MIM Prep x 🤯 LBS with a 610 Round 4

We’ve had plenty of great outcomes this year, but by far the biggest feat was sending one of our students with a 610 GMAT, in Round 4, to LBS. Through hard work, perseverance, and a unique approach, she managed to secure the program of her dreams 🏆

So how was this outcome achieved ?

1° Understanding the overall weight of the GMAT

Students tend to believe that 80% of their application depends on their GMAT. The reality is that GMAT is crucial below a certain threshold, once you exceed it, you will be considered as a serious candidate and your application file will take center stage. Keep in mind when applying to these programs you are competing with the best of the best, so an aptitude test is only one of the levers you have at your disposal to stand out from the crowd.

A lot of students spend a disproportionate amount of time trying to improve their score by 20 points, when in reality they should be focusing on crafting an engaging personal story with an emotional hook, pre-writing their recommendation letters for their tutors, understanding the DNA of the program they are applying to, dissociating the fluff on brochures from what is core, etc.

This is how you gain an edge, especially with a low/mid GMAT score.

2° Optimizing all parts of your application

Our approach is that life is game of inches, and you need all the inches you can get to get across the line when competition is this fierce. This is why we are extremely meticulous on making sure that each single part of the application is top-notch.

💡 That’s why we believe it is vital to have a specialized team for each part. At MIM Prep, those who will get you past the line for your interview will not be those crafting your personal story, nor those building your Goldman/Mckinsey standard CV.

Personal statement : your personal statement should be a reflection of your life story in the form of a one-page short story. It should have a strong emotional hook backed by personal elements from your background, what makes you unique, and why x program is THE most adequate program for you at this moment precisely in time. It should encapsulate your understanding of what is core to the program, your professional aspirations (stay away from the too cliché “I want to do IB short term to do PE Long term” or “I want to do Consulting short term to do Entrepreneurship Long term” even if you count on doing so once in the program), and what you seek to learn and provide to the program.

💡Students often misunderstand how to craft an interesting story and a unique professional ambition that will set them apart from other top candidates. The key is to go deep, whether it be talking about a specific segment of consulting (cyber, concentric, etc.) or a more personal endeavour (startup project in x specific region for x segment, expanding x branch of a family business, etc.)

Application Questions: your application questions should be clearly structured, display your ability to conduct due diligence, and ability to show a certain degree of thought to your input within the program.

💡Our talent pool of students from all the best programs ensures that answers to these application questions are always spot-on, well-structured, and display a deep interest for the program & institution.

Recommendation Letters: Your tutors are often overrun, not clear on what they should include or not within your letter, tempted to use templates, etc. so doing the hard part for them is often a game changer. It is the only part of your file where someone else will be vouching for you other than yourself, so use the opportunity wisely.

💡Our secret sauce is to pre-draft recommendation letters for our students; we know what schools want to hear, so we bear the grunt work for your referees.

3° Understanding expectations from your interview

All business school interviews are not built equally. Some are more formal, others more informal, some conducted by a single alumni, others by a panel of diverse members etc. The key is understanding firstly the landscape of your interview: for LBS, the interview is informal and conducted by an alumni, meaning you should do your homework and check out their Linkedin beforehand, anticipate some of their questions based on their experience, show interest & curiosity in them, etc.

What most students get very wrong is their introduction. We’ve covered this topic before, but it is by far THE crown jewel of the interview stage. It should recap in a short story form your experiences, your background, and why it makes total sense for you to join the program, all in a very personable and non “listy”/formal way.

💡 We conduct unlimited interviews with students from the target program to ensure this goes smoothly for our students, and we always see stellar progression curves by the last interview, as was the case here.

4° Hard work and perseverance

The application season can be long and unforgiving ; that’s why being able to push through, persevere, keep your head up, and stay optimistic is key 💪 

And there you have it ! That’s how we’ve sent 610 to LBS, 620 to INSEAD, and a 650 to HEC. If you're ready to take the next big step to securing your future, you can book a call with us & share our newsletter for more regular free content !

Thanks for reading !

Thomas from MIM Prep