Here’s What It Takes To Get Into London Business School

London Business School consistently ranks as one of the most prestigious b-schools in the world.

It’s so difficult to get into that roughly three-quarters of applicants fail to gain admission. If you’re dead set on getting in, what exactly can you do?

Business Insider recently spoke to current and former admissions officers at LBS and an MBA admissions consultant to get the inside scoop on what it takes to get into LBS.

THE RIGHT FIT

Like any b-school, LBS looks at how an applicant will fit into the program, student body, and environment.

“Research LBS (and your other school choices) well,” David Simpson, admissions director for the MBA program at LBS, tells Business Insider. “We like to see that candidates have carried out specific research on LBS, preferably through students and alumni. We’re not like other schools; we are unique in terms of the package of our location, student body, and program structure.”

It’s important, Simpson says, that applicants clearly explain their career goals and why they want to attend LBS in their application.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean having one target company and role, but we want you to have thought about your options and the likelihood of achieving them with our MBA,” Simpson writes.

EGO WON’T GET YOU ANYWHERE

Experts note that LBS seeks applicants who don’t display a ‘big ego.’

Smruti Sriram, who is the CEO of Supreme Creations and a member of the LBS MBA class of 2018, observes that at LBS, “ego will not get you anywhere.”

Sriram says it’s more important to display passion rather than brag in your application.

“Don’t think you have to be ticking all sorts of skills and career boxes,” Sriram tells Business Insider. “Display passion, an ability to learn, and a care for the school community.”

INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK

Like many other top b-schools, LBS seeks out applicants who can bring a global perspective to campus.

“The cases you cover in class and the backgrounds of your peers and professors is more international than you can expect at a US school, so it’s helpful if you have and demonstrate a truly international (instead of US-centric) outlook,” Kaihan Krippendorff, Class of 1999 LBS alum and CEO and founder of growth strategy firm Outthinker, tells Business Insider.

Krippendorff also stresses that applicants should remember two things when it comes to displaying a ‘global perspective.’

First, “don’t talk only about Wall Street or Silicon Valley in your application when describing what you have learned or where you want to direct your future career,” he tells Business Insider. Second, “Show a truly global outlook rather than a US, European, or even Western-leaning [one]. Show you are and want to be a citizen of the world.”

Sources: Business Insider, Poets & Quants