Honored with the Best Entrepreneur Award by the NMIMS CIS Dean and multiple academic accolades, I have built my journey at the intersection of business research, leadership, and social impact.


At NMIMS Mumbai, I had the privilege of serving as Chairperson of the Sports Club, where I founded Zest—now a legacy sports event. Beyond sports, I also played a key role in Zion, our college fest, where I handled last-minute sponsorships, managed the flea market, and helped drive footfall and events. These experiences taught me the value of resilience, teamwork, and thinking on my feet.

When I moved to Kingston University London, I carried that same spirit forward—served as a Panel Member at the Student Union, worked as a Student Mentor, and volunteered as a business advisor for Art of encouragement. These experiences sharpened my cross-cultural perspective and strengthened my commitment to building ventures with global relevance.

I have always been curious about how businesses grow and sustain themselves. My capstone project on consumer behavior in India’s tea supply chain, along with on-ground research in rural India, opened my eyes to how big the rural market truly is and the vast scope it offers for businesses. In fact, I have had the chance to interview 100+ founders across India and the UK—learning from their journeys so far, understanding the challenges they overcame, and exploring how they envision the future of their businesses. These conversations helped me get into the minds of founders and shaped my perspective on resilience, strategy, and long-term vision.

Alongside research and leadership, I have built experience through internships at Xtreme Media, Corizo, and Teachnook, focusing on marketing and business strategy. To strengthen my toolkit, I cleared ERM Level 1 in my first attempt, earned a Six Sigma White Belt, and became PMI-ACP® certified.

But impact matters to me just as much as achievement. Whether it was working with the Need Box Foundation on plastic waste management, joining beach cleanups in Mumbai, or volunteering in a student pantry in London, I have always believed that business and social responsibility should go hand in hand.

Today, I'm in the ideation stage of two business ideas—drawing on my experiences in incubation centers at both NMIMS and Kingston, and supported by a global network of founders, CEOs, and B-school leaders I have connected with over the years.

I'm always excited to meet people who are passionate about business, innovation, and building ventures that make a difference. If that sounds like you, let’s connect.

My resume might look like a few pivots, but the way I think? That's a straight line. I’ve always been obsessed with two things: building great systems and understanding people.


My training started early. I was balancing the rigid, expressive discipline of Bharatanatyam dance with the sheer grit of state-level hockey. That taught me grace under fire and how to take a hit. Meanwhile, studying architecture wired my brain structurally, how all the distinct pieces fit together to make a whole.

The moment I realized I didn’t just want to design buildings, but the experiences inside them, everything clicked. I jumped into hospitality and then launched my own villa rental business. That venture was my real world MBA. I quickly saw a beautiful structure is useless without the right operational flow. The real thrill was revenue management, learned not from textbooks, but by running pricing experiments and watching guest behavior in real time.

This journey from architecture’s structure to hospitality’s empathy is why I’m passionate about consultancy. I see businesses like architectural blueprints: they need strong foundations (operations), functional flow (strategy), and a human element (culture).

I'm driven by the intersection of numbers and narrative. I want the 'why' behind the data. Whether I’m analyzing a P&L or just cooking a huge meal for friends, my goal is the same: to bring disparate ingredients together to create something that truly resonates.

I am a 31-year-old French candidate based in Paris, currently working in a small-cap M&A boutique where I manage dealflow and originate mandates. My role focuses on sourcing opportunities, engaging directly with shareholders, and overseeing the early stages of transactions before they move to execution teams. This has given me solid exposure to valuation logic, preliminary financial analysis, and the overall mechanics of M&A processes, even though my remit today is still commercially driven.


Before joining M&A, I spent one year as a Middle Market Credit Underwriter at Allianz Trade, followed by three and a half years in retail banking at BNP Paribas and LCL. This period built my foundations in credit risk, financial statement analysis, counterparty assessment, and client interaction across SMEs and mid-cap profiles. The combined sequence—retail banking, mid-market underwriting, and M&A origination—gives me a broad view of how companies operate financially across different stages and sizes.

