By Bola Gbadamosi, MFA2027
One of the things I was most excited about when joining London Business School was the breadth of learning opportunities available beyond the core curriculum. While the Masters in Financial Analysis (MFA) core courses provide a strong foundation in finance, I saw electives as an opportunity to tailor my learning experience to my personal interests and career aspirations. For the MFA2027 cohort, we have approximately 70 different electives spanning seven subject areas, including entrepreneurship, economics and strategy.
With so many courses to choose from and a unique enrolment system to navigate, selecting electives can be both exciting and challenging. Drawing on my own experience and insights from fellow students, I’ll walk through how the bidding system works, the factors that shaped our elective choices and some practical advice for future students navigating the process.
I’ll admit, when I first started looking into the elective selection process, I found it a little overwhelming. Between terms like “bidding rounds”, “Add/Drop” and “Enrolment Management System (EMS)”, there was quite a lot to get my head around. Having been used to a first-come, first-served enrolment process during my undergraduate studies, this was something completely new to me. However, once I got to grips with how the different stages worked, I can assure you that the process is much simpler than it first seems!
So, how does the process actually work?
The process is broken down into two main stages: bidding rounds and Add/Drop.
At the start of the bidding process, you’ll be allocated 10,000 bidding points, which you can distribute across typically three electives and one Global Experience (GE). The idea is simple: you decide how many points you’re willing to bid for each course based on how much you want to take it.
The bidding process takes place over two rounds:
- Round 1: You’ll place your initial bids on your preferred courses, with the flexibility to adjust your points until the round closes. Once the results are released, you’ll find out which courses you’ve secured. Everyone who successfully bids for a course pays the same number of points, equal to the lowest accepted bid. This means any excess points you’ve bid will be refunded, while unsuccessful bids are refunded in full.
- Round 2: You can then use your remaining points, including any refunded points from Round 1, to bid on other electives you’d like to take.
Once the bidding rounds are complete, the programme cohorts are merged, followed by the Add/Drop stage. At this point, you’ll have the opportunity to enrol on electives with remaining spaces or drop courses you’ve already secured. Unlike bidding, Add/Drop operates on a first-come, first-served basis, with no points required.
With the bidding system explained, the next challenge was deciding which electives I wanted to take. Narrowing down almost 70 options to just three was no easy task, particularly when so many courses caught my interest.
Fortunately, LBS provides plenty of information to help students make informed decisions, from detailed course outlines and teaching formats to feedback and ratings from previous students. This makes it much easier to understand what each elective involves and what to expect before making your choices.
Personally, I saw electives as an opportunity to explore my interests and bring more variety into my learning experience. While some electives offer the chance to build on topics covered in our core courses, I was particularly drawn to those that would introduce me to new subjects and perspectives. I wanted to make the most of the flexibility available by exploring areas I was genuinely curious about, rather than simply revisiting subjects I was already familiar with.
Speaking to other students, I found it interesting to see how differently people approached choosing their electives. For those with clear career goals or plans to pivot into a new industry, electives offered an opportunity to develop relevant knowledge and skills to support that transition. Others were particularly drawn to courses taught by specific professors, influenced by their expertise, teaching styles or recommendations from previous students.
Ultimately, there’s no single right way to choose electives, and that’s what makes the flexibility of the programme so valuable.
If there’s one piece of advice I’d give to prospective students, it’s to take the time to explore the options available and think about what you want to gain from your electives. Whether that’s developing expertise in a particular field, preparing for a career change or simply exploring something new, there’s plenty of opportunity to make the experience your own.
I hope this blog has helped provide a little more clarity on the elective selection process and made it seem a bit less daunting. And remember, one of the great things about LBS is how supportive the community is. Whether it’s fellow students, programme staff or the wider LBS community, there’s always someone happy to answer your questions and offer guidance along the way.