由 amada178 » 2007-04-01 12:34
Eventually, I was rejected by Oxford Said Business School, probably because my GPA and IELTS scores are extremely below their requirements or my question offended the interviewer (ex: I asked him how do they compete with other top biz schools either in US or Europe as their MBA is merely one year program). Anyway, I failed to be offered by Oxford. I believe Said is a potential biz school given a plenty of resources from Oxford network. Hope you go well with the application.
Here I would like to share more experiences with you regarding my application on LBS Masters in Finance program.
In fact, LBS usually offer around 2 seats to Taiwanese applicants of MiF program, currently, I am the only Taiwanese admit of the program for the Sep. 2007 based on LBS’s intranet. I will encourage you to apply the program as long as you have average test scores (GMAT 670-690/ TOEFL 260/ IELTS 7) and 4-5 years work experiences. When I submitted my application in mid Dec. last year, I didn’t fill in my IELTS score on application form as I thought my score was not good and had to retake the test once I got conditional offer. Fortunately, LBS gave me offer even without language score, implying they don’t regard language score as essential as other materials in case you have worked in the international firms over three years. Meanwhile, they will review your English ability through alumni interview. If you have similar work environment or live in English-speaking countries, you can waive your language score as well, unless the admission officers require you to submit.
In terms of reference letter, I only requested my former supervise and senior colleagues to be my referees. I submitted three letters as I mentioned in the opening discussion. Compared with professors in the university, my referees from work place can prove my consistent performance in the company over the past five years, in my view. I will suggest you choose referees from your work places as well because LBS care your work experiences more than your study performance in the university.
In addition to decent scores on GMAT & language test (either TOEFL or IELTS), you must make the most effort to edit your personal statement. As I mentioned, LBS prefer to accept applicants who have prosperous work experiences. They usually highlight your company name, job position, and main duty. Consequently, I would suggest you strengthen your story in terms of work experiences as much as you can and bear in mind that you must use words precisely and ambitiously. According to the school’s data, most of admits at MiF program have 5-6 years finance work experiences, particularly in accounting firms, investment banks, asset management, commercial banks, or other relevant areas ( ex: lawyer, who mainly covers business law).
Like MBA, MiF at LBS is definitely a work-oriented program. The latest employment report, provided by LBS finance program office, indicates 44% of MiF graduates are employed by Investment Banks, 13% by asset management, 10% by Private Equity, and 7% by consulting firms. Actually, MBA's work placement is very similar with MiF's at LBS, if your background is irrelevant to finance, I would suggest you try to apply for MBA because the school can offer you a good opportunity to contact renowned firms in finance industry through consecutive campus recruitment, while they can’t guarantee you a marvelous job in line with your expectation finally. Good Luck to You!