I graduated from SKEMA Business School in 2020 (Programme Grande École) with a major in Marketing and a GPA of 4.0. My academic background is non-quantitative, which is why I am currently preparing both the GMAT (exam date 07/01) and the TOEFL (10/01) to provide a clear academic signal and close the perceived gap with more traditional finance profiles. My previous TOEIC score was 950/990, and my TAGE MAGE score was 367.

I also have meaningful international exposure. I lived in Australia for a year in 2014–2015, which helped build practical comfort in an English-speaking environment. At Allianz Trade, I regularly coordinated with foreign entrepreneurs and negotiated coverage with international risk underwriters, giving me a straightforward cross-border dimension in both analysis and communication.

My objective is to pivot from pure origination toward a more technically demanding M&A platform. Target timeline: late 2027 to early 2028. The rationale is straightforward: I want structured exposure to modeling, valuation, and full-cycle deal execution, and I want a brand that offers a real recruiting pipeline into higher investment banks and boutiques.

I would appreciate any feedback from the community on the overall strength of this profile, especially regarding whether it could be competitive for the INSEAD MBA and what range of GMAT/GRE and TOEFL scores would realistically be required for a credible application.

I bring 5+ years of cross-functional experience across strategy, operations, and leadership support roles. I began my career at Deloitte in Risk Advisory, where I worked on process reviews, controls testing, and risk assessments across TMT industry. After two years, I moved to Genpact, where I spent three years as Chief of Staff to the COO, driving org-wide initiatives, solving operational bottlenecks, and shaping key governance and transformation programs.


Currently, I work in the CEO’s Office at the Central Square Foundation in a strategy and partnerships role.

Academically, I completed my undergraduate studies at Gargi College and pursued further education at Ashoka University.

I enjoy structured problem-solving, cross-functional leadership, and roles that involve strategic thinking and execution. I am an avid reader and a long distance runner.

I have been working with Fortune 500 company ( State Bank of India) for the past 10 years in both credit and operational areas. I am looking to shift to investment banking or private equity and I believe that an MBA would help me achieve my goals.

Age: 24


Gender: Male

GMAT FE: 655

Education: University College London (UCL) BSc Mathematics and Statistical Science (2:1)

Work Experience: 2 year by matriculation (Consultant in a Big4 company in London)

Military Experience: Yes (14 months)

Qualifications: Passed CFA Level I, and taking the CFA Level II exam in May 2026

Decent leadership and volunteering experience

i am a BBA graduate with 7.20 CGPA , a fresher who want to explore and get involves in financial market with a school that gives me best opportunities for finance fields like IB and Data analysis

working in f&b sector as a marketing associate

I am a finance professional with experience across private credit, multi-asset investing, and client advisory. I began my career at Schroders, where I supported senior portfolio managers in multi-asset research, macro analysis, and client deliverables. I later joined Arcmont Asset Management, working in a client-facing role that strengthened my understanding of private markets, fundraising strategy, and institutional investor needs.


Alongside professional experience, I hold the IMC and CFA Level I, and I am currently preparing for the GMAT Focus with the goal of pursuing a STEM-designated MBA in the US. My long-term ambition is to specialise in private equity, private credit, or sports-focused investing, combining analytical discipline with commercial execution.

EDUCATION

York University – Schulich School of Business Toronto, ON
Honors Bachelor of Business Administration, Specializing in Strategic Management and Finance Class of 2025
• GPA & Honors: 3.80/4.00; Dean’s Honor List; Recipient of $21,000 in Merit-Based Scholarships
• Achievements & Activities: Bain Conference (Top 3); IBM Competition (Top 3); JDC Business Strategy Delegate

