Vibranture - the best mba essay writing consultancy in india, perhaps the world

mba essay consulting :: the best

Home -> LBS -> LBS Essays Tips

Services

Business Schools

Essay Tips

Ethics

Feedback

Buy Service

LBS Essays Tips      Buy LBS Essay Package

writing+editing support   review+edit   evaluation   brainstorming   mock interview   recos   mba resume

First get the basic principles of mba essay writing right and then move on to the LBS 2011-2012 essay tips.

The continuous focus on LBS and LBS student activities across the entire essay package makes the process of writing these essays a more single-minded activity than usual. All the LBS essays are well thought out prompts that reward attentive focus. The LBS essay pack is marginally longer this year, and includes a free-style open ended essay.

LBS Essay 1

1. Please discuss your career progress to date and explain why now is the right time to undertake an MBA at London Business School? (500 words)

LBS Essay 1 Tips

LBS has reverted to the simpler 2009-2010 goals essay pattern, changing from last year's combined: "Give us a brief assessment of your career progress to date. In what role do you see yourself working in immediately after graduation and what is your longer term career vision? How will your past and present experiences help you to achieve this? How will the London Business School MBA Programme contribute to this goal? Why is this the right time for you to pursue an MBA? (750 words)".

This simple two-part goals essays is simple enough: outline your career path and then justify your decision to pursue an LBS MBA now.

Career Progression: Explain the path your career has taken, highlight the key achievements and if possible uncover a logical theme that runs across your career (and logically leads to the MBA and thereafter). Please keep essay two and your goals in mind while writing this essay: ideally your career progress story will substantially explain the motivations for your selection of your short term (maybe even long term) job/function/company/industry and support it through the skills/knowledge you have gained. Showcasing career achievements, insights and learning will be welcome.

Why LBS? Why now?: "Why LBS" is a critical component of the question and should be dealt with application, research and intelligence. Look beyond cutting/pasting info gleaned from the LBS website and make a compelling argument that answers "Why is the LBS MBA the BEST business school program for you?" This unasked question will be critical not only for your online application but also later in your interview. Personalize your answer as much as possible and plausibly connect what LBS specifically (and if possible, uniquely) offers you and your future goals. "Why is this the right time for you to pursue an MBA?" seeks to know why NOW, rather than later (or earlier), is the ideal time for your LBS education.

Do your best!

LBS Essays Review   LBS London Essays Review+Edit   LBS Essays Writing Support

LBS Essay 2

Where do you see your career progressing five years after graduation and what is your longer term career vision? (300 words)

LBS Essay 2 Tips

This essay is a natural companion to Essay One, but is separated since LBS wants to highlight the individual importance of your long term and short term goals. Perhaps LBS is a little tired of fuzzy answers for one or the other or both!

From your perspective it would be useful to think about these essays separately and then together, before you put pen to paper. Logical links between your long-term goals, short-term goals, past experiences and LBS, will help. Some lucid thinking and creativity will go a long way in making this a high point in your LBS application. Define each goal and explain your vision.

Short Term Goal: Focus on your short term professional plans with a vengeance because LBS wants to test the credibility, practicality and achievability of your dreams and its (and your) fit with LBS. A 5 year goal is somewhat unusual in a goals essay, so clarity about your career progression post-MBA will need greater clarity than the average b-school goals essay. A clear goal in terms of job profile and industry would be to your advantage - enabling you to construct a multi-point argument that leaves no loose ends. Specify how your experiences so far, especially in the current job, will help you achieve your goal.

Longer Term Career Vision: What is your career vision? What impact do you see yourself - within your function/industry/country/universe. Some lucid thinking and intelligence will go a long way in making this a high point in your LBS application. Logically link your long-term goals with the short-term goals, past experience and LBS. Strategic thinking, passion and intelligence, might be the key qualities you wanna highlight here.

Go for it!

