Ellen Ehrnrooth, London Business School’s MBA Class of 2028
Age: 28
Hometown: London, UK
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Tufts University, BA, International Relations and Japanese Language & Cultural Studies
Pre-MBA Work Experience: 5.5 years (4 years as a Washington Policy Associate Analyst at Raymond James Equity Research, and 1.5 years as a Senior Program Assistant at the Institute of International Finance)
Why did you make the decision to attend business school? Why now?
I’ve spent my academic and professional career to date analysing the intersection of public policy and the private sector – it’s a nexus that I have found to be incredibly intellectually stimulating, especially with the areas of my portfolio touching on global themes like geopolitics, trade, industrial policy, and technology. However, private sector policy analysis roles are well-known to be a great place to spend the beginning and the end of your career; however, in the middle, one generally needs to leave and spend time working in government. Professional development is incredibly important to me, and as I progressed through my old firm (an excellent place to work!), I did not see an intuitive path into public service ahead of me. I decided to pursue an MBA as an exercise in seeing what other skills I have beyond public policy analysis and to diversify the path ahead!
Why did you choose London Business School? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
My personal and professional background is pretty global; I’m a dual citizen of Finland and the U.S., born and raised in London in a Swedish-speaking household, who then packed her bags at age 18 to get her undergraduate degree in Boston (with a detour via Kyoto for a year) and then ended up living in Washington, DC for six years after that. My career to date has also been focused on international policy issues. London Business School was the only school that both offered the ability to immerse myself in an incredibly global community while also acting as a catalyst to return to my hometown of London after 10 years abroad.
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2028?
I think I bring a unique perspective via my public policy background. At my old job, our policy research team covered every issue/sector other than healthcare. There are very few areas of the economy that have not been impacted by the macroeconomic and public policy volatility of recent years, and I accordingly received exposure to a very wide swath of sectors. I think this allows me to connect with many of my classmates on at least one angle of the experience that they all respectively bring, which then frequently invites fascinating insights from them on how those policy issues impacted them in real-time. Such insight has been an amazing learning opportunity for me, as well as providing me with a chance to offer a differentiated view and perspectives on some of the most pressing business issues of our time.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself that didn’t get included on your application:
I have ridden in a lift with a former president of Mongolia, a sumo wrestler and the US Secret Service. During a summer internship in 2019, the Mongolian president was on a diplomatic visit to Washington DC and stopped via the think tank where I was interning to give an address. After a brief welcome, myself, the then-president, his foreign minister, an ex-champion sumo wrestler who was travelling with the president, the Secret Service, and my boss for the summer all piled into the lift to take us to where he was going to give his talk. The lift took a second to start moving and seemed to be not working, so my boss (in good humour, I should emphasise) joked that it must have been my fault that the lift was broken – very funny in retrospect, but as a lowly undergraduate intern in a lift full of very important people I was far too nervous to laugh at the time.
Post-MBA career interests:
I’m interested in pivoting into an in-house strategy role or a leadership development program; I think there are a lot of overlaps with the research and strategy part of my old job, where I also had the opportunity to consult internally and collaborate with many different areas of the firm. I’m especially interested in firms operating across a variety of jurisdictions and industries with a degree of public policy and geopolitical exposure – while I think it is time I try something other than a pure public policy role, I’d love to find a role where I can have that expertise in my back pocket.
Advice for Current Prospective Applicants:
–What is one thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process?
Candid conversations with alumni were incredibly helpful to me. I would encourage applicants to try and find alumni that they have some personal connection to (be it fellow alums of their undergraduate institutions, industry connections, geography, etc.) and use that personal connection as the door to ask questions that you can’t just find the answer to online. Treat it as an honest conversation, and not just a chance to show off (as brilliant as you likely are!). These candid insights into the classroom, careers, clubs, etc. will paint a much richer picture of the communities you are hoping to join.
–What is one thing you would change or do differently?
I would have done GMAT prep differently. It was very tough to juggle studying with a full-time, demanding finance job. My advice would be that if you are even remotely considering business school, start test prep early and focus on your test strategy as much as your ability to answer the questions on a fundamental level. It is much more sustainable to spread out the process (while staying consistent!) vs. driving yourself crazy cramming in the weeks ahead of your exam date. I also, personally, wish I had understood that in some (not all, but some!) ways your first shot at the GMAT is your best shot. There are limited test-accurate resources available, and there are some diminishing returns with taking the same mock exam more than once – I found that I did way better on the mock exams vs. on my second try. You should absolutely retake if you think you can get a better score, but I would have personally given myself more time to really ace the first shot if I did this process all over again.
–What is one part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it?
The GMAT – for the reasons detailed above. Having a supportive partner who helped pick up some day-to-day responsibilities so I could focus on studying made a huge difference.
What is your initial impression of the LBS students/culture/community?
Packed to the gills with impressive people who bring a very rich diversity of perspective.
What student organizations have you joined/are you hoping to join and why?
I’m hoping to join LBS’s Women in Business Club. Women’s business leadership is an issue I am incredibly passionate about and bring experience in, having served on the Women in Capital Markets steering committee at my old job.
What is one thing you have learned about LBS that has surprised you?
The immediate focus and work on “soft skills”; I didn’t think it would happen quite so quickly (perhaps I assumed they would put us to work on financial modelling first), but I am very grateful it has. With all the group work coming down the pike, I feel much more confident in the immediate term about our ability to work effectively together – and in successfully starting the long-term process of personal improvement as recruiting season rears its head.
What is one thing you are most excited about in your first year?
I’m honestly just very excited to learn and to be back in the classroom! Despite my finance job title, my old job was much more of a “words” job than a “numbers” job; I’m sure some classwork will be an uphill battle in that light, but I fundamentally like a challenge.
