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Talk to current MBA students about life in MBA programs (not for app advice/discussion)
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by beatthegmat » Wed May 04, 2011 3:25 pm
Hi Beat The GMAT Community,

I'm very pleased to introduce you to Bosa, who is an MBA student at the London Business School. Bosa is a distinguished Beat The GMAT alum and he's generously offered his time to answer your questions about LBS student life here!

Some background on Bosa--he's currently in his first year at LBS, worked in a variety of M&A and finance roles in his career, and scored an awesome 750 on his GMAT.

A big thanks to Bosa for representing his school here!
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by nycknicks11 » Wed May 04, 2011 8:23 pm
Do we ask the question here? On this thread?

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by beatthegmat » Thu May 05, 2011 8:32 am
Yes, please ask away in this thread!
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by vkb16 » Sat May 07, 2011 12:54 am
Hi

I had applied to a few schools last year but did not get a favourable reply from any.
I am going to re-apply and apply to other schools again this year, including LBS.

A few alums have advised me and I have read online that visiting the campuses of the schools where I want to apply, is a MUST.

How helpful, do you think, will a campus visit be, in the application process?
I live in India, so its a flight half-way across the globe.
Do you think its worth the effort?

Thanks,
Vinay

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by bosa » Sat May 07, 2011 3:38 pm
I think it's highly beneficial for two reasons. Firstly, it's a clear way of demonstrating your interest in the school in both your application essay and subsequent interview. Saying that you sat in on "XYZ" lecture by "ABC" professor and observed the class dynamic first hand, gives you an edge over a similar candidate with no demonstrated interest in the school. Secondly, you need to be sure that this is a school worth spending 2 years of your life at, and all your life savings! Websites and forums are great, but you genuinely get a different perspective when seeing things for yourself. Hopefully, you'll find yourself with multiple offers. If that happens, you want to be making a well informed choice based on your own experience.

That said, not visiting isn't a deal-breaker. Just make sure you're spoken to 1 or 2 alumni, and have communicated with the admissions team via phone, email or at an event in India. Then in your essay and interview, you can still reference first-hand interactions with LBS representatives.
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by vkb16 » Mon May 09, 2011 4:44 am
Hi Bosa

First of all, thanks a ton for the great review!

I do get the point where you said that not visiting isnt really a deal breaker.
However, the process that you described - getting in touch with 1-2 alums for their personal review - is what I followed in
most of my applications. I even wrote down the names of the alums/current students with whom I interacted, in my essays.

Although it IS a great way to show genuine interest and research, I somehow think visiting the schools, even though it would entail
travelling half-way across the globe, would be a better way. Please do let me know your opinion. What would you do, if you were in my place? :)

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by bosa » Mon May 09, 2011 11:00 pm
If it was my first choice school and I had the available money/time, I'd visit as part of a short holiday to Europe :)

But, I wouldn't get too hung up on this. It's one part of a much bigger picture. If your essays demonstrated good independent research into the school, then the issue may lie elsewhere. If one of your alumni contacts could read over your essays to give some independent advice on communicating your background, future goals, etc., that'd be valuable. Or perhaps you could allocate air-fare money to hiring a consultant to see where last year's applications could have been improved.
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by IWillSurvive » Wed Oct 26, 2011 2:05 pm
Hi Bosa,

Thanks again for answering responses! I know I am pretty late on this forum, but I just happened upon it.

I work for the Department of Defense, and I am always busy. I have not had a day off or a real vacation in a long time. So, visiting schools has been hard. The best I could do was visit local schools in my area.

So, that being said, would interest be properly shown by participating in webinars regarding the school, as well as speaking to alumni? I met a couple of alums from the school at a Forte Foundation webinar, and an admissions rep at a QS World MBA Tour. I have also connected with students there via your club websites. Is it terrible that I cannot remember specific names?

Anyway, another question I have for you....how hard is it to live in London? Is it expensive? How does that work?

Thanks,
Angie

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by Noelhanssens » Sun May 13, 2012 7:23 pm
Hi Bosa,

Thanks for posting here, this is a great resource. I'm studing at LBS shortly myself and I'm interested in what you did for accommodation. Did you stay at one of the halls or did you find your own?

Thanks, Noel Hanssens

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by Karan24 » Thu Jan 16, 2014 5:29 am
Hi ,
I am looking to apply at LBS, I wanted to have an evaluation of my profile and get an idea about my chances at LBS. Would appreciate if you could help me with this.
I have 7 years of work experience. I have a diverse work experience where I started my career at JP Morgan as a mutual fund accountant to being an entrepreneur where I started working in rural India to set -up low cost outsourcing processes. I was an unique concept where we set-up fully functional rural BPOs that employed women for the villages and created job opportunities for them.
Two years after starting out I joined Tupperware, where I am working as financial planner& analyst. I have taken my GMAT and have a score of 640, I know the score may not be a very good one, but I wanted an evaluation whether with my credentials and job experience I stand a good chance at LBS.
I have also significant international exposure, as in JP Morgan I was responsible for mutual funds for Dublin & North America region so all interactions involved with my counterparts in these regions. At HarVa also I was Responsible for implementation of the Jobconcierge, US based Human-powered job search Solution Company. It's a start up business by Wharton alums that helps people find jobs by outsourcing the online job search. I helped in drafting the financial plan to seek venture capital funding for marketing and consequently scalability of operations and handled a 5 member team for day to day operations. At Tupperware as well I have had the opportunity of helping set-up the Bangladesh operations.
I hope these criteria do match the credentials, do let me know if my GMAT score will not be a deterrent in my chances of getting an admission. My though is that since LBS does encourage entrepreneur I stand a good chance, but I would definitely like an opinion from an alum
Do let me know if you need any further information
Thanks
Best Regards,
Karan