Applying

We welcome late applications to the Masters in Finance for the August 2013 intake. Please refer to the attached note.

For information, the five stage deadlines for the 2013 intake are below. Offers are made throughout the year and the dates below are a guide to the maximum decision times in each admissions stage. The stage deadlines for the August 2014 intake will be similar.

When to apply?
We apply the same selection criteria in each stage, but competition is often more intense in the final two stages.

If you plan to apply for a London Business School scholarship or require a visa to study in the UK, we encourage you to apply in stages 1 - 3.

Allow yourself sufficient time to prepare your application thoroughly, especially to carefully consider your answers to the essay questions. It is more important to apply when you are ready than to apply early.

Can I apply to the MiF before I have taken GMAT?
If the rest of your application is complete you should submit it, even if you have not yet taken GMAT. However, you must tell us the date you plan to take the test. Although our Admissions Committee will not make a shortlisting decision on your application without your GMAT score, it is possible for us to start processing your application and, for example, ask you for clarification on any part of your application that is unclear or if we need any additional documents.

If you apply in advance of sitting GMAT, you should let us know the unofficial scores you receive on completion of the test and arrange for the official scores to be reported to us.

We apply the same selection criteria in each stage, but competition is often more intense in the final two stages. If you plan to apply for a London Business School scholarship we encourage you to apply in stages 1-4. Allow yourself sufficient time to prepare your application thoroughly, especially to carefully consider your answers to the essay questions.

We are able to offer a fast-track appication process for those applying for the weekend format.

We will begin our review as soon as we receive the online application, two references and details of grades for previous university level studies. We will complete our initial review without a GMAT score and schedule an interview if appropriate.

The following are suggested deadlines for the August 2013 intake. Offers will be made throughout the year and the dates below are a guide to the maximum time you are likely to wait for a decision in each admissions stage. Whichever stage of the application cycle we receive your application, we aim to complete our initial review within 10 working days of completion.

If we make you an offer before you sit GMAT, it will be conditional upon you achieving a minimum target score (likely to be around 680).

All deadlines are at 13.00 UK time.

The programme is for individuals wishing to advance their career in finance, or change their area within finance, as well as those who have exposure to finance in a current or previous role who now wish to deepen their financial knowledge.

Applicants must have at least two years, full time, relevant work experience (typically, participants have six - seven years relevant experience. Candidates with less than three years experience are only accepted if they can make a very good case why it is the right time for them to join the programme.   

Relevant experience
Relevant experience will have been gained in finance or a closely related field (for example corporate law, finance journalism or IT in a financial institution); candidates will need to have experienced enough financial transactions to be able to contribute to cases discussed in class.  Applicants working in IT will need to show significant exposure to finance related products.

The teaching is practical and applied, so the more experience you have, the more you will benefit from - and contribute to - the programme.

Practical and applied
The programme is practical and applied, and the experience of your classmates is a major part of the overall learning experience.  The programme is not designed for people without prior finance experience who are planning to effect a career change into finance (for this, a general management programme like our MBA is a more appropriate course of study). It is an excellent choice for people who want to switch areas within finance or generally expand and deepen their finance knowledge.

We are looking for individuals for whom the programme is a good "career-fit", and who have the potential to have successful future careers.  Above all, candidates need to demonstrate that they have the commitment, experience, motivation and potential to benefit from, and contribute to, the programme.

Educational Background
Candidates should have an undergraduate degree. Occasionally a strong trajectory and/or professional qualifications are also accepted.

If you have at least two years of experience in finance and you would like feedback on whether the Masters in Finance is the right programme for you, please submit your CV for review using one of these forms:

Full-time format - send a CV
Weekend format - send a CV

As the weekend format is taught on campus, you must be working within commuting distance of London to undertake the programme.  The programme is not offered via distance learning.

When you have submitted your CV, the Masters in Finance Admissions Team will review it and tell you if are eligible to apply for a place. Please allow one week for our reply.

Have less than two years work experience? Consider our Masters in Management
No prior experience in finance?  Consider our MBA, Executive MBA or Sloan programmes

When you complete your online application form, you should attach:

• a personal statement
• a one-page CV/resume
• the names and details of two referees.

You also need to arrange for us to receive:

• a transcript of grades from each university you have attended
• your GMAT score
• confirmation of your English language score (if applicable). See English Language Ability for further information
• your application fee of £95.

The details in the sections below explain how you should send us this information.

Please download and complete the MiF personal statement template.

Your personal statement should be no more than three pages long. It forms a vital part of your application so we recommend that you spend a significant amount of time preparing it.

Attach the completed template to the online application form.

Your CV must be no more than one page in length. If you have any significant gaps in your employment history, give your reasons on a separate sheet.

You need to ask two people to be your referees. They should be:

• your current employer (if you don't want to ask your employer to be a referee, a colleague or client is acceptable)
  
• someone else who knows you well - a second work reference e.g. a former employer or long-standing client. Alternatively, you can select someone who taught you at university or college if they have followed your career progression after you completed your studies.

After you input your referees' details into the online application form, we will send them an email with login details for our online reference system.

London Business School reserves the right to contact your referees for further information in connection with your application.

