Can you tell us more about yourself?
My name is Quentin and I was in the French Special Forces for a period of seven years. I completed my education from the Ecole Speciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr. I was accepted to Stanford University Graduate School of Business and graduated in 2010.
I spent ten years of my life in the service of my country, the first three in military school and the rest in the French Special Force, working on different missions in Africa, the Middle East, and Eurasia. In 2010, I was given the option of working for the commandment in the head offices, sharing my expertise gained through all the years of working in the field. This was not something that I particularly wanted to do. I preferred to be in the Special Forces and be a part of the action. However, it seemed my career evolution was such that if I wanted to stay on in the Special Force, it would have to be in the office. Thinking it over, I decided to make a complete career change. Since I had always been very keen on the finance and investment banking industry, I thought that it could be the next step on my journey.
The type of training that I received in the military school had in no way prepared me for this new direction I wanted to take. So the MBA at Stanford was the next logical step in my personal and professional development.
The first obstacle I faced during my preparation for the MBA was the GMAT. Even though I enjoy writing and appreciate art and literature, with my military training, I was not prepared for this part of the preparation process. The 700 required to get into a top school was a huge amount of work for me. I had to find the right coach for myself and then start the training right from the basics.
The application process was also not easy as I had to convince the admission committee to take me into their schools on the basis of my years in the army, most of them in secret missions that I could not even disclose to them. This was a tough ask from me. However, meeting with Dr. Hubert Silly and talking to him gave me the confidence that my experiences at the army could easily be translated into something that could be understood by the admission committee and that even though I had not been a part of the corporate world, I had demonstrated skills and values that could be appreciated by the corporate world and the MBA programs. This proved very fruitful as I managed to get into the most selective MBA program in the world, Stanford.
What is life like at Stanford?
With a huge residential campus and a community of creative and accomplished people from across the globe, Stanford is one of the greatest campuses in the US. As a French student in an American College, I never felt out of place as the student body there is one of the most diverse and international bodies in the US. Apart from the stellar reputation, Stanford enjoys in terms of academia, it also has a rich tradition of fostering creativity and arts and also houses two world-class museums.
It also has state of the art recreational facilities, wellness programs, and multiple sports and sports clubs. As a former army man, I was very grateful for these facilities and programs dedicated to the fitness and wellness of the students.
I am a perfect illustration that with motivation, time, dedication, you can get into a good program. It is just a matter of believing in yourself and finding the rhetoric to communicate and translate your experiences into something that can convey your values and exhibit the profile that MBA Programs can look for. I would recommend that you get the help of a professional service like that MBA Center founded by Dr. Hubert Silly. Their help with GMAT preparations and the application process has helped more than 2000 people to get into MBA Programs over the years.