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Question 1 (600 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? Why is this the right time for you to pursue an MBA?

The first part of LBS’s personal statement question is slightly different from others in that it is very specific, requiring you to identify your particular postgraduate role. There is no room here for aspirations (Stanford) or vision (HBS)—name your position and state exactly how LBS will help you get there. As for your “past experiences,” you need not offer a work history; you are to relate these experiences to your goals. This is not a discussion of your “path to your MBA,” but a statement of how your MBA and professional experience will enable you to succeed in the future. This is a nuanced distinction, but an important one.

Nonetheless, even this essay has some similarities to others. Because of such overlap from one application to the next, we have produced the “MBA Mission Personal Statement Guide.” We offer this guide to candidates free of charge, via our online store.  Please feel free to download your copy today.

Question 2 (200 words)

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

In essay two, you should again be particular in identifying your role in five years, but you can be a bit more “grand” with respect to your longer-term career vision. Here, you get to identify less of a role and more of an ideal end point. Again, you need to ensure that there is a logical connection between your plan, from post-graduation to five-year progress to long-term vision.

Question 3 (500 words)
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?

Ideally, you will offer a diversity of personal and professional experiences that show compelling examples of when and how you had an impact on a team, as a leader, an equal team member or even as a junior. You can use this essay to give the MBA Admissions Committee insight into your communication skills and personality, particularly in the face of “specific challenges.” Via this question, you will naturally be able to reflect on how you have been successful in team environments and how you will harness experiences (positive and negative) to be a positive force on your learning team. By proving that you possess a clear understanding of the demands of your learning team, you can show the MBA Admissions Committee that you have done your homework and are truly interested in LBS.

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 events will you be involved with and why? How will you contribute?

In this essay, you have the opportunity to give insight into your interests and passions, whether they are academic, professional or personal. So, essentially, the opportunities in this essay are twofold—first you can reveal your personality, and then you can connect them to your awareness of LBS’s extracurricular offerings. Ultimately, via your proposed contribution, you can explain how you would promote community at LBS, showing additional character traits—industriousness, an enterprising or creative nature, etc. In a short 400 words, you can accomplish a great deal—your ideas for this essay should be carefully considered.

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

In a very short space, you have the opportunity to discuss your international experiences and explain why they were important to you. This should not be a long list of travels with one sentence at the end connecting them all. Even in such limited space, you should try to tell a brief story of the best of your experiences and incorporate some reflection about your adventures.

McSweeney’s is the home of much irreverent and sardonic comedy writing. Recently, the site posted a piece by Helen Coster, where she writes about her rationale for applying to law school, offering the typical cliches and the obvious truth. A read of her piece might be a nice break for those struggling to express their most sincere thoughts right now…

mbaMission hosts a weekly blog series, “Admissions Myths Destroyed,” for our friends at Beat the GMAT. Check out the BTG site for fresh material and ours for “reprints.” The following piece was penned by mbaMission Founder, Jeremy Shinewald:

You look around your office and think to yourself: “I wish he were not applying to the same school as I am. They can’t take two people who sit at the same desk. Also, his GPA is .15 higher.” On the surface, this reasoning seems logical and it can thus be the cause of anxiety for some candidates, especially those who are in positions where an MBA is virtually a must to move forward (consulting, banking).

However, not to worry, there are two significant flaws in this thinking:

1. You are not the same candidate as the person at the desk beside you.He may have similar work experience, but, you have had different interactions with team members and clients and have worked on different projects. So, you have different perspectives on your experiences and so do your recommenders. Furthermore, your work experience is only one piece of the puzzle that is your application. Even if he does have a slightly higher GPA or GMAT, you are still quite different in terms of your personal/life experiences, community/leadership activities, ability to perform during interviews and more. Instead of worrying that the AdCom will make an apples to apples comparison and cast you out, you need to focus on what makes you distinct and present your best self.

2. There is room at top schools for two great candidates.When we asked HBS’s Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, Dee Leopold, whether she would accept two candidates who had worked on the same desk, she quipped, “We have room for Larry and Sergei (referencing the two founders of Google).”  An mbaMission Senior Consultant, recalled that when she was at HBS, she had two classmates who worked on the same desk at the same private equity firm. At HBS, they ended up in the same section.  Top MBA programs don’t have quotas for certain firms, towns, ethnicities, etc. They just want the best candidates out there.

