Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Final blog posting

I think the time has come to close this blog down now that I'm out of the MBA for 5 months (graduation was beginning of July 2010). Today is also a good day to write my last post because the official LBS employment stats for the MBA class of 2010 were just released: 91% of the class found a job within 3 months of graduation with a mean starting salary of £70K (or $113K). That's pretty awesome! Compared to last year, that's an increase of 10% in employment rate, but we are very fortunate I guess that the economy has picked up quite a bit since. Here is the detailed report.

Like many of my classmates, I've been fortunate to have found a job in London. I started working in product marketing for an internet company where I also worked part-time during the MBA and did my summer internship. Thanks to the LBS network I was able to switch from consulting (manufacturing industry) pre-MBA to marketing in the tech industry post-MBA. I'm very grateful to have found a company and a job I like, that I was able to experience 2 amazing years at LBS, and for the friends I've made. The past 2 years were such an incredible journey - what a roller coaster ride.

For those going through the MBA application process right now: I wish you best of luck!!! And for those already in b-school: Enjoy the time with your classmates, it goes by faster than you think...

All the best!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Which round to apply?

That's a common question people post on MBA forums. And the answer is always the same: Apply when you can present your best application. However, always avoid round 3 (and 4 where applicable). They are the most competitive.

At London Business School, with 4 admission rounds, about 1/3 of seats get filled after R1, 1/3 after R2, and the remaining 1/3 is split between R3 and R4 (or that's what I recall). But how many people apply for each of these rounds? In a previous post, I mentioned that an admissions officer said that most people apply in R2, followed by R3, R1, and the least apply in R4. Hence, with 1/3 of seats going away in R1, but not many people applying then, your best bet is R1!

However, if I ask Google, most apply in R2, followed by R1, R3, and R4. Here's how I estimate this. Since my blog is very LBS centric, I used Google Analytics to track how many people visited this blog on which dates. So for R1, for example, I looked up how many people visited my blog on November 6, 2009 (R1 interview decision date) and December 16, 2009 (R1 admission decision date). Most visits on these days came through Google Search (e.g. "acceptance rate LBS"). I then took the sum of both, and did the same for all other rounds. The data is below, and it shows that 50% of applicants apply in R2, followed by 25% in R1, 18% in R3, and only 8% in R4. Well... the real truth is probably somewhere in between what I heard from LBS and what Google says :-).

Number of visits to this blog:

Monday, April 5, 2010

The London Business School exchange

I realize it's been a while since I last posted and thought I'd update my blog to tell you guys about the LBS exchange and my experience in Hong Kong.

First, here's how the whole exchange process works at LBS. Around 30% of students decide to spend one term abroad in their 2nd year (either fall or spring). There are two rounds where you apply. In the first round, you may not apply to schools in your home countries and wherever you lived for more than 3 years after you turned 18. Say you are American, and you would like to go on exchange to a US school, then you'll have to wait until round 2 and see which schools still have open spots after students from R1 accept. Less popular schools with spots in R2 include Chicago Booth, Tuck, Ross or Duke so there is always a chance to go back to the US even if you are American. The most popular (and therefore competitive) US schools among LBS students are MIT, Haas, UCLA, Wharton and Columbia. Overall, the top spots by city this year were New York (~15 exchangers from LBS at Columbia and NYU, then Hong Kong (10 LBSers), and then I think it was close in between Cape Town and Sydney (7-8 LBSers each). The application just involves writing a 350 word limit essay for each school you are applying to (you rank your top 3 choices).

On another note, many ask whether any b-schools have an exchange with Harvard Business School or Stanford. The answer is no, both don't have exchange programs with any partner school. But, there is a way to take classes at HBS. If you do an exchange to MIT Sloan, you can cross-register and enrol in classes at HBS (max 2 courses I believe). Getting into the MIT exchange from LBS is super competitive though. There are only 2 slots. Aside from LBS, I believe only IESE also has an exchange with MIT. As to Stanford, I'm not sure if Haas has a cross-registration policy for business school courses.

For more information on the LBS exchange, I've attached last year's LBS exchange handbook. It gives you more important information for each school such as slots available, exchange terms (fall or spring (or both)), alumni access, or recruiting access.

As mentioned, my exchange was to Hong Kong, more specifically to Hong Kong University. LBS has exchange programs to 3 b-schools in Hong Kong, so if you want to go there's no problem at all. Looking back, it was for sure a highlight of my MBA, if not one of the best times in my life. Classes were less demanding, leaving lot's of free time to socialize, explore Hong Kong, and travel in the region.

Should you travel to Hong Kong, here are my top things to do aside from the touristy stuff:
- Go hiking on Hong Kong island! The best hike was Dragon's Back. On a hot nice day, bring your swim stuff cause there is a fantastic beach at the end of the hike (see bullet point below)! I've attached a file for hiking in Hong Kong.
- Check out the town of "Shek O" on the south side of HK island for a nice seafood lunch and the amazing white sand beach!
- Have dim sum at Maxim's (City Hall close by Central station)
- Go out in Lan Kwai Fong (LKF), start off with drinks at amazing Lei Dou bar (20 D'Aguilar St) and then hit Azure club in the LKF Hotel for good party and an outdoor terrace with nice views of the city at night.
- Have seafood dinner at Temple St market in the evening

The touristy stuff you will know (The Peak, Star ferry, laser show, Lantau Buddha, Wednesday horse race, etc.).

If you're not bound to London (e.g. partner, job search) then I highly recommend going on exchange. Almost everyone I spoke to had a fantastic time no matter where they went. It's a life experience you won't regret!


Hong Kong island at night, taken from Kowloon across the bay.