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Restaurant Brands International (RBI) Toronto, ON
Sales Strategy & Insights Intern May 2025 – August 2025
• Optimized the monthly reporting processes by designing a sales toolkit of dashboards and scorecards, enabling teams to evaluate new product launches more effectively, driving $170K in value through faster decision-making
• Analyzed customer and competitor datasets to identify performance trends and insights, shaping new value propositions and influencing retailer management strategies projected to deliver $220K in incremental sales
• Redesigned the supply chain workflows and forecasting accuracy by automating data aggregation for inventory shortage, giving stakeholders real-time visibility into product availability and increasing productivity by 15%

KPMG Canada Toronto, ON
Management Consultant Intern: Customer and Operations January 2025 – April 2025
• Streamlined a bank’s contact center operations by identifying $900K in savings through process enhancement, optimizing agent utilization and improving queue efficiency to reduce wait times and improve customer experience
• Developed a cost-optimization roadmap on PowerPoint by analyzing vendor spend drivers and prioritizing 16 initiatives based on value and complexity, enabling phased implementation to support client’s digitization efforts
• Advised on organizational improvements by redesigning the HR operating model through documenting end-to-end processes to align roles with workflows, boosting engagement and operational agility for 70+ employees
Risk Consultant Intern May 2023 – August 2023, May 2024 – August 2024
• Drove transformative change by implementing an agile audit approach, through strengthening controls and designing operational guides to improve process health while facilitating change management workshops for a retail client
• Assessed the use of AI for a capital markets client by conducting a root-cause investigation and evaluating 3 vendors, identifying 4 use cases that deliver better customer outcomes by enhancing back-office operations
Scotiabank Toronto, ON
Investigator Intern: Financial Intelligence Unit May 2022 – August 2022
• Developed interactive dashboards on Power BI to monitor investigator workload and transaction alert patterns, enabling better resource allocation and helping the team exceed performance targets by 35% through time savings
• Conducted investigations into potential financial crime by analyzing data from various sources including Oracle, to propose risk mitigation actions, presenting actionable insights to the bank’s senior leaders
• Collaborated with the analytics team to automate case-assignment process by analyzing the time-to-close each case and identifying manual task issues through investigator feedback, improving team productivity by 98%

LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
Catalyst Consulting Group - Pro-Bono Consulting Organization Toronto, ON
Senior Advisor, previously Managing Partner and Consultant October 2023 – April 2025
• Spearheaded growth by increasing member base and client count by 25% through enhancing social media presence
• Delivered three strategic initiatives for a diabetes non-profit by analyzing donor behavior patterns to launch a refreshed fundraising campaign, boosting brand visibility and engagement across Canadian local chapters

Schulich Protégé Program Toronto, ON
Thrive Conference Co-Chair, previously Vice President of Corporate Relations April 2022 – June 2025
• Secured $2,000+ in sponsorships through developing strong relationships by streamlining outreaching processes
• Led cross-functional planning and execution of conference workshops across Marketing and Finance teams, fostering collaboration and clear accountability, resulting in 95% satisfaction from attendees and representatives

26 Y/O Male Vietnamese-American


4 Years of experience at matriculation: 2 years at a local investment shop in Florida with a focus on residential investments/developments, industrial, and mixed-use assets. 2 years at a top 3 brokerage (CBRE, JLL, CW) as an analyst in Boston covering all asset types (Office, Industrial, Multifamily, Life Sciences, etc). Both valuable experiences towards my goal of starting a fund that invests/develops in Mixed-Use RE (think community focused developments such as Hudson Yards, IMG Academy, etc.).

I also started my own portfolio when I was in undergrad that invests strictly in single-family homes right now but looking to progress to investing in Commercial projects as I learn and save more capital. I've completed about 6-7 projects including the acquisition, rehab, refinancing/sale, and current property management of all these projects ($1.5-2M in assets). I try to take on 1-2 projects per year in addition to full-time work and plan to continue to build this. The idea is to pivot into REPE at a top fund for a couple of years after grad school and use what I've learned in Acquisitions, Development, and Brokerage to scale a fully integrated RE Investment company (hopefully by this time, my portfolio and track record will be strong enough to start raising capital for deals and do this full-time at a larger scale).