LBS Essay 3

Give a specific example of when you have had to test your leadership and team working skills. Given this experience what role will you play in a first year study group? (300 words)

LBS Essay 3 Tips

This is a rephrased version of the 2009-2010 prompt: "Please describe your experience of working in and leading teams, either in your professional or personal life. Include any specific challenges you have faced. Given this experience, what role do you think you will play in your first year study group?".

Since we have just a single example to base the essay on, choose a story that allows you to present your skills and attitude in leadership/teamwork while also correlating your skills with the LBS study group.  You can choose from any of the numerous leadership and team situations that you have experienced; the setting can be personal, professional or academic.

Though accomplishments have not been directly asked for, it stands to reason that you will not be cataloging your failures in team situations! A good, succinct, unique, credible story will make this essay. Since "test" is part of the essay prompt, delineate specific challenges you faced, and briefly explain how you overcame them, and possible even how it furthered your development as a team player and a leader.

Building some knowledge about the LBS study groups would be in order before attempting this essay. Get information from the website and other sources (alumni); this example of an LBS study group might help. Check out the LBS class profile. As usual keep in mind that this essay is part of a bigger package and write accordingly. For example, the very next essay again seeks your ideas about contributing to yet another facet of the LBS program - student club or campus community events. Like in the earlier couple of LBS essays keep the other essays in mind while writing this one.

Go for it!

LBS Essays Review   LBS London Essays Review+Edit   LBS Essays Writing Support

LBS Essay 4

Student involvement is an extremely important part of the London Business School MBA experience and this is reflected in the character of students on campus. Please describe how you will contribute to student clubs and the community and why? (300 words)

LBS Essay 4 Tips

This again is a rephrasing of the prompt: "What type of student club or campus community events will you be involved with and why? How will you contribute?". I had really liked the old 2005-2006 LBS essay question which asked you to "initiate" an event or club; I liked the 2006-2007/2007-2008 question too which asked "What type of student club or campus community event do you envisage yourself leading?". This essay prompt is less challenging - and only demands that you describe club/events you will "contribute" to.

However, why set your sights too low?! After researching student clubs, events, campus community activities and student life in general at LBS, and then choosing the appropriate activity that dovetails with your tastes and aptitude, perhaps you can still take that leap towards leadership and innovation. Instead of simply detailing activities you might contribute to, attempt to use this essay to additionally demonstrate your leadership skills and potential. Perhaps this 2010-2011 essay prompt will be a further inspiration: "You have decided to stand for the role of Student Association President. Announcing your campaign to the London Business School community for the first time, please describe your manifesto.".

Linking your future involvement at LBS with your past actions/successes in similar endeavors/field will add definite credibility to your essay. Please make your decision about essay 5 before writing this essay, since certain aspects of approach, attitude and possibly even concrete actions, might overlap with essay 5a.

Go for it!

LBS Essay 5

London Business School offers a truly global and diverse experience. Describe any significant experiences outside of your home country or culture. What did you gain and how will your experience contribute to London Business School? (250 words)

LBS Essay 5 Tips

LBS is proud of the "highly international nature" of its programme and considers itself especially "suitable for people who want international mobility". So it stands to reason that as an LBS applicant you are expected to have an inclusive, global outlook; so, if possible, showcase your international exposure.

Your outlook and maturity in cross-cultural interactions and your experiences thereof would form the core of this LBS MBA application essay - how you will interact, adapt and thrive, in a multi-cultural environment and how this will help you enhance the LBS community. With a longer essay this time, you can write more substantial examples that underline your ability to deal with change and diversity.

Go for it!

LBS Essays Review   LBS London Essays Review+Edit   LBS Essays Writing Support

LBS Essay 6

Considering what you have already included in the application, what else would you like to tell us about yourself? You can approach this question however you like. (250 words)

LBS Essay 6 Tips

This is somewhat similar to the famed Chicago Booth slide and Stern free-form non-essay challenges, except that LBS presents it in essay form. The limitless scope of the question might stump some of you. However, the basics challenge still remains the same: how to present your candidature credibly, impressively and differently.

