Inside the London MBA

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.

Good luck to all stage 1 candidates!!!

it's been a week now since the deadline of the application submission for stage 1 MBA 2010 candidates. So if you have applied it is still fresh and you must be wondering "was I right to mention that in my essay?", "is my GMAT score good enough?" or even "I hope I am gonna get it, I hate my job, I just want to run away from it".

I am sure you're all tense. Well there is nothing you can do, alea jacta est. So from my own experience, best is to take time off the application, stop reading the blog (you'll catch up later) and relax. You need to be prepared to be yourself if you make it to the interview. It's another 3 weeks before the results are known so you have plenty of time to think about other things. When you're back though, you have to be at your best, honest, engaging and motivated.
Just to give you an idea, I am posting a video of one episode of the Brian Cho Show. Brian is in my stream (B that is, like best, bueno,...) and during the GLAM competition he got interviewed by the organiser. Well he didn't prepare anything, but remained himself and had the all lecture theatre in the palm of his had. Check it out, and remember to be yourself.

Good luck to you all

Why did you choose London Business School?.....

......the question I heard most during the 'Ambassador Tours' I did this weekend for the Open House Event at the school.

Open House Events

I was asked (very nicely) by someone from the Admissions Committee if I would not mind helping out on a Saturday lunchtime, showing prospective students around the school campus. I deliberated, wondered if I had space in my schedule, then realised that free lunch and beers in the Windsor were the highly prized award - SOLD! On a more serious note, I actually did want to get the chance to take people around MY school, somewhere I am proud of, and have the opportunity to chat in real terms as to why I chose the school over my other choices.

So we toured the campus and I was indeed bombarded by a number of questions from eager students, wanting to discover the 'real deal' about the school, the MBA programme and the reasons of a bona fide student for choosing the 'London Advantage'. I was somewhat surprised at some of the questions and when asked what the school indemnity policy was ("should I fall out of a library window or something"!!) politely pointed I was merely a glorified tour guide, moving on quickly to talk about my own spin on why London Business School is the best 'fit ' for me:

1. I personally believe it is the only top tier school that really does manage to get the right 'work hard/play 
    hard' balance and enables its students to develop a capture on work/life balance from the start.

2. The international diversity really IS a unique selling point over the US equivalent and as a Brit I am
    genuinely an 'ethnic minority' for the first time in my own country! There is not another school in the
    world that can claim to have 91% international diversity in terms of the host country whilst still managing
    to be located in one of the key cities in the world....plenty of European schools obviously have a great
    international mix but very few of these can boast a 2 year program OR major city anywhere nearby.

3. The students, school and staff do not take themselves too seriously and everyone knows exactly what a
    great brand London Business School without needing to 'sell' the school at every opportunity. It is a
    great place to learn, an amazing community to be a part of and an AWESOME place to socialise!

4.   Top MBA + London life + Great People = A Fantastic Experience......enough said I feel

Now before anyone reading this writes to the Admissions Committee asking how much I am being paid to put this stuff in my blog, I want to point out we are given a completely free reign when blogging and all of the above has been extracted from the dark recesses of my brain....I am a pretty honest type of bloke, and certainly not afraid to speak my mind when something does not work (as BT customer services will tell you!) but it just happens that the school has got it right and I am happy to have no gripes at this point.

So if you really want to know why people choose the school just pop along and ask us - the great thing about having such a diverse mix of people is that everyone will have a slightly different spin on it. The only real way to find out the 'weighted average' of opinions is to keep asking as many London MBAs as you can get your hands on and then read the reviews....that is what I did and can happily say it was 100% the right choice for me.

Roll on the 'London Advantage Oktoberfest' next weekend and please remember if you are going to attend an event that I happen to be doing tours at, I know NOTHING about indemnity or insurance!!!!

Enjoy these links and if you feel London is right for you then we hope to see some of around NW1!

FT MBA Rankings

London Business School News

Wikipedia - London Business School 

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!

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!

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

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.

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!

About the GMAT

Last Monday I met Bertha Díaz, who plans to apply to our school next January. She told me the GMAT is one of her main concerns...it was also mine back then.

In order to get ready for the test while working, I took a take a three-week holiday in México and studied an average of eight hours per day.

Luckily, I only had to take the test once however some of my classmates took it two or three times to achieve their desired score.

My main source of information was mba.com. My favourite books were Kaplan and The Official GMAT Review however Princeton also has some useful basics. I also took most available practice tests, whose scores were close to my official results.

My best advice for the day is to properly manage your time for each question. The most important questions come first but they are not the only questions to answer. Keep that in mind.

I believe the GMAT can be overcome by an intense study period followed by a disciplined test on the day. It can be done!

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.

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.