I applied to London Business School with average GMAT score, typical profile, no international experience…and got in!

What does it take to get into London Business School?

If you’re an Indian applicant, the answer is unlikely to include an average GMAT score, typical profile and no global experience. In fact, it’s just the opposite.

The average GMAT score for LBS is around 700 (on the classic GMAT). Most admitted Indians will have a higher score than the class average.

With a typical profile, it gets harder to gain the admission officers interest.

And in a class that’s filled with international students from around the world, international work experience is highly valued on the applicant’s resume.

Prerna Arora has never shied away from competition. And not having the ‘perfect’ profile for her dream schools LBS and INSEAD wasn’t a strong enough reason to discourage her from applying to the two globally-respected MBA programs in Europe.
– LBS MBA admissions consulting review
 

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How a financial analyst got into London Business School

LBS with average GMAT score, typical profile, no global experience

by Prerna Arora

 

Since childhood my friends and peers have constantly highlighted how competitive I get, be it studies or sports. A lot of this was inculcated in me as I observed similar traits in my father, an academic overachiever.

This is where my long standing obsession of “being at a top MBA program” rooted from.

While this dream solidified during my undergraduate degree, the idea of actually being in a top school in India or abroad seemed unattainable, considering the fact that I was not at a top college for my undergraduate degree and I was in general not very friendly with competitive exams.

During my third year in Narsee Monjee, I decided to give CAT and ended up failing miserably. Which made me believe that maybe MBA is never going to happen for me.

But, as some people say, when the stars align, it all works out. I ended up bagging a Financial Analyst role at D.E. Shaw, a global hedge fund.

This role gave me a flavor of how it is to work in a large organization where the work is so dynamic.

I got a chance to interact with folks from multiple regions and an opportunity to really hone my skills in analytics, finance, and economics while collaborating with traders in the US.

This also gave me a chance to work and interact with peers who were all set on the path towards achieving an MBA from a top “global” B-school.

While this experience was extremely enriching, I did not feel satisfied with the impact I was creating at D.E. Shaw and I wanted to do something much more exciting.

This is when I decided to quit for a role in the CEO’s office at a Series A funded startup, Nova Benefits.

My stint at Nova Benefits as a Program Manager taught me how a business ran, gave me my first flavor in leadership, and provided me with unique challenges to solve every other day.

While working with the top management and many MBAs across the two companies, I realized that MBA is the missing piece for me to eventually become a business leader and to perhaps start something of my own in the future.

Before the beginning of my “MBA Dream”, I had considered going for a master’s degree in finance.

This is where my GMAT prep began – I gave my first attempt back in 2019.

I had a rocky journey with GMAT. For someone who had been doing fairly well in academics in the last few years, I ended up scoring in the early 600s – something that really shattered my somewhat overconfidence.

I tried multiple tutors and took coaching from different providers but was not able to cross that 700 mark.

After 3 more failed attempts from 2020 to 2021 (crushing my plan to apply in 2021), I decided to take a break from the GMAT.

I then restarted in 2022 with e-GMAT which gave me some confidence and really taught me the basics and crucial strategies – especially in verbal. Post 9 more months of prep, I finally scored a 700 – hence ending this difficult phase for me.

During this time, I also started figuring out the schools that I wanted to apply to. I was keen on not moving to the US, which left me with Europe + Asia as the only options.

I was flexible when it came to a 1 year vs a 2 year MBA and I wanted to target top schools in the region which gave me the flexibility to explore post-MBA options ranging from consulting to finance to luxury, hence leaving me with LBS, INSEAD, Oxford, Cambridge, ISB, and NUS.

After researching a bit about these schools, I found out a few concerns in my profile, such as, below average GMAT score for an Indian, somewhat of a typical profile, and lack of significant international experience – especially when it came to European schools.

As I was set with the schools I wanted to apply to, I started looking at the applications of these schools.

When I saw INSEAD’s application, I was lost.

I did not know where to start from, what my short and long term goals were, what were the right stories to pick, how can I gloss over the weak areas in my profile.

