HEC Paris Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Hello, everyone

I'm a 24-year old Brazilian female student applying for the first round of Masters in International Finance at HEC. My GMAT Score is 680 (Q45, V38).
I'm graduating in Economics with an emphasis in Finance from a recognized federal university in Brazil with a 8.0 GPA. I have taken all of the courses in Finance offered by the Economics department and my undergrad thesis is about portfolio management.

My only professional experience is an 11-month internship in a major Pension Fund company working on the Trading Desk. My extracurricular activities include some student associations such as the Finance Club, in which I worked doing macroeconomics reports, and the Junior Enterprise, in which I was responsible for all the administrative/financial sector. I was also a part of the feminine handball team for a year.

I also studied for a semester in France. My course load was entirely in French in a university in Paris, so I have some experience living and studying in the city. I have the DELF B2, and I am studying to pass the C1 level next June. Moreover, I was a volunteer in Kenya for two months in 2017, teaching kids in the slums. This is basically all my international experience apart from travel vacations.

I don't know if it is worth mentioning but I have dual citizenship Brazilian-Portuguese, which makes it easier to work in the EU after graduation.

My main concern is my GMAT score, specially the Q45. HEC MIF is highly competitive, and I'm afraid a lower than average score can hurt my chances at admission.
I would truly appreciate an evaluation of my profile and any advice on whether I should retake the exam.

Thank you!

Hi, Please evaluate my profile for an MBA for the HEC Paris September 2020 Intake.

Male, 27 years old, India


Graduation :
Bachelors of Science in Information Systems Management with a second major in Finance.

College : Singapore Management University
GPA : 3.23

Work Experience : 4 years total in United Overseas Bank Singapore
Started off as a Management Trainee and promoted twice to reach Manager (Equivalent to Senior Associate or Assistant Vice President in other banks)
Role : Business Analyst for the UOB Digital Bank Initiative. Worked on launching the digital bank in Thailand and now working on launching it in Indonesia

International Experience/Exposure
1. Studying and Working in SIngapore for the past years. Currently my team consists of people from 6 different nationalities.
2. Frequent travel to Thailand and Indonesia for work
3. Backpacked through most of SE Asia before starting work

Co Curriculars :
1. Started a TEDx conference in college. Also started a few other initiatives in College geared towards getting non-inidian students to explore the indian business environment
2. Play and Occasionally coach my office football team
3. Trekking up volcanoes. Covered 9 volcanoes in the last 4 years

What would you say are my weak spots for an HEC application and how can I improve ?

arhitsharma241192 and anuragjain37 .. I am sorry guys, I do not know how I missed your posts
The happy news is that you both are admitted and hence, I have to say nothing

Hi Raj319 .. Sorry mate , I do not know what happened with my notifications. What is your current status? Did you applied to HEC or other schools?

Hey JaaS. I did apply for HEC with 700 score. I'm yet to hear from them. As far as GMAT goes, I'm planning for a retake in a couple of weeks. I don't think 700 is a competitive score for Tier-1 schools. (As evident from my recent ISB result , Got a Waitlist)

Will let you know if i hear from HEC. Cheers!

Great job! Do not think that 700 is not a competitive score It is above than the average score of the class Did you applied for September 20 intake?

Appreciate it. Applied for Sep 20 intake.

I'm not spending too much time on Prep. But, If I do get an improvement, it puts me in good stead for a scholarship.

You are right. Finish it soon. If you get a huge improvement, it will make your profile even stronger than before.
In case you need more suggestions, we can ask anuragjain37 .. I am sure, he will advise you.

Hi swethachodavarpu..
I am not sure whether you still needs an evaluation or not. I am not an expert of MiM programs but would like to give my suggestions. Your profile looks interesting to me and you need to craft a good story. Your experience in healthcare industry, freelancer and French language skills will be an advantage. What are your future goals/plans? How HEC MiM's programs is going to help you in that? Do you have a GMAT score now? If yes, please share your score.

Hi urvi06 ..
I am not sure whether you still need profile evaluation or not. I have a different opinion. You have approx. 5 years of experience and why you want to invest your time in MiM program and not for MBA? I would recommend for MBA over MiM by looking at your current phase and it can help you better. Obviously, this is my personal opinion. Did you tried to find out the difference of MiM vs. MBA and how these different programs are going to achieve your goal? I advise you to do a small research about both programs. If you need more information about MBA programs, you can post it here or PM me. I would be happy to guide you.

Hello amandaabr .. Congratulation for your admit in Edhec Can you please share your current status for HEC?
I believe your profile is strong with a good gmat score, language skills, experience and extra-curriculars. Yes, EU citizenship is an advantage in moving and finding a job in EU. You should not be concerned for Q45 as it is not a bad score and your overall score is good. I recently came to know about a person who got admitted for MBA in HEC with Q38. So, be positive and apply if you haven't yet.. All the best.

manchat NIT is good but GPA of 6.4 is on lower side. I suggest using optional essay to explain: was it due to extracurriculars, personal emergency etc. The work expereince with top startups sounds exciting - you should highlight ownership of product and leadership. If the part-time startup is related to your long term goal, it would make the story very strong. GMAT is on the lower side, especially so close but still not crossing the psychological 700 barrier. If possible give it another shot and try for 720-730. With less extra-curricular, you should bring out how building your startups on side was your passion. WIsh you the best

Hello M7Admit ... I appreciate your evaluation of the manchat but his/her post was made 3 years ago. Let's see whether he/she still requires it.