Went to my Public State school with a full scholarship
Business Undergrad at Top 30 university (Think UCSD, UVA, UF, UT)
GPA: 3.59

GMAT FE: 655 Q82 V84 DI82
Planning to take the GMAT one more time in mid Dec for a 675+

Very involved in my soccer community as a player and in volunteering (putting together community events and coaching kids aged 6-17)

I'm applying Round 2 to Wharton, Columbia, HBS, and maybe MIT for their MSRED.

Please let me know what you think and ways I can improve my profile for the best chances at the schools I'm applying to! Thank you.

Service academy graduate

Helicopter Pilot
Qualified as aircraft commander and mission commander 7 months ahead of squadron average
Only junior officer in command to achieve all advanced qualifications on first tour
Ranked #1 of 29 O-3s at command
Voted Pilot of the year by peers and leadership
6 of 39 Pilots selected to instruct at Fleet replacement squadron
Voted as pilot of the year by peers and leadership at 2nd command
East Coast standardization officer for our airframe. Responsible for evaluating and standardizing 9 operational squadrons
Ranked 3 of 42 O-3s at Fleet replacement squadron

non-HYP Ivy undergrad in finance/econ + humanities double

-> Lots of "usual" ECs, leadership in college and after
MBB 1.5 years -> PM @ AI unicorn -> VC
+T1 VC scout on side

(retaking GMAT soon, mocks were higher but blundered Quant on first take)

Work Experience:

• 4 years at a Tier-2 global management consultancy with fast-track promotion and MBA sponsorship
• International experience leading small teams and managing mid- to senior-level client stakeholders
• Recognized initiatives in social impact work (top 30% most impactful firm contributors), incl.
> Roles in global leadership teams for minority advocacy: i.e., Global program design teams for 1. Women Empowerment, and 2. Neurodiversity Inclusion
> Pro-bono leadership: led social impact research authoring a publication under the firm brand presented in inaugural public event on the subject mater

Additional Professional Experience
• Prior internships in Private Equity, Venture Capital, and Equity Research with local market players

Academics
• BSc (Hons) in Finance from local b-school
• Valedictorian, Top Scholar Award, and Top 4 in class admission ranking
• Achieved top 5% national university admission exams
• Finance Club President, Student Ambassador, Student Representative, Faculty Assistant

Profile summary:

Anjali Thakur (30, F)
10th- 88%(ICSE)
12th- 72%,(JAC Board, top 10)
B.Tech- 81% (Civil Engineering, from NIT Jamshedpur)
Work experience- 4 years and 4 months in Wipro Ltd. as a Senior Project Engineer.
Have led the team of freshers while working with clients like T-Mobile and Visa.
Extra curricular activities:
Organised the Technical fest of NIT Jamshedpur as the Student Council's Joint Technical Secretary, managing a footfall of over 4000 candidates.
Represented the batch's female candidates as the Hostel President in the hostel executive committee for a period of 3 consecutive years.

I resigned from my job in 2023 to prepare for competitive administrative exams like UPSC CSE and CAT and currently I am on a career break. Meanwhile, I have been shortlisted for the PGPM course of SPJIMR, class of 2027, based on last year's CAT score (CAT, 2024).
Should I appear for CAT this year again and plan for a 2 year MBA course or is my profile better suited for an executive MBA program. If the latter, then what should my GMAT focus edition score look like?

Recent fresh graduate from a Nanyang Technological University majoring in Mechanical Engineering (4.41/5.00 GPA).

GMAT FE 715
Currently I have ~1 YOE working in a leading Semiconductor Manufacturing firm in a strategy & operations role. Leading a project team in my current role.

previous internships in:
US-based PE firm (>US$10B AUM)
MBB Consulting
2 other smaller consulting firms

Few extracurricular activities in university, but no leadership role.

Planning to apply for 2028 MBA intake to Wharton, HBS, Columbia, and INSEAD; what are my chances?