By Athina Lorentziadi, MiM2025
Masters in Management (MiM) at London Business School is a competitive degree that can benefit both those without a business degree background, as well as those who have already been exposed to the world of business. Representing the latter group, I have first-hand experienced the advantages of having undergraduate academic experience around business as I am currently attending MiM after having graduated from Brown University with a double concentration in Business Economics and Behavioural Decision Sciences.
Connecting theory with practice
From my experience, a business bachelors mainly offers the opportunity to understand the fundamentals of business by attending courses from Microeconomics and Macroeconomics to Corporate Finance and Accounting. The amalgamation of these stimulating and enlightening introductory and advanced courses allowed me to build a strong foundation of the tools needed to grasp how companies are built and how financial industries work. This initial exposure, albeit appealing to a plethora of undergrads, leaves students without real life examples and applications to fully comprehend the theory taught. Thus, I chose the MiM programme as I view it as a perfect opportunity to apply academic knowledge in actual examples. Indeed, after attending lectures at LBS for six months now, I have found that professors dive deep into theory, complimenting lectures with critical analysing case studies. Having completed a business undergraduate degree, I can appreciate the overlap in some basic business concepts taught and follow with great ease the more advanced theory and cases analysed.
Additionally, the programme offers group assignments and integrated modules where I have had the chance to address with fellow classmates how to solve real life business situations synthesizing my academic knowledge from Brown University and LBS. Applying excel formulas and economic concepts to address issues that a company could be facing and coming up with recommendations for firm growth, I have been able to apply theory and finally answer the questions: why are business theories important and what real impact can they have?
Emphasising on specializations
Like my business undergraduate programme which offered professional tracks, as a competitive masters, the MiM offers electives that I have found to be specialized and are perfect learning opportunities for students who already have an academic business perspective. The freedom to choose your own three electives and Global Experience encourages students to creatively choose their unique specialization, utilising past experiences and carving their future careers. Brown University’s open curriculum allowing students to choose their own classes resembles LBS’s elective system, which I highly value. In my case, I have selected electives in the areas of brand management and building a scalable business, which I haven’t explored before and rely on my undergraduate and masters business academic knowledge so as to expand my business horizons to new tangent areas that I hadn’t explored at Brown University.
From the MiM professors that I have interacted with, all are industry experts who often share their personal experience or do business research themselves. This is ideal for obtaining mentors and guidance, as well as perhaps getting advice and access to opportunities that undergraduate students with a business degree can appreciate due to their time in college that exposed them to the world of business. I have observed that, having interacted with industry experts in the business academics sphere of the US, I already have an idea of what business is and what networking in this area looks like, thereby appreciating the significance of such opportunities even more.
Finally, since both my undergraduate and masters institutions offered business clubs, I already know what to expect from such student opportunities. For example, Women in Business is a club that I have been a part of in both universities and enjoyed the overlap in content and initiatives. This has made my efforts for business specialization easier as I have been able to meet like-minded students and connect with speakers at business events in similar and familiar ways with my undergraduate experience. Overall, the common element of familiarity in selecting my specialization has helped me feel more comfortable and prepared to appreciate the opportunities offered at LBS.
Advice for the future
For anyone with a similar undergraduate background thinking about taking on the challenge of the MiM at LBS, my advice is to go for it! Try to make the most out of the rigor of the masters programme and embrace the advantage of having a business background and therefore knowing some of the concepts taught. However, do not assume that the courses will be easy because of that academic benefit. Focus on personal growth and academic involvement to appreciate real life application examples. The world is your oyster!