Profile evaluation

Hi Paul,

First of all, thanks a lot for taking time to look at all our profiles, it’s very much appreciated. Here’s mine, if you could help me out that would be great.

Belgian / Romanian, 28 year-old male.

No GMAT yet, but aiming to get at least 700 (otherwise I will not send any acceptance request)

Master of Science in Management at Solvay Business School (Brussels, Belgium – 14th European undergrad school), graduated cum laude.

CFA Level I candidate, took the exam in June, think it went well.

I worked 2 years for the Belgian Post Group at cost controller, where I quickly acquired supervision functions.

Then moved to Fortis Bank in Brussels as a corporate finance trainee beginning 2006 – been there since then, work there as a junior associate.

Languages

Romanian is my mother tongue. I’m also fluent in French, Dutch and English.

Extracurriculars

- I’m born in Romania, and I lived in Venezuela, South Africa, New Zealand and Belgium, country where I’m currently based. I travelled a lot since my parents are musicians and my dad got contracts in all these places. I also studied 6 months in Lausanne (Switzerland)

- Like any other self-respecting Romanian, I’m football-mad (soccer in the US). I play football in a British expat football club in Brussels. The club is very international with more than 50 nationalities represented. I’ve captained one of the teams for 2 years.

- Generally speaking I’ve always been involved in the exat / international community in my personal life (the presence of the European Commission attracts a lot of nationalities in Brussels), although I’m considered as a “local” (I’ve been living in Brussels for almost 20 years).

- I also organised trips in Budapest (Hungary) and the Venice region (Italy) for the football club, where we played against several regional teams, combining culture, leisure and sports.

- Music / painting: I organised logistics for classical orchestras staying in Brussels (hotel, transport, etc) – my mom organises concerts, and I was in charge of the logistical part. I also organised a painting expo in Brussels for a famous Romanian painter, within the framework of Romania’s integration in the EU.

- I tutored a lot of kids when I was in university (not original I know, but still quite a challenge! ). I coached one of those kids almost full time for every aspect of his schoolwork.

- I love travelling, and spend a lot of money on that I love visiting friends all over in Europe, or city-tripping. Living in Belgium, I’m close to almost every major city in Europe. There aren’t a lot of countries in Europe that I haven’t been to yet.


After MBA

I’m considering several options. I’d like to continue working in corporate finance, or private equity maybe. But another appealing possibility would be consulting (less though).

I’m aiming for top schools – otherwise I’d rather not do an MBA at all. I haven’t chosen one yet to be honest.

I think my profile is pretty decent on the international aspect – lived in several countries, speak several languages, in contact with people from very different backgrounds. However, I reckon that my “leadership” and “extracurricular” profiles aren’t that strong (compared to some of the stuff I read here anyway). I could get some good recommendation letters.

Do you reckon I have a shot at a top 10 school?

If you have any other question on my profile, don’t hesitate and ask.

Thanks a lot for your help!