Simon

My name is Simon. I was born in France and studied in the UL. I have had quite varied experiences growing up. I graduated with a BSc, Mathematics with Economics with First Class Honours. During the course of my studies, I also traveled to India where I stayed at Ramana’s Garden in Rishikesh and tutored children in Mathematics and English while also taking part in fundraising activities. I have worked as a Business Intelligence Analyst for Hearst Magazine in London and later for tianji.com in Beijing, China. Having got the chance to attend the Harvard 2+2 program I am now working at Pitt,  (a mobile messaging app which allows you to exchange messages in real-time, seeing the words forming on your screen as they are being typed by the sender), where I am also the Co-Founder and CEO.

I had been advised to work and collaborate with Dr. Hubert Silly by many friends who had been accepted to LBS, Harvard, LSE, MIT and at my first interview at McKinsey after my Bachelors, I was impressed when both the two who interviewed me and advised me to go for an MBA were MBA Center alumni. It was quite obvious to me that I would work with Dr. Hubert Silly and follow his advice.

Initially, when I came to meet him I intended to go for a Masters in Management at HEC Paris, the objective being to come back to France and to get the MIM at HEC. After analyzing my profile, Dr. Hubert Silly offered to help me get into HEC  but also suggested that I should try for the Harvard 2+2. I was left wondering if I had come to the right place as I believed he was just playing me for a fool as I was just an average student. But after talking to many friends, I came to the conclusion that he was probably trying to encourage me and that I would not get into an MBA at Harvard. I was looking for additional studies as my training was mainly mathematics but I did not want to get slotted into a quant as my prior internship had tried to do. I wanted to get into a decision-maker, working in the business development aspect of a company or entrepreneurship. 

It was only after I got accepted to Harvard 2+2 that I decided to switch from HEC MIM to Harvard 2+2. It took me some time to accept this offer because Harvard 2+2 requires that you work for two years before starting the MBA which meant that I had to postpone my career by four years. At the same time, I felt extremely privileged to have been accepted by such a prestigious school and decided to accept the offer. Meanwhile, I decided to develop my career before starting an MBA.

Having studied in the UK for three years and also has worked as a quant, the GMAT was not very difficult. Still, I was surprised to see my verbal scores at the beginning which were not as high as I thought they would be. I was very happy to use Dr. Hubert Silly and MBA Center services to reach the 700 I was targeting. What Dr. Hubert Silly found in me was that though my English was good, it was not precise enough and probably not fully bilingual level.

The most difficult part was definitely the essays. I am a quant and definitely not a natural writer. When I applied I was 20 years old and it was very difficult for me to show the leadership and maturity that an MBA applicant should have. Hubert Silly used some of my extra-curricular activities and my internships to show the school that I was a born leader. It was a great challenge but we somehow managed to do it.

The Harvard name carries a lot of significance and getting to be a part of the 2+2 program is a great branding opportunity. I am currently attending in the first 2 years of the 2+2 program and have started work in my own company. I hope that when my classes at Harvard begin, I will gain a great deal of business knowledge while also getting to be a part of the Harvard network of students.

Be flexible. I have met other MBA 2+2 students who have worked with Dr. Hubert Silly who initially came to meet him for a MIM at HEC or LBS and finally found themselves entering the Harvard 2+2 program, completely changing their plan. I do not regret for one second, my choice to move from MIM at HEC to Harvard. You need to be ready to question yourself and be ready for the best. It is not everybody who is ready to work and listen to a coach like Dr. Hubert Silly. He is a great coach, ready to work to bring out the best in the students to help them get into top programs.

Too many students, when they are at school, focus on their grades or their extra-curricular without focusing on activities that could reveal their leadership and that is something that you need to be careful about. Dream big. Start a company, join a program to help others, do something that makes a difference.

Finally, Dr. Hubert Silly identified something in me and pushed me to apply for the Harvard 2+2. It is the mark of a great coach that he can identify potential from far off and Dr. Hubert Silly is definitely one of them. I would 100 percent recommend the services of Dr. Hubert Silly an MBA Center for all MBA or MIM applicants.