2010-2011 MBA essay questions
| Q1. |
Goals
(750 words)
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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?
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| R) |
Summarising your professional experience, build a link between the skills/knowledge base you have already acquired and what
further you need in order to achieve your future career goals. This part should also answer the question on why you feel that an
MBA is needed at this stage. Are you clear about your immediate post MBA goal - keep in mind that this goal needs to flow well with the
rest of the essay on how the LBS experience will help you to get to it. By the words 'career vision', the AdCom wants to get a sense of why your long
term career goal is meaningful to you. Finally, devote about a quarter of the essay to explaining why LBS is suitable for you- research the LBS MBA and point out its
significant advantages to you e.g. 1 year MBA which allows you to get back to your family business sooner,
yet equipped well with management knowledge etc. |
| Q2. |
Leadership
(300 words)
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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
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Pick an example where your team successfully met certain objectives. Briefly outline what these were, and what role you played vis-a-vis-the rest of the team in moving towards the goal. As a 'test' of your leadership, did you meet with some resistance/lack of support from the others and how did you surmount this? Or perhaps your team was low on morale due to early failures and you played a key motivational role? What did the experience teach you - therefore how will you transfer the learning to your work group. |
| Q3. |
Student involvement
(300 words)
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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?
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The list of student clubs at LBS is a delight for students who thrive on extra curricular life, ranging from Art and Acting to Wine and Cheese Clubs! But to answer this question, choose judiciously, keeping in mind that you need to demonstrate clear interest/involvement in the activities of the respective clubs. This could be through similar involvement in the past; perhaps you were in the Dramatics Society of your college, and you would like to pursue this hobby at LBS too! Just a listing of the clubs will not suffice, be sure to answer what you would contribute e.g. would you use your mass communications experience in XYZ country to share with the Media Club, how media affects popular perception. |
| Q4. |
Outside home country
(300 words)
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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?
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The LBS MBA is known for its 'international nature'. Keeping this in mind, do you adapt quickly and easily into a multi cultural or diverse environment? Can you substantiate this with a real instance- perhaps initially you faced some hesitation in being accepted by a diverse group or you yourself felt reluctant to engage with them? How did you change this mindset and what did this teach you about adapting to diverse groups? How will this experience help you at LBS - will you for e.g. play a mediator in a diverse work group? |
| Q5. |
Student association president
(150 words)
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Option1: 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
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Research the role played by the
Student Association - you will notice that the SA is an influential group and therefore its members have a clear agenda and role. As President of the SA, you will be the chief liaison between the SA and the School´s administration. As a campaigner, what new initiatives do you propose e.g. will you initiate greater networking events with alumni, demand higher budget for career services function, press for expanding the representation of international students etc
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| Q6. |
Most substantial achievement
(150 words)
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Option2: What is your most substantial achievement to date and why?
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A short essay- so without much ado, clearly state the achievement - what results did you achieve, how did they compare with past results or those of peers etc. What key steps did you take to achieve this - and what does this say about your strengths such as resilience, leadership etc. Why was this accomplishment important to you - did you set a new standard, or did you uncover hidden potential in yourself etc.
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