What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these? (500 words)

London Business School's first essay question is really direct and straight to the point! Why did you decide to pursue an MBA degree? and why did you choose LBS specifically? and finally, what connects your current career, your previous studies, to the MBA? 

The admissions committee here doesn’t want you to focus on your resume but rather pull out the most important points out of it. You need to mention the moments in your life that pushed you to choose the career and the studies you have decide to pursue. The applicant must connect the dots here and show that it was all part of the plan! Your own career plan! 

Additionally, you need to show that your career goals are well detailed, researched, and realistic. If the reason behind getting your MBA, is a career change, make sure to explain why do you need to change careers and explain how the MBA will help you succeed in your next move. 

The applicant must show why London Business School out of all the business schools in the United Kingdom or all around the world will specifically help help him achieve his future goals. The applicant must stay away from the regular platitudes every admissions committee finds in an MBA applicant such as “I want to grow my network”, but rather show that you are an independent thinker and that you like to challenge yourself. While truth most of the time hurts, truth will only help you in this case! Authenticity is very well rewarded in the admission process. 

Before answering this question, the applicant must get in touch with an alumni to get a sense of what the LBS values are and how he can be a match to them. This is easy to do as every MBA program and every business school has student ambassadors that perfectly reflect the values and mission of the school. 

Final point, LBS is very famous for allowing students to customize their programs to fit in with their lifestyles and their current careers and schedule. The applicant must elaborate a little on that and how them how he will be customizing the program to better fit his future goals and current situation. 

Is there any other information you believe the Admissions Committee should know about you and your application to London Business School? (Optional) (500 words) 

Optional essays are always a second chance for the applicant to address anything not addressed or mentioned in his resume. Any gaps or shortcomings that you think must be explained in a detailed matter must be mentioned in this part of the applicant. Showing that you are willing to be vulnerable and talk about your shortcomings showed to the committee a sense of a self awareness and can give the committee a better context on the why behind the information you are providing. 

However, this part should not look like a couple of excuses. It should show how you have faced difficulties but rather surrender, you pulled yourself up and thrived! You are now ready to apply to one of the best MBA programs in the world and that is not something easy! It shows that you are brave and ready to move on! 

Here, you can also talk about why your GMAT score is not high enough. You can demonstrate here you academic and math skills somehow. You will have include documents that showcase that the test does not totally reflect all that you can offer to the schools.