Hi
lmcc412 FYI, INSEAD does not currently accept the GRE if the GMAT is available in your country. They like to see at least 70-75% for each verbal & quant as an FYI. Your GRE is great for the other schools, however, and LBS is often considered quite parallel in its offerings to INSEAD.
The criteria for INSEAD is 4 part - academics, leadership, contribution and international orientation. And this is a fairly good way to assess your fitness for LBS, along with the other programs named as European programs tend to be international oriented.
Your academics are strong, but where are you with leadership in and outside of the workplace? Do you have any way to show contribution to assure them you would be an active student and alum? Do you have international work experience or exposure to international teams?
I like that you are a Kiwi....less represented than many other countries...anything unique or interesting with your background? Tell us more about the European stuff. Would this provide a unique perspective when working with your cohort and small group?
lmcc412 wrote:
Hi All,
I am looking for some feedback on my overall strength as a candidate to my target schools, and some advice as to when would be the ideal year for me to apply. Thanks a lot in advance.
Background
Age: 26 (Would be 27 or 28 at matriculation)
Nationality: NZ, with dual European citizenship
Work experience (as of today)
1 year accounting in a large US healthcare company (publically traded) – responsible for financial accuracy and performance of 10 ambulatory centres across the states, reporting to stakeholders etc
2 years, 8 months working in one of the top 5 automobile manufacturers in Europe – 2 years in Financial Control, 8 months in FP&A. 1 promotion received – responsible for budgeting, forecasting, financial control, reporting of results to executive leadership, optimisations etc. Also key user for Financial consolidation tool, working with offshore team to enhance end user experience.
I would have 4 years, 8 months or 5 years, 8 months experience upon matriculation.
Education
BBA (Finance major) from a mid-sized state school in USA – 3.9 GPA
GRE – 162Q, 169V, 5.5W (taken mid 2016)
Extra-Curricular
4 years NCAA athlete in a Div2 institution (During this time I routinely helped with community service events)
French speaker – intermediate/advanced level
Honestly not a lot outside of this – I run regularly, play in a sports team, have some involvement with my work’s sports committee.
Target Schools
INSEAD, LBS, Cambridge, Oxford, HEC
Goal
Transition to Consulting
I would greatly appreciate any evaluation of my competitiveness as a candidate at the above schools. I am considering applying for Aug 2020 or Aug 2021 cycles, which would give me respectively 4 years 8 months or 5 years 8 months experience. It is quite unlikely that I will receive another promotion prior to either application cycle (not due to poor performance, but the next promotion would be to a managerial role and requires significantly more experience than I currently have). With this considered, would there be any substantial benefit to waiting until Aug 2021? My preference is to apply for Aug 2020 entry, unless my application would be significantly improved with a further year of work experience.
Thanks a lot for any feedback/advice.
Regards
Posted from my mobile device
_________________