Ask yourself, what else and what more would you like the LBS admissions committee to know about you that have not been covered in your other essays? Try to portray yourself from a different angle, to highlight different aspects of yourself or even to re-emphasize what makes you tick. And try to build a theme while doing that.

The broad hint "however you like" should motivate you to be creative in form and/or approach and/or structure. Humor and insight could be the magic variables that score for you. And have some fun while doing all this.

Go for it!

LBS Essays Review   LBS London Essays Review+Edit   LBS Essays Writing Support

LBS Reapplicant Essay

How has your candidacy for the London Business School MBA improved since your last application? Have your views of London Business School or the MBA programme changed since you last applied? (300 words)

LBS Reapplicant Essay Tips

Use these 300 words to convince the LBS Admissions Committee that there have been enough changes in your profile to justify a revaluation of your candidature.

Your aim will be to present the professional, academic, community and personal improvements that make you a stronger candidate for an LBS admission this year. State compelling reasons why you deserve a second chance. What steps have you taken to strengthen your LBS application? Stronger work experience, professional achievements, better GMAT, personal achievements, accomplishments on the social front, international exposure or academic accomplishments can all find place in the LBS reapplicant essay. Proactive LBS-specific steps taken by you, perhaps based on direct or indirect feedback from LBS, might prove a trump card.

The second question, a new addition this year, attempts to discover how much you have matured as a prospective student and how much better knowledge of your career, goals, MBA and LBS you have as compared to earlier.

Show marked, even dramatic, improvement. That's what this essay is about!

Go for it!

LBS Optional Essay

This is not a compulsory essay but please complete if you would like the opportunity to clarify or expand upon any information submitted in your application.

LBS Optional Essay Tips

As usual an optional essay requires effort even if you don’t write it. The main question in any optional essay is to decide whether you need to write it at all. Attempt the LBS optional essay only if you feel that it will improve the factual and material strength of your application.

Do not submit your LBS optional essay as an addendum to any of your essays. Do not submit your optional essay because you feel that the quality of your earlier essays is improvable – if that is the case, simply redouble your efforts in those LBS application essays and leave the optional essay alone.

Use the LBS optional essay to explain shortfalls in your application which you feel are truly detrimental to your candidature. Areas of underperformance (academic or professional or GMAT) or events which stick out (gaps in your resumes or second MBA) can be commented on if you have an explanation that is intelligent, interesting and credible.

One other situation when the LBS optional essay is acceptable is when you need to convey an extraordinarily positive information that CANNOT be accommodated in the other LBS essays – a VERY strong reason that promotes your LBS admit that absolutely requires another essay.

In case you find any of the above applicable, note down the options and then consider again if the optional essay is a robust constructive addition to your candidacy. If yes, start working on the LBS optional essay.

Go for it!

AIM   Anderson UCLA   Australian AGSM   Babcock Wake Forest   Babson   Berkeley Haas   Carlson   CEIBS   Chicago Booth   Columbia   Cornell Johnson   Cranfield   Darden Virginia   Duke Fuqua   Emory Goizueta   Erasmus Rotterdam RSM   ESADE   FMS   Fisher Ohio   Garvin Thunderbird   Harvard   HEC Paris   HKUST   HEC Montreal   IESE   IIMA-PGPX   IIMC-PGPEX   IMD   INSEAD   Instituto de Empresa   ISB PGP   ISB PGPMAX   ISB YLP   Ivey   Judge Cambridge   Kelley Indiana   Kellogg   Kenan-Flagler   Krannert Purdue   LBS   Macquarie   Manchester   Marshall   McCombs Texas   McDonough Georgetown   McGill   Melbourne   Mendoza Notre Dame   Nanyang   NUS   Olin Washington   Owen Vanderbilt   Queens   Ross Michigan   Rotman   Said Oxford   Schulich York   SDA Bocconi   Simon Rochester   Sloan MIT   Smith Maryland   Stanford   Stern NYU   Tepper CMU   Tuck Dartmouth   Warwick  Wharton   Yale

writing+editing support   review+edit   evaluation   brainstorming   mock interview   recos   mba resume   contact