Meet London Business School’s MBA Class Of 2024

P&Q: What has been the most successful new course introduced by faculty in the past two years? What has made it so popular with students and how does it give them an advantage in the workplace?

Foley: “Digital for Impact is a new course, launched in 2020.  A cross-programme elective, Digital for Impact was created by LBS faculty Rajesh Chandy and Costas Markides as a way of connecting London Business School students virtually with SME businesses in emerging economies such as Africa. During the course, student teams work remotely with microentrepreneurs from countries like Rwanda and Uganda across a multitude of business sectors, including tourism, finance, retail, handicrafts, e-commerce, tech, coffee, and real estate.

With the support of expert faculty, peers, alumni and our regional on-the-ground network, project teams help entrepreneurs to address a live strategic challenge. During these projects, students have supported entrepreneurs with their business’ strategy, marketing, finances, expansion, and growth.

Our students love the experiential nature of the course, and really value the opportunity to apply learning straight away to a real-world project. They are able to see immediately the profound impact that business models enabled by digital technologies can have on businesses and societies, learning first-hand the transformative value this brings in emerging markets.

Delivering value in a remote consulting assignment requires an ability to develop a deep understanding of client and customer needs while addressing significant constraints on time and local knowledge. It requires the ability to self-organise, and to develop processes to ensure that projects are delivered on time and at high quality. It also requires the ability to influence peers within and outside the project team, and to access insights from formal and informal sources. All of these abilities are invaluable for those seeking to lead and create impact in today’s globally connected workplace.”

WHY LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL?

1) Cultural Diversity: “As someone who comes from a finance and accounting background, the big seller of the MBA for me was the chance to forge a valuable network of business professionals. The LBS MBA class is richly diverse (the LBS MBA2023 Class has 67 nationalities). The global perspectives that I will obtain from my fellow MBA classmates should aid me in my professional career as I would like to work primarily in emerging markets. I believe that having perspectives from people who come from both developed and emerging countries will enhance my contribution to the emerging markets sector.”
Nhlanzeko Khanyile (’24)

2) London: “London provides everything you could want as an MBA student. Professionally, London is home to global businesses and financial institutions, as well as being an established tech hub and home to a growing startup scene. These provide a wealth of experiential learning opportunities to MBA students through LBS’ LondonCAP, which partners student groups with London-based organizations in order to cement learning, as well as both summer and term time internships. In London, there is always a new restaurant to try, exhibition to see, or concert to attend with your classmates and there really is something for everyone. It is also the perfect launch pad to explore the rest of Europe and beyond for treks and weekend breaks.”
Freya Svedberg-Keating (’24)

“First, you have the opportunity to study in one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world; you get to immerse yourself in a city with people who come from very diverse backgrounds – both inside and outside of the classroom. Secondly, London is also one of the top financial districts in the world, which makes it a very attractive city to earn an MBA degree in. Lastly and perhaps most importantly for those students looking to increase their options after study, taking an MBA degree in London offers you the opportunity to obtain a graduate visa, which gives you permission to stay in the UK for at least two years after completing your MBA. For international students, this makes earning an MBA at LBS that much more appealing because it significantly increases the opportunities you can consider after you complete your MBA.”
Nhlanzeko Khanyile (’24)

3) Flexibility: “Programme flexibility was a key factor while choosing my target school. LBS offered me the opportunity to not only decide the length of the programme but also pursue term-time internships as an international student. The flexibility that students have in exploring multiple careers through a mix of structured and term-time internships really stood out to me. I believe that this is key to moving into jobs with more unstructured recruiting pipelines such as Private Equity, one of my target areas for recruiting.”
Anirban Mukhopadhyay(’24)

4) Entrepreneurship: “The program has a lot of strong entrepreneurial elements which really pulled me in. For instance, LBS has programs such as LondonCAP, the Newton Venture Program and the Entrepreneur Mentors in Residence, which will give me the opportunity to deep dive into the local startup and Venture Capital ecosystem and pick up best practices to implement within my own social enterprise. I’m also keen to pursue courses such as the Future of Work and collaborate with Professor Lynda Gratton who is a phenomenal entrepreneur and thought leader on Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Strategy.”
Spandana Palaypu (’24)