That’s when I realized the need of a good admissions consultant. I spoke to 3-4 consultants, some of them seemed hesitant to take me on unless I improved my GMAT score, some asked me to do some courses to build my profile, some extremely reputed ones did not seem to pay enough attention to my case since I was not applying to M7 schools, and some had a very dry and methodical ideology.

That’s where MBA Crystal Ball (MCB) stood out for me.

Manish Gupta connected me to Aishwary, which made so much sense since he is an INSEAD (and IIT Bombay + McKinsey) alumnus.

While Aishwary did highlight the issues that I anticipated in my profile, he was not hesitant to provide the support that I required in my applications.

I had also been following MCB on LinkedIn, and often read their blogs, which made me realize the depth of knowledge they already possess.

I decided to take the 3-school package with them and worked on INSEAD, LBS and Cambridge with Aishwary.

We began with the brainstorming session, something that stood out for me. This gave me ample time to go back in time and really figure out some important life events that differentiate me from other applicants.

Aishwary provided me with examples to understand what kind of stories can build a good narrative and provided a safe space for me to share my personal stories.

I always felt puzzled when it came to exactly stating my post-MBA goals. This is where Aishwary came in and helped me de-clutter my thoughts.

He posed a series of Whys and Whats and Hows which really made me think of the path I might want to choose post my MBA while also figuring out the core reasons for this goal.

Over the next 3-4 months, I constantly collaborated with Aishwary.

And I was always pleasantly surprised with his promptness – especially after hearing some horror stories from my friends’ experiences with admissions consultants.

He helped me build a kick-ass resume. Supported me through multiple drafts of the essays. Guided me on a strategy for school research when it came to speaking to students/alumni/professors.

What always stood out for me was that he had this drive to make sure that every sentence that I wrote in my essays had some meaning to it and did not seem like a copy-paste from the official website of the school.

Every aspect had a personal touch to it. He was also constantly available to clarify my doubts for schools where he was not helping me as well.

I ended up receiving interview invites from 5 out of the 6 schools I applied to in the months of January and February.

My first interview was with ISB, for which I took the interview package from MCB. Aishwary took a mock interview for me and gave me some in-depth feedback on every single answer I gave.

He provided some sample MBA interview questions and helped me prepare all the important questions multiple times. I felt prepared but not over-prepared for my interviews, exactly where you’d want to be!

My interviews with ISB, NUS and Oxford were fairly short and touched on the basics like tell me about yourself, Why MBA and Why this school? What are your post-MBA goals? Few questions from my resume and essays.

But, my LBS interview was nothing like this. It went on for 1 hour 40 minutes and was one of the best experiences I have had!

It was with a LBS alumnus and covered topics ranging from my work life, personal life, personal and professional goals, a case study, and London!

As the results started pouring in in late February, I began to have a difficult time. It began with waitlists from ISB and NUS. It was then followed by a rejection from Oxford but ended up being bittersweet as I received an admit from NUS the same day.

Things started to look up as I received an admit from ISB the next day!

Few weeks later, I received a positive early decision email from LBS which was everything I was waiting for!

I also ended up getting an interview from INSEAD later on which was another unique experience as they have 2 alumni driven interviews. These again went on for long but were extremely conversational.

I recently received my decision and I am waitlisted at INSEAD.
[Update: INSEAD made an offer after this article was published]

Overall, I have decided to start school at LBS in August 2024 – a dream in the making since the last 4 years! I feel this fits perfectly for me as I am open to exploring different professional opportunities which a 2 year MBA and a city like London will definitely be able to cater to.

I am extremely stoked for the next two years of MBA and living life in London!

As an MBA aspirant, one of my biggest pieces of advice is to believe in yourself throughout the process. Self-confidence is key.

A lot of us end up taking GMAT lightly but it can end up taking longer than expected – always keep that buffer and start early.

But also remember, your GMAT score is only a part of your application – you have many other avenues to really show key aspects of your profile.

The world of MBA applications is something else and can be extremely overwhelming.

Consider getting professional help as it really eases the process. I could not have done this without MCB!

Make sure to keep your application real and personal!

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Reach out to MBA Crystal Ball if you’re looking for professional career counselling or MBA admissions help: info@mbacrystalball.com

Watch this video where an M7 (Kellogg) MBA admit reveals his 2-year application strategy.