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<keyword id="68635" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="London-Business-School">London Business School</keyword> needs no introduction. Along with <keyword id="6384930" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="INSEAD">INSEAD</keyword>, it is considered one of the top two MBA programmes outside the <keyword id="6356955" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="united-states">United States</keyword>. Just pick up any <keyword id="107736" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Business-school">business school</keyword> rankings and you will see it is quite rare when <keyword id="6354968" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="London">London</keyword> Business School has not made it to the list of top 10 B-schools globally. The school offers a great programme, has a formidable alumni network and because of its location in the <keyword id="24479" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="heart">heart</keyword> of London, has strong ties with the financial industry. 
 But of late, I have increasingly observed that many of my best students are either not applying to LBS or keeping it as a ‘safe’ option. The five schools that mostly make it to the list of the top Indian students are <keyword id="53675" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="harvard">Harvard</keyword>, <keyword id="33081" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Stanford">Stanford</keyword>, Wharton, INSEAD and <keyword id="6357276" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="ISB">ISB</keyword>. Sometimes LBS makes it to their list; at other times, it doesn’t. I’ve also observed that 7 out of 10 times, when students have offers from both INSEAD and LBS, they end up choosing INSEAD. This probably isn’t good news for LBS and if the trend continues, it may suffer the same fate that Wharton has suffered over the past few years. Wharton’s application volumes have decreased 17% in the last 5 years and the acceptance rates have increased 22%, almost double the acceptance rates for <keyword id="149127" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="HBS">HBS</keyword> and Stanford. 
 
I regularly speak to many students to understand why they are more interested in attending schools other than LBS and I see three primary reasons. 
 1. Applicants view LBS as the go-to school only for <keyword id="25455" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="finance">finance</keyword>. If a student is keen on pursuing a career in investment banking, he feels that LBS will open a lot of opportunities for him but otherwise, he doesn’t know what other doors LBS can open for him. Post the financial crisis of 2009, students are increasingly interested in pursuing careers in technology and <keyword id="107737" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Entrepreneurship">entrepreneurship</keyword>. But LBS hasn’t done much to position itself as a school that provides a launch pad to students interested in pursuing diverse career choices. While schools such as HBS and Wharton have revamped their curricula to reflect the changing market dynamics and are consistently delivering the message that they are breeding more entrepreneurs than ever, LBS has been slow in its rebranding efforts. 
 2. Another reason for declining interest (among the best applicant pool) in LBS’s MBA is the rapid emergence of its close rival INSEAD over the past few years. With a new campus in <keyword id="63248" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Abu-Dhabi">Abu Dhabi</keyword> besides the existing campuses in France and Singapore, INSEAD’s MBA programme is aggressively delivering a consistent message that it is a highly international school that helps its students launch a global career in whatever field they choose. Apart from being a consulting juggernaut, INSEAD has one of the best entrepreneurship programmes and is strong in luxury goods and retail, too. Since many students enter MBA programmes to explore new careers, they feel that they should rather be at INSEAD where they have access to diverse career opportunities, than at LBS where they will be primarily restricted to finance. 
 
3. The third reason is the emergence of Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, as a strong choice for Indians who form the largest pool of MBA applicants outside the United States. A lot of Indian students are staying back to join ISB even when they get through to LBS. Since ISB is a partner school of LBS, many professors from LBS come to teach here and applicants think it doesn’t make much sense for them to go to LBS and spend around $130,000 doing an MBA there, especially when the EU and the UK visa rules have made it even more difficult for non-EU students to secure jobs in Europe. 
 
In spite of all this, I’m still very bullish on LBS for two reasons. I believe that the programme is next to none and its problems are more related to its stereotypical image of a finance school, rather than any fundamental problem with the school itself. I also believe that the biggest parameter for a top school is how successful the school’s alumni have been. LBS boasts some formidable and highly successful alumni. Thirdly, LBS is one of the most recognised brands globally. It takes decades for business schools to build a strong global brand and the fact is that most in Asia or the rest of the world would not recognise what INSEAD or HEC Paris is, but most would know what LBS is. In short, the LBS brand is here to stay. 
 
