Hi Paul,
First of all, congrats on all the great tips!! I just went through your comments on other users' profiles and found them very useful. I would really appreciate it if you could you evaluate my profile too...
Gender: Female
Age: 29 (30 at matriculation in Sept 09)
Nationality: French
GMAT: 620 (M:40; V: 35; AWA: 5) but taking it again in a month (can realistically get 680, but hoping for more
)
EDUCATION:
Undergrad: McGill University (Top 10 in Canada)
BA Double Major (1) Economics (2) International Development Studies
GPA: 2.81
(upward trend) and 3.6 my last year
Grad School:
King's College (top 20 UK)
MA Environment and Development
Obtained with Merits
CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting obtained in 2004
WORK EXPERIENCE:
8 months as an Accounts Manager for Accor in London: exceeded my sales target.
3 years in Corporate Finance for DuPont Spain (promoted once and systematically received highest marks). Leadership experience in several projects but not in my day-to-day.
1 year in Corporate Finance at GE France: in charge of developing and maintaining a controllership infrastructure and model across over 100 sites internationally
2 years in Private Equity: one assistant and one accountant below me; completely autonomous, dealing with investors, banks, etc, and responsible for managing 7 funds (300 million Euros)
EC
Lead singer in a band
Spanish lessons
Painting
Part of the Ski Club at McGill and still ski every winter
Active member of EarthSave (environmental group) at McGill: some leadership experience but was a long time ago
Languages:
French, English, Spanish
International experience:
Grew up in Brasil and in the US; studied in Canada and then did my MA in the UK; did summer interships in Syria and in Germany; worked in Spain for 3 years and now live in Paris.
What I want to do after the MBA: remain in Private Equity and eventually start an ethical fund investing in green technologies in the Third World
Weaknesses:
I guess my main weaknesses are my low GPA, lack of recent EC, and old age
Schools I want to go to:
INSEAD
Columbia
IMD
Do you think my profile would interest these schools? Please be honest...
I would of course love to try HBS and Wharton but really doubt I stand a chance there... is it worth a shot?
I can still postpone the GMAT in order to ensure a 700+ score.
Which other schools would you recommend as "safety schools"?
Thanks a million and have a great day!!
Virflo