So, in short, as you eye that individual across the desk, try to avoid simplified comparisons. Focus on that which makes you distinct and expect that the admissions committees will not fulfill quotas, but identify talent.

mbaMission writes a monthly feature for our friends at Beat the GMAT. The following piece was penned for BTG by mbaMission Founder, Jeremy Shinewald:  

In the coming weeks, many candidates will receive responses from MBA admissions committees that can be even more frustrating than rejections: “You have been placed on the waitlist.” So, what do you do when your status is uncertain?  First and foremost, listen to the admissions committee. If the AdCom tells you not to send follow-up material of any sort, then you should not yield to temptation and send material that you think will bolster your case and give you an advantage over your otherwise silent peers. If you (misguidedly) choose to send additional information, when it is not requested, then you will definitely identify yourself in a negative way – not the type of message that you want to send to a group that will determine your fate.

Still, some schools will ask that you follow-up with additional information. In this case, you may also experience some frustration: “What can I offer the MBA admissions committee as an update? I submitted my application three months ago!” You can start by explaining (if applicable) that you have been targeting your weaknesses – retaking the GMAT and increasing your score, for example, or taking a supplemental math class and earning an A grade. Further, if you have any concrete news regarding promotions in your professional life or assumptions of additional responsibilities in the community, you should definitely update the MBA admissions committee on this news as well.

Still, even if you don’t have these sorts of tangible accomplishments, you should have some news to share.  If you have undertaken any additional networking or have completed a class visit since the deadline, you can offer a window into your burgeoning interest in the school. (When you are on a waitlist, the MBA admissions committee wants to see that you are passionately committed to the school.) Further, even if you have not been promoted, you can creatively reflect on a new project that you have started working on and identify the new professional skills/exposure that this project has provided (for example, managing people offsite for the first time or executing with greater independence). Finally, the personal realm is not “off limits.” So, you should feel free to discuss any accomplishments – from advancing in your study of a language to visiting a new country to completing a triathlon (just as examples).

We do want to sound a cautionary note. If you do send additional information, you should be thoughtful and sparing. Ask yourself a simple question: is this information that I would want to receive if I were evaluating a candidate or is this just a correspondence for its own sake? We recommend fewer interactions that indeed count. So, do not rush to connect with your waitlist manager and do not interpret a lack of movement on the waitlist as a lack of interest on your target school’s behalf. Unfortunately, being on the waitlist is akin to running a marathon, not to the 100 meter dash. You will need to stay in the race for the long haul, hoping to top many talented competitors.

With a patient approach, complemented by some thought and creativity, you should be able to develop concise and powerful communications with the admissions committee at your target schools. By showing professional and personal growth, while expressing your sincere and increased interest in the school, you should increase your chances of gaining admission.

mbaMission hosts a weekly blog series, “Admissions Myths Destroyed,” for our friends at Beat the GMAT. Check out the BTG site for fresh material and ours for “reprints.” The following piece was penned by mbaMission Founder, Jeremy Shinewald:

You applied once and did not get in. It took a lot of effort and caused a lot of heartache. Now what do you do? You can’t really apply again to those schools, can you? What is the point? They already rejected you once, so they will next time, right? WRONG.

MBA admissions committees are governed by self-interest. Simply put, the schools want the best candidates out there. If you are among the best candidates, why would any Admissions Director think, “Well, this is an outstanding candidate who can add something special to our school and has unique potential going forward, but he applied last year so we’ll just forget about him.” Indeed, the reapplication process is not a practical joke or a disingenuous olive branch to those permanently on the outside. If the schools were not willing to let in a reapplicant, they would not waste their time and resources reviewing the applications.

While many fret about being reapplicants, some admissions officers actually see a reapplication as a positive – a new opportunity. Michigan-Ross’s Director of Admissions, Soojin Kwon Koh told mbaMission,

They are certainly not ‘damaged goods.’ We have had many successful reapplicants join our program after they’ve spent a year strengthening their candidacies.

J.J. Cutler, Director of Admissions at UPenn-Wharton, echoed this sentiment,

We find that students who have applied to Wharton before are absolutely not at a disadvantage. In fact, we recognize that the application process is an extensive one that involves self-examination and a large time commitment….Reapplying can give an applicant a chance to benefit from all the self-reflection and goal setting [he or she] went through during [his or her] first application cycle.

Meanwhile, the Yale SOM’s Admissions Director, Bruce DelMonico, noted,

I can certainly bust that myth….Our admit rate for reapplicants is actually the same as it is for first-time applicants. It’s important, though, for reapplicants to explain to us how their candidacy has improved from the previous time they applied. Reapplicants need to make sure they enhance their application, rather than just resubmitting the same application.

So, in short, reapplicants, you have no reason to believe that you only have one chance. Like any competitive MBA applicant, continue to strive and achieve; if it does not work out this time, it just might happen next time.