5) Programming: “The “Global Experiences” offers a chance to immerse ourselves in different business cultures first-hand. This is undoubtedly unique to LBS and is something that I am really looking forward to. I am also excited about the language courses that LBS offers. As someone who has been learning Spanish for the past two years, I am keen to develop my language skills further and enhance them to suit a business setting.
Tanya Agarwal (’24)

“Celebrating Diwali for the first time was a major (and very colourful) highlight! From the food to the music to the MBA class dance competition, it was one of the most fun and immersive experiences on the MBA. It was a vibrant, loud, energetic celebration of our classmates’ culture that perfectly exemplified why going to an international business school was the right move.”
Maddie Forman (’22)

“Definitely Tattoo! Tattoo is our school’s yearly celebration of our cultural and national diversity – the evening includes different cuisines, traditional dances from different nations (although the dance competition can become quite competitive!), musical performances, and stalls showing off cultural heritage. This year it is back on campus and outside in our school’s gardens. It is tradition that we light up and project onto the school building all the different flags represented by our student population. The reason I love this tradition is that encapsulates what is so special about LBS – our diversity and that we love our differences and choose to learn from each other.”
Naveen Kler (’22)

ADVICE TO PROSPECTIVE APPLICANTS

“London Business School is really interested in admitting pupils who have an open mind. You’ve got to be willing to learn from others and learn about yourself. Think about what makes you unique. As an example, London Business School design seating plans for the lectures to ensure you’re not surrounded by people who have the same experience as you. That’s fantastic because you will learn from a diverse range of people. So think about what you bring to your group that makes you stand out. Rico

The LBS MBA Application is probably one of the most introspective processes out there. It really makes you think about who you are, what your goals and values are, the kind of culture and community you thrive in, and of course the people you want to form lifelong friendships with. It’s all about the fit!

My advice to any potential applicant would be to first dig a little deeper and really understand why you would be the right fit for LBS and vice versa. Delve into how your goals and values align with that of the school’s, and how LBS can help you get there. Also, highlight how YOU will make a valuable addition to the classroom and the wider LBS community be it through your work, your extra-curricular activities, and experiences where you have engaged with diverse cultures. Most importantly, make sure your application reflects authenticity, clarity of thought and really brings out your unique voice, because LBS really values this.”
Spandana Palaypu (’24)

“I think my interview was a really strong element of my application. The LBS interview is conducted by an alumnus who has a similar background to you – my interviewer was an ex-lawyer who had moved into impact investing (very spot on!). I think I shone in my interview because I had a crisp strategy on how to execute my post-MBA journey and I demonstrated very clearly that I had researched that path in detail. I could speak to the companies I wanted to work for and the specific departments and the projects that I thought were particularly interesting. I could also relay why my skill set and network pre-MBA would aid me in this journey. Furthermore, I stayed very relaxed throughout and definitely made the interview into a conversation where I was exchanging ideas and thoughts with my interviewer.”
Naveen Kler (’22)

 

MBA Student	Hometown	Undergrad Alma Mater	Last Employer
Alisha Chowdhury	New Orleans, LA	University of Pennsylvania	Wafra
Nhlanzeko Khanyile	Durban, South Africa	University of Cape Town	Investec Bank Limited
Maria Jose Lagos	Santiago, Chile	Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile	Uber
Anirban Mukhopadhyay	Mumbai, India	Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)	Abacus Pharma (Africa) Limited
Ezzy Ndujiuba	London, United Kingdom	Queen Mary University of London	ASOS
Ryan Owens	Manchester, United Kingdom	None	Great Britain Cycling Team
Spandana Palaypu	Hyderabad, India	Aberystwyth University	ZoEasy
Alexandra Rico-Lloyd	London, United Kingdom	None	Bike Club
Ori Stern	Kibbutz Lavi, Israel	NA	Viola Ventures
Freya Svedberg-Keating	London, United Kingdom	University of Edinburgh	VIB-UGent Center for Inflammation Research
Steph White	Sydney, Australia	Sydney University	Boston Consulting Group
Tanya Agarwal	London, United Kingdom	Durham University	Paines Plough