Edouard

My name is Edouard. I graduated with a Master's degree in Corporate law from the Universite Catholique de Louvain. I was a part of an exchange program as part of the Erasmus program in Vienna at the Universitat Wien. I began my career as a Legal Intern at Dechert LLP, a law firm in Brussels. I also interned with Vivalto Home Belgium SA.

Apart from this, I volunteered as a Scout Leader for Les Scouts ASBL for almost three years.

My education prepared me to become a lawyer. After an internship at a law firm, I realized that I was putting my dreams of becoming an entrepreneur on hold while I was practicing law. I found that unacceptable and decided to make a career switch. That is why, right after my Masters in Law I decided to begin my Master's in business at LBS in order to get the knowledge in finance, strategy, accounts, marketing, etc. to help me in the career switch. I chose LBS because they offer a one year program and the international exposure that the school offers.

Having a background in law, the GMAT was very difficult. When I started my GMAT preparations I had been out of touch with mathematical concepts for more than five years. I never really liked mathematics in the first place so I had gone for the degree that I went for. Getting back to studying Mathematics was very difficult but Dr. Hubert Silly and his team were very patient with me and they taught me the basics and how to tackle difficult questions while also allowing me to keep up the pace with as few mistakes as possible. Thanks to three months of intensive preparations I managed to get a 650 that allowed me to get into LBS successfully.

LBS was one of my dream targets right from the beginning and I have been fortunate to be a part of the school. Its location is one primary attraction as being located in one of the oldest ‘modern’ cities which also houses the oldest and most prestigious financial institutions, it is the perfect spot for major networking and communication. Apart from the great classes and facilities that are provided by LBS, I really enjoy the environment and have enjoyed the time spent there.

I know a lot of people in Belgium who tried to prepare for an MBA and Masters on their own. Most of them failed or managed to get into second-tier programs, which will not be enough for them to get the career that they envision. As a manager, you should identify your weaknesses and work with people who would be able to help you get into a good program. That is why I went to the MBA Center too. Don’t hesitate to work with professionals who train students for the GMAT every day and might be able to help you get a better score than the one you can get on your own.

Another drawback I had was that I was a bit late in my application, the reason being that in Belgium people finish their exams in late January of each year and go on vacation and I started my application in mid-February and I had very little time to prepare my applications and the GMAT. This is something that I would advise people not to do. Rather, start preparing in advance, probably during the summer of the year before so that you finish writing your application by October before starting school. Have a better schedule to maintain your timings.

I would also like to advise people to start your job search before your Masters because the program at LBS is very short and fast: you start in September and you finish by June of next year. I made the mistake of waiting too long to send my resume. I advise you to start sending out resumes as early as possible and also use the summer before the MBA to make contacts.

Finally, I would like to recommend MBA Center services to all prospective applicants. I had many friends who attended the GMAT classes at the MBA Center and managed to get accepted to top tier colleges like me. So it would be a worthwhile investment.