Further information on references for applicants and referees (download PDF document, 29.90kb)

As part of the online application process, you must submit transcripts of grades from all colleges, universities and professional schools you have attended. These must include:

• a list of courses completed
• grades
• degree class.

We accept transcripts in the following languages:

• English
• French
• German
• Spanish
• Italian.

If your transcript is in a different language, you must supply an English translation. Your own translation is acceptable at this stage. 

All candidates must take the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) - regardless of experience or educational background. You must ensure that your GMAT score is still valid on 01 September for the year you will be matriculating. GMAT scores are valid for five years from the date you take the test. For example, for the class beginning in 2013, we will only accept GMAT scores obtained since 01 September 2008.

We may agree to accept the GRE test in place of GMAT if you have taken GRE within the last five years and you have achieved a high score. If you have not yet taken a test then you should plan to sit GMAT. Please contact the MiF Admissions Team to discuss this further.

Why do I need to sit GMAT?
The GMAT measures general verbal and mathematical skills, and the score report gives separate scores for the quantitative and verbal sections of the test, as well as a combined total score. There is also a short analytical writing section. GMAT is used to promote fairness, objectivity and validity in selection and provides supplementary information to that contained in the application form. It does not test knowledge in specialised academic subjects, but provides an indication of the ability for clear and systematic thought.  For details of how to prepare for GMAT, book a test appointment etc, please see the GMAT web site.

What GMAT score do I need?
As a general guide, a GMAT score of 650 or above adds weight to an application and a GMAT above 700 will add significant weight.
We do not use a pre-determined cut-off score for GMAT, however it is unusual for us to accept a candidate with a total score below 600 and it is rare for us to admit a candidate with a score between 600-640. We would not be comfortable if candidates scored less than 30 in the verbal section or less than 40 in the quantitative section of the test, unless there were genuine extenuating circumstances and strong compensating evidence elsewhere (eg an outstanding academic record). 

GMAT is just one of several admission criteria; just as a high score does not guarantee admission, a below average score does not eliminate a candidate, but in a pool of equally strong candidates with a similar background, GMAT can sometimes be the differentiating factor which determines who is short listed and who is not.

Can I retake GMAT?
You can retake GMAT after 31 days, but re-sitting the test is only recommended if you believe that you significantly under-performed at the first attempt.  If you have taken GMAT more than once, we use your highest score when reviewing your application.

Can I be made exempt from taking GMAT?
No, every applicant is required to take GMAT, regardless of their academic background or prior qualifications. This is for a number of reasons:

• it is important to recruiters, alumni etc that we apply the same consistently high entry standards to the Masters in Finance as we do to our MBA programme
• we receive applications from virtually every country (and educational system) in the world, so it is essential to have one measure for comparison of all candidates in the applicant pool.

How do I report my GMAT scores to London Business School?
When you sit GMAT, you are given the option for a report to be sent to five Schools free of charge - just select London Business School: Masters in Finance from the pull-down list.  You do not need a School code to make a selection in the GMAT system.   You can also make this request after you have sat the test for a small charge (again, no School code is required). The GMAT web site gives further information on score reporting.

Register to take the GMAT

How we assess your fluency in English

We use several different measures to assess English language capability, such as:

• your experience of working and/or studying in an English speaking environment - there is a relevant section in the application form where you can record this
• your GMAT verbal and analytical writing score
• your personal statement (essay question)
• if you are short-listed for interview, your interviewer will assess your English language skills
• where required a result from an approved English Language Test *
   

*While we do not have pre-determined minimum English test scores, in order to present a competitive application, you should aim for the following minimum scores: 

• TOEFL Internet-based Test (Internet Based Test only) 105-110 minimum (25 - 27 minimum in each section). Our institution code is 0898.
• IELTS 7 - 7.5 (7 minimum for each section)
• CPE minimum B (B for all sections)
• PTE (Pearson Test of English) Minimum 76
• CPE
• CAE

• your undergraduate or postgraduate degree was conducted entirely in English or in an English-speaking country (degrees must be two years or longer)
• you have lived or worked in an English-speaking country for at least two years since graduating from university

The application fee for the Masters in Finance is £95.

You must pay this online by credit card when you submit your online application. Your application will remain incomplete until we receive the correct fee.
There is an application fee waiver for graduates of our partner institutions:

• University of London
• Columbia University
• University of Hong Kong

We acknowledge receipt of your application within 72 hours by e-mail.  If you do not receive an email receipt from us this means that we have not received your application.  If any items are missing or if we have any questions or need further information, we will let you know at this stage.

I have previously applied to the MiF unsuccessfully.  Can I reapply?
The Admissions Committee reconsider an earlier decision if there is some new information that adds significant weight to your reapplication (such as extra work responsibilities, a new post, a new qualification or a substantially improved GMAT score).

If you decide to reapply for the intake for the year after your original application, it is not necessary to resubmit the application form, references and transcripts.  We will need a formal request (by letter or e-mail) for us to reconsider your application. This should also detail the new information that you wish the Admissions Committee to consider.

If you apply for entry more than one year after your original application, then a new application will be required.