I want to know my chances of getting into MiM programs of HEC Paris and LBS. Moreover, please also consider the deferred programs of HBS, Stanford and Yale SOM, ISB YLP

Academic grades: Score in 10th is 88%, 12th std grade= 90%. Graduating from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) Bachelors of Business Administration program with a CGPA of 3.8/4. Pursuing CIMA UK.

Internship experience: Data Analyst at a quick-service restaurant. 2 months internship at PWC.

Achievements: Winner of State level table tennis tournament and secured All India Rank 1 in multiple CIMA exams.

Extra-curriculars: One year experience at an NGO. Member of Entrepreneurship Cell of my college and AISEC club

Certification course: Financial Market from Yale University via Coursera. Stock trading Workshop at IIT-B. I have completed a couple of more certification courses in other domains.

Expected GMAT score: 710-730 ( Got 710 in first simulated/ mock test)

Please provide me valuable insights into my profile and areas of improvement

Posted from my mobile device

Hi shivamjjw ..
Welcome to Gmatclub. I hope you know that this forum is dedicated only for HEC requests. For the other schools, you can request on the targeted schools's forum or on the general MiM forum. I see that you have already posted on the MiM general forum and hope someone will evaluate soon. My general advise for you is to mention 'your goal' , 'why MiM', 'why this specific school', etc to show that you have interest and done some research on your own. Also, it would be great that you make your priority list according to your interests and align with the schools.

I'm a 27-year old Indian Male planning to apply to R5 (Jan 2nd deadline) for September 2020 in-take.
My GMAT Score is 740 (Q48, V42). Test given in July 2019.

Education:
Undergrad in Electronics and Communication Engineering from SRM University
2014 pass out

Work Experience: 5.5 Years

1) Co-founder (1 of 3) - COO/CFO of Hyderabad's biggest Advertising Agency - PAD Integrated Communications
2014-Present
Lead business growth strategy formulation, finance, operations and HR. Formulated/implemented growth strategies, inter-department processes
and Standard Operating Procedures along with performance metrics, analysis tools and incentive structures.
• Address communication requirements of clients in India, France, USA, Israel, UAE, Sri Lanka and Oman across varied industries (healthcare, education, real estate, hospitality, pharmaceutical, media, retail, tech, non-profit).
• Launched/brought to market 30+ startups through effective brand strategies and creative communications.
• Led diversification into developing vernacular content for Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms; and providing Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality services.
• Increased revenue by 50% (from $1 to $1.5M USD) in two years, and profitability by 30% YoY (with 17% net profit margins).
• Grew team to 105. Opened 2 additional branch offices in Bangalore and Mumbai.


2) Co-founder (1 of 2) - CEO of SPUR Design - A hardware/product design and development company
May 2019 - Present
6-person firm providing product design, manufacturing, sourcing and logistics services to aspiring designers
Manage hiring, business development, business planning, strategic partnering, and investor recruitment

Extra-Curricular:
- GO GREEN, (Oman’s 1st plastic-free supermarket chain), Operations Advisor -- Creating launch business plan (6hr/wk, May 2019 - Present)
- ANGEL SUMMIT (discover, inspire and support women-led start-ups), Head – Strategic Alliance – Organised 4 annual events with 600+ start-ups participating. On-boarded 20+ investors with $7M USD pledged for 32 start-ups (15hr/wk for 3 months annually, 2015 to present)
- COMMUTATUS (50+ person company developing digital products for global organisations), Member, Board of Advisors (1 of 6) – Consulted on and helped implement business growth strategies. Ran multiple hackathons to crowdsource solutions for tech start-ups (6hr/wk, 2015-2018)
- ESAHAI (“Uber” for ambulances) - Consulted on branding, product launch, go-to-market strategy and investor relations (8hr/wk, Oct 2016--Apr 2018)
- SCRIBBLR NOTEBOOKS (provide free notebooks to students by offsetting costs with ad revenue from interior notebook branding),
Co-Founder (1 of 3) -- Provided notebooks to 30,000+ students, achieving 35X ROI for participating companies (12hr/wk, Dec 2015 to Jul 2016)
4) Was a part of AIESEC (a student led organisation) in leading roles for three years (2011-2014)
5) Was part of an NGO called Green the Gene
Project Coordinator – Collected pledges for and initiated planting of 1.5M trees in Gambia – one for every Gambian citizen

International Experiences:
Apart from dealing with international clients through work, I have spent a month in Phnom Penh, Cambodia living with the locals and teaching english in a school.
I have solo-backpacked Cambodia, Thailand, Bhutan, Jordan, Amsterdam, Finland, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine.

Have not narrowed down on a post MBA career goal.
Inclined towards
Strategy consulting - Based on my experience consulting with organisations of different sizes, scales and industries and my keen interest towards sustainability. But being an entrepreneur, I want to start my own firm that focuses on strategy and brand consulting to startups focussed on solving sustainability challenges in the world.

Looking to find out if my profile is a fit for HEC Paris considering its strong brand and in-roads into consulting.
Hoping to hear back from all of you!

Excellent profile with strong chances for HEC Paris.