Anna Andreeva Student of the Month JuLy 2003 GMAT 660 TOEFL 270 Going to HEC this september

Our Student of the Month for July, Anna Andreeva, received an outstanding 270 on the TOEFL exam and then went on from there to get 660 on the GMAT and get accepted to both Oxford and HEC.

Anna is not only deserving recognition for her scores and acceptances, but also for the sound long range planning that she had undertaken. Anna is a lawyer by profession, but her family owns its own business, and she realizes that she will eventually need management skills when the time comes to take over the family firm. Thus, an MBA is an integral step in her long term career plans.

After visiting both B-schools to which she was accepted, Anna chose HEC. She says that she preferred HEC due to its ambiance and the people who study there: "They seem to be very friendly and it is like a big family where you can easily find help or get advice." It was a hard decision for her, as Oxford is simply better known in Russia than HEC; but Anna also preferred HEC's course structure and slightly longer study program. Plus, of course, it is ranked among Business Week's top 10 in Europe.

Anna also liked the idea that at HEC one takes 7 weeks of general training before deciding on which way to specialize in the MBA program. This is great for someone like Anna who is making a complete career change in studying business. After completing her MBA, Anna plans to try to get some experience in a foreign firm for a period of time, before returning to open her own company or take over for her family.

We were especially impressed with the soundness of purpose that Anna has shown in her career planning and want to encourage other students to do the same. This is the type of careful planning that B-schools want to see in applications, and we are sure is what impressed them about Anna.

Anna, Congratulations on your acceptance and we wish you a very successful and happy time at HEC!