MBA at London Business School: Student Profile

TopMBA.com talks to Emma Williams about her decision to do an MBA, and how she chose London Business School. 

I chose to do an MBA for the opportunity to learn and experiment. It is not often one gets a second chance in life, to take time out of the fast-pace working world to really develop yourself and your identity. I chose London Business School as I felt most comfortable with the collaborative environment that it offers but at the same time it provides a 2-year programme of exceptional quality. I didn't want to do an MBA half-heartedly!

Prior to attending London Business School I was an associate with Port Jackson Partners Limited, a boutique strategic management consulting firm in Sydney, Australia. Although I have a number of years of work experience in this business setting, my formal qualifications are in Chemical Engineering and Industrial Chemistry, which I studied at the University of New South Wales. This is another reason why I feel an MBA will be particularly beneficial for me!

The financial commitment is obviously significant, but is already paying off through experiences and new opportunities. Being awarded an London Business School Women's Scholarship (9,000) has been a tremendous help, relieving some of the financial pressure and making the transition to school a lot smoother. I am extremely grateful. I have financed the rest of the fees through the HSBC student loan.

I am currently considering a broad range of career opportunities for life post LBS as I want to take the time to explore all the options. However, my future career will I hope utilise the skills I will develop throughout the MBA programme, particularly in the areas of strategic problem solving, organisational issues and knowledge of views on corporate social responsibility.

The two main challenges I think are effective management of your time and your study group's behaviour. It is important to spend the time thinking about what you want to get out of the programme, and then once you are at school to decide what of the opportunities on offer you will not get involved in! There is really so many talks, social events, guest lectures and clubs to get involved with, you need to prioritise what is important to you and go for it.

My highlights so far have included the opportunity to attend the Net Impact Conference in Washington DC in October 2002. This was a great way to learn about ways many people are looking at the broader impact of business on our society. I met and heard some great people and was inspired enough to get involved in the London Business School conference on corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship to be held on 30.