might be able to link to.  You can see from the links down the left hand side of the page that we had quite a few volunteers on the blog front.

In addition to these blogs, we heard from a couple of MBAs who (as far as we are aware) are planning a first for anyone from the London Business School community (and Egypt) - to summit Mount Everest!

Ben Stephens and Omar Samra (MBA2007s) will be part of the London Business School Rock and Mountain Club organised expedition scheduled for May 2007 in aid of The Prince’s Trust.  In the meantime (as a gentle warm up exercise!), Ben and Omar will be spending this summer climbing Mount Cho Oyu (8,201m) the world’s 6th highest mountain.

If you want to follow the team’s progress, you can read Omar’s updates (relayed from the mountain via sat-phone) on his website at http://www.omarsamra.com/everest

Never mind the World Cup...

The campus has been hectic over the past few weeks with various club conferences and guest speakers coming and going. (The recent MBA Newsletter gives a round-up of the major conferences that have taken place over the last month or so)

One event that isn't listed in the newsletter however - but spawned some great video - was the Asia Club Party and their Sumo Tournament.  Thanks to Gerald Fabrot, MBA2007, for this footage.  Is this an event at the MBA Tournament?

It seems a few people have been having trouble viewing this embedded video, so for here is the file link to help you out. Download Sumo.m4v

Inside the London MBA starts here...

Welcome to our Inside the London MBA blog!  We've set this site up to hopefully give an insight into the goings on within the London Business School community.  Apart from the MBA admissions team, we have guest authors from the first and second year's of the full-time MBA Programme as well as MBA alumni. Come August/September when the incoming class of MBA2008 arrives, we will hopefully add one or two new authors to our ranks!

The brief we have given to our bloggers is fairly wide: Write/photograph/video anything that you think is remotely relevant to your experiences on the MBA Programme, living in London, life as part of the London Business School community - ie. anything that might be of interest to someone who is considering whether to study an MBA here in London!

The blogger's posts aren't edited by us (we want to offer readers an authentic account of experiences from around the School - the good and the bad). We look forward to receiving comments on the site, although we will be reviewing all comments before publishing in order to minimise SPAM and to keep the conversations on topic.

We hope you find our musings useful!