The question is – can it change its stereotypical image? I believe it definitely can. The school can take cue from HBS, Stanford and Wharton, which in recent years, have revamped their websites and changed their value propositions to prospective students to reflect changing market dynamics and student aspirations. LBS’s website is minimalistic right now and I believe it could do much better by highlighting its strengths in areas other than finance. For example, LBS has one of the best programmes for entrepreneurship and the faculty has absolutely stellar credentials. But the website doesn’t do much to highlight this. 
 
I also think LBS has a strong brand and it is not going anywhere. But then, if it doesn’t evolve with the changing times, it may soon find itself losing better quality students to its rivals such as INSEAD. Having said that, I believe that LBS will soon follow the footsteps of its American counterparts to position itself as a programme where students do amazing things and a programme that is in sync with the changing aspirants of students. 
 
Manvender is the Co-founder &amp; Managing Director of <keyword id="1987561" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="Aristotle-Prep">Aristotle Prep</keyword>, a test prep company that provides popular test prep products and publishes books for the GMAT &amp; GRE across seven global locations for students in more than 60 countries.

Does
London Business School
need rebranding?

If you are planning to attend an MBA programme at a top international <keyword id="107736" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Business-school">business school</keyword>, taking the <keyword id="78186" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="GMAT">GMAT</keyword> is your first step. But thanks to the deluge of information available on the Internet, candidates often get contradictory information and become all the more confused about the various aspects related to GMAT – right from the role the GMAT plays in the admission process to the number of times one can write the exam without any negative effect on one’s candidature. In this two-part series, I will debunk 8 popular <keyword id="25945" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="myths">myths</keyword> related to GMAT and MBA admissions, and I hope it will give you adequate clarity as you set out on your GMAT journey. Let us start with the first four myths in this article. 
 
Myth #1: Taking the GMAT more than once will hamper my chances of admission. 
Nothing could be farther from the truth. Taking the GMAT twice does not affect your chance of admission in any way. The admission committees understand that you might not be well prepared to pass the GMAT on your first attempt and won’t be much bothered even if you write the GMAT thrice. Beyond that, they will feel concerned about why you had to take the GMAT so many times and may view the multiple attempts negatively unless you provide a strong reason to justify those. 
 
Myth #2: Business schools look only at your overall GMAT score. They are not much concerned about your scores on Quant and Verbal. 
Top schools want candidates to have a balanced overall score and competitive Quant and Verbal scores as well. Generally, a minimum of 80th percentile on both Quantitative and Verbal sections is what you should be targeting, along with an overall competitive score. 
 
Myth #3: If I get 760, my admission to top schools is almost guaranteed. 
This is the biggest myth that plagues those starting on their journey to business schools. The GMAT is just one among many components of your application. It isn’t the single most important determiner of your admission chances. Other sections of your application, such as your undergraduate GPA and institution, essays, quality of work experience, letters of recommendation and the unique qualities that you bring to the class are important determiners of your success. Business schools are looking for smart, competent candidates who can enrich classroom discussions and can be groomed further to become leaders of the future. They are looking for candidates with well-rounded personalities, instead of bookworms. So it is entirely possible that a school might choose a candidate who has a low GMAT score but has had significant life experiences, and reject another with a stellar GMAT score but an otherwise below-average profile. 
 
Myth #4: I need to study 6-8 hours every day to score 700+ in GMAT. 
The GMAT essentially tests you on high school math and on your ability to read, process and comprehend professionally written English at a rather fast pace. So even if you don’t study at all, you may score well if your Math and English skills are already good. Then again, even if you are not good at Quant and Verbal, you may not want to put in too many hours. The important thing is to prepare systematically and consistently. Since your preparation will span 2-3 months, you need to ensure that you don’t ‘overstudy.’ The best study schedule is 2-3 hours a day on weekdays and 6-8 hours over weekends over a 3-4 month period. Also remember to set a rest day aside during the week when you can take a complete break from your prep. 
 
Manvender is the Co-founder &amp; Managing Director of Aristotle Prep, a test prep company that provides popular test prep products and publishes books for the GMAT &amp; GRE across seven global locations for students in more than 60 countries.

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Does London Business School need rebranding?

Manvender

Debunking Popular GMAT Myths – Part I

Manvender

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