How hard is it to get into London Business School?

Hey guys,

I'm an analyst putting in my 2-3 years here in New York and with dreams of working in London Canary Wharf one day and to attend LBS.

How difficult is it to get in? Are gmat scores heavily taken into consideration?

LBS is the best school in London to get recruited for as a summer associate somewhere right? Is it harder for Americans to get in?

I really appreciate some insight.

35 Comments
 
AspiringAnalyst01Canary Wharf

get better dreams

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 
patriotsfan1
Oreos
AspiringAnalyst01Canary Wharf

get better dreams

Is Canary Wharf not that nice/good?

canary wharf is souless, plain and requires you to live far from the greatest parts of london. Why do you think certain JPM higher ups are retiring soon? it's because they don't want to work in CW (for those that don't know JPM is moving the majority of their business in LDN from the city to CW, people aren't stoked).

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 
Best Response
Oreos
patriotsfan1
Oreos
AspiringAnalyst01Canary Wharf

get better dreams

Is Canary Wharf not that nice/good?

canary wharf is souless, plain and requires you to live far from the greatest parts of london. Why do you think certain JPM higher ups are retiring soon? it's because they don't want to work in CW (for those that don't know JPM is moving the majority of their business in LDN from the city to CW, people aren't stoked).

+1 I had a friend (3rd year analyst) who got himself transferred to New York just so he wouldn't have to work in Canary Wharf.

 

LBS places heavy emphasis on the "International brand" so there should be something about you that screams internationally exposed (speak more than 1 language, work experience in foreign country, born in country X, schooled in country Y, works in country Z etc). Also, they prefer older candidates and their gmat average is not that high. 700 is good enough.

I dont know what your background is but from the little information you posted, it might be tough to get in with 2 3 years work experience solely in NY and having big dreams of canary walf. Good luck

 

I don't want to side track from this thread but the one time I was at CW switching trains I really liked the area, I guess it's not a good place to live/work though?

 
patriotsfan1I don't want to side track from this thread but the one time I was at CW switching trains I really liked the area, I guess it's not a good place to live/work though?

That's because you walked out, saw big buildings and went "ooooo, aarrrrrhhhh, they're cool". Not for one second did you find a bar, look outside of CW or travel there from somewhere that wasn't east on a daily basis.

i went to africa once, it was cool, there were big animals and i got a good tan. am i going to live there? hell no!

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 
JeremyLinMVPWhat banks have offices in City apart from UBS, DB, BofA, Goldman, JPM?

All the boutiques, RBS, RBC, Nomura, BNPP, Mizuho, Macq, Soc Gen, Standard Chartered, Uni Credit, the German banks (commerz LBBW, BayernLB etc..), santander, VTB, BBVA, the irish banks, DC Advisory, ING...it's probably easier to list the ones in CW (MS, HSBC, CS, JPM, Citi, Barclays) than those that aren't. and of course all the PE shops / HF are in the city / west end.

and BAML's trading / PWM is city their IBD is CW.

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

Wow.

Anyway CW rent must be a lot better than the city or thereabouts (the posh areas from the city to South Kensington/Mayfair)

I'd appreciate any more advice about getting into LBS. Is 3 year analyst stint somewhere in IB not good enough?

I can speak 3 languages. Was born outside the US but am a US citizen

 

Not as selective as the M7 but still tough to get into. I think they have like 4 admission rounds, and consensus seems to be that you should go for rounds 1 or 2.

LBS students place mostly into finance jobs in europe. I've seen very few LBS alums here in the U.S. Not sure if that's due to self-selection or the fact that U.S. financial firms will prefer M7 grads over LBS.

 

Well I want to work in London afterwards.

Is it pointless to try to do that by going to LBS because I am a US citizen? I heard of how impossible it is to get Visa to work in the UK if you're not from the EU.

 
drexelalum11It won't be an issue getting a UK Visa if you graduate from LBS, you'd qualify as a Tier 2 Graduate

Hey drexel can you elaborate? My impression was the post study work Visa was phased out in April this year.

if you like it then you shoulda put a banana on it
 

Re LBS: not very competitive to get into. I know loads of ex LBS folks and they have stated that all kind of backgrounds were enrolled (so not just ivy league undergrad).

Canary Wharf: It is new, shiny and the offices are modern. Very functional and pragmatic with lots of parking.

If you are more into traditional architecture with some action around you (ie restaurants, cafes ) then the City will be better.

Rent is lower in CW but not cheap either (I used to live in Pan Peninsula, the building with the neon lights).

 
AspiringAnalyst01I worked in the City when I studied abroad at Imperial College. (4 Moorgate, right next to the BoE)

The City is TINY. I walked from Monument Tube station to Moorgate in 5 minutes. Canary Wharf must be bigger for sure right?

No, Canary Wharf is much smaller than the City. Monument to Moorgate is not the width of the City; technically it goes to St Pauls, towards where the GS and BAML offices are

 
AspiringAnalyst01 The City is TINY. I walked from Monument Tube station to Moorgate in 5 minutes. Canary Wharf must be bigger for sure right?

You can walk from one end of CW to the other within 7-8 minutes.

This development is very functional and clean, a no-nonsense environment for finance professionals with no distractions like tourists, attractions and only few people who don't work there.

 

LBS is still the best business school in Europe.

Better than IMD, HEC Paris, Cambridge, etc

If you want to work in Europe as a Expat (American) than LBS is still the best. Agree?

 

lolz love how all your amerifags are hating on the CW. Who gives a shit what the atmosphere is like at CW, you're going to spend at least 90% of your time during the day in the office.

You know you've been working too hard when you stop dreaming about bottles of champagne and hordes of naked women, and start dreaming about conditional formatting and circular references.
 
AspiringAnalyst01Hey guys,

I'm an analyst putting in my 2-3 years here in New York and with dreams of working in London Canary Wharf one day and to attend LBS.

How difficult is it to get in? Are gmat scores heavily taken into consideration?

LBS is the best school in London to get recruited for as a summer associate somewhere right? Is it harder for Americans to get in?

I really appreciate some insight.

without an international dimension to your application you will find it difficult unless your resume is heavy on prestige. if you get a 700 gmat and spend your third year in asia/latam (doing virtually anything), you should get in.

this assumes your undergrad school, gpa, and bank are at least okay.

 

LBS accepts maybe 50 Americans per year, max. HSW et al accept thousands. As far as exclusivity, it's pretty straightforward.

 

It's tough but not as tough as those three in the US.

Consider too that in general people pursue their MBA's a little later here. Average work experience at LBS is 5.7 years. Not to say that after 2-3 years you can't do it, but with a few more years I think your chances go up quite a bit. Schools in the US on the other hand tend to like younger applicants because they're hungry and place well w employers.

Good luck and let us know how things turn out.

http://www.london.edu/programmes/mba/whoisthembadesignedfor.html

if you like it then you shoulda put a banana on it
 

Totam sequi velit molestiae odit aut et consequatur. Voluptatibus quos qui est saepe eum doloremque ratione. Sed quam aspernatur laboriosam quis molestias.

Ut quod corporis est excepturi cum ea. Repellendus corporis explicabo fugiat nostrum hic et commodi. Saepe dolore autem et saepe et molestiae.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”