In conversation with Paavan Bhargava – MBA admit to HEC, Paris

Why do you think studying abroad is more advantageous as compared to an education in one’s own country?

Studying abroad is an experience that broadens your perspective across dimensions spanning both your professional and personal life. Firstly, one gets the advantage of a high quality of education, access to top professors and learning methods that are different from India. Secondly your peer group is much more international, diverse and experienced as compared to B-Schools in India which again provides an incredible opportunity to learn and grow. In addition to peers you also have access to an alumni network which is comparatively much more global in its reach. Thirdly it provides you access to international recruiters and subsequently allows you to transition to a new geography. In some cases, access to specific job profiles and careers is only available abroad although the reverse is also true. I think your character and resilience also develop when you study in a foreign country. Lastly studying abroad seems to be fun experience – developing new friendships, learning a new language, exploring new cuisines, traveling to new places will be an exciting experience!

How did your interaction with Ppro Eed consultancy facilitate your prospects of studying abroad?

As a Management Consultant, I was working within a challenging schedule due to relatively longer hours at work and extensive weekly travel commitments. My target programs were in application parlance ‘stretch’ schools. I had strong work experience but I felt that other areas of my application needed work.

Team Ppro Eed was a key enabler in helping me secure admissions to my target schools. Aditti guided me in all aspects of the application process starting from formulating an application strategy all the way to submitting well rounded applications. She worked with me even at late hours so that we could work around my schedule and still develop compelling applications.

The whole experience was very personalized, detail oriented and focused. I was able to conduct detailed discussions on how to tackle different parts of the application and received actionable feedback on each constituent part. There were multiple rounds of discussions and reviews which really helped me in ironing out flaws, bringing up different perspectives and sharpening the application as a whole. I received great ideas on what I could do to help demonstrate my passions and generally make a strong overall profile. She also connected me to external experts to help in these aspects. Finally, we had intensive and rigorous interview practice which were again very detailed and customized on the basis of the format of each interview. All these efforts were ultimately instrumental in helping me gain admits to my target schools.

Why this particular university? What appealed to you when you made your final choice?

I developed a number of parameters to help me narrow down the list of schools that would be a good fit for me. One of these was that the school should be the top ranked school in the region (top 12 in the US, Top 5 in Europe). HEC Paris is a global top 20 ranked B-School (FT) and is one of the most selective B-schools in the world. Since rankings are reasonable indicators of quality of the school in terms of the education itself, faculty, peers and alumni as well as recruitments, I believe that I have made the right choice.

My preference was for programs which have relatively smaller class sizes, a highly diverse student body in terms of work experience as well as being international in nature. HEC Paris with about 210 people hailing from 50+ nationalities fit my requirement perfectly. As compared to INSEAD and LBS the intake of HEC seems to be much more diverse in terms of work experiences both prior to and post the MBA.

Generally speaking I wanted a program which is flexible in terms of the teaching methods. A school which employed case based, experiential as well as lectures to teach was more attractive than say one which employs only a case based method. But this was not a deal breaker.

There were some other factors in play too. I had very good interactions with the admissions officers of HEC Paris during their visit to India and when I visited the campus in France. I would say amongst all the schools that I was considering the overall experience with HEC Paris was a standout experience. My interactions with current students, alumni and my interviewers were also confidence inspiring. France was a good destination considering my career interests and work experience. Finally, the duration of the course and the flexibility afforded by in the curriculum was something which helped me decide on HEC Paris.

Is there any particular mode of action or studying that you diligently adhered to, in order to make it to the University of your Choice?

As with many other things in life focus, persistence and consistency are key. The admissions process is tough and competitive especially for Indians. It is important to understand what your needs and aspirations from an MBA program are, accordingly develop criteria to select programs to apply to. It is time consuming and expensive to apply to too many schools and could reduce quality of individual applications.

Post school selection one needs to relentlessly put in the work and adhere to specific timelines to secure the admission. For each part of the admission process start early, leverage the best resources available and put in the work to make the best of what is under your control. This includes GMAT, work experience, extra co-curricular etc. If required develop a strategy to tackle unalterable weaknesses in the application such as relatively lower grades in college.

In my case for the GMAT instead of class room tuitions, I took up web based on demand courses. I preferred this as I could review lessons again, get personalized metrics on performance and feedback while also avoiding the time sucking commute to class room courses. For shortlisting schools and developing compelling application packages I was helped by Ppro Eed in every step of the way.

Would you recommend the consultancy to others? Is there anything that could’ve been done better? Any critical insights regarding the efficiency of the consultancy?

I would strongly recommend Ppro Eed consultancy to candidates who want to study abroad. Ppro Eed is heavily invested in a student’s success and they leave no stone unturned to make it happen. The turnaround time is minimal and support is customized to your needs. I understand that many of the other conventional firms do not offer such a well-rounded, personalized and complete service. I received one to one guidance and superior feedback on every aspect of the application. I think these aspects were key enablers for me to successfully secure admits.