Ask Stacy Blackman

Hi I would appreciate a profile evaluation and any suggestions about how I can improve.

I am a 25 year old American and living in Paris. I am beginning to get everything together for my applications, and I think it would be helpful to have a starting point to go off of. I am planning on applying Round 1 or Round 2. Below are my stats and a toned down version of 'reflection' points that I've put together.

Target Schools: London Business School, INSEAD, Cambridge (Judge), HEC - also would like to consider (H/S/W) if reasonable
GMAT: just took my first practice test and scored 690. I know this is on the low end for top schools, but I will be studying for the next three months and taking in March/April. I am aiming for 730.

College: Large state school
Undergrad GPA: 3.40 (BBA in Accounting)
Graduate GPA: 3.25 (MAcc)
-Completed 8 week study abroad program focusing on International Finance at University of Oxford
-Completed 5 year Masters of Accountancy program in 4 years

Work Experience: 4.5 years of experience at time the program will start

1. KPMG: Associate (New York City) October 2013-September 2015
Service Line: Alternative investments - federal tax
-Received multiple recognition awards for producing high quality work
-Chosen for a 3 month rotation in Advisory service line in St. Louis, Missouri
§ Assisted Fortune 100 pharmaceutical benefits manager (PBM) with post-acquisition transition. Production associate on team of 10 responsible for reviewing and migrating complex legacy prescription contracts to client's customer management database
§ Conducted quality control of PBM team contract set ups
§ Created weekly status reports and presents progress updates regarding migration effort
-Interviewed and chosen for a 3 month rotation at investment bank in their Alternative Investments financial reporting tax group in Salt Lake City, Utah
§ Personally responsible for the review of 26 funds
â–¡ Reviewed partner allocations workpapers, K-1 pickups, corporate and partnership federal and state returns
â–¡ Worked closely with the client VPs on tracking the status of their various underlying investment K-1s
â–¡ Main point of contact between clients' tax firm and applicable personnel associated with their underlying investments to ensure all tax questions were addressed for accurate reporting
â–¡ Provided review comments back to accounting firms
â–¡ Worked with team in New Jersey office to complete necessary review on specific funds
-Supervise and train new associates on firm technologies
-Manage team in India in order to complete tax compliance process

2. KPMG: Senior Associate (New York City); October 2015-December 2015
-Similar tasks as above
-Assisted the London office in a 2 month engagement with setting up firms's internal technology tool that is sold as a subscription service to clients
â–¡ Promoted to second reviewer after one month
â–¡ Reported directly to Washington National Tax partners and Lead Partner of the US tax desk in London

3. KPMG: Senior Associate (Paris, France); January 2016-June 2018
-Focus on international tax
§ Corporate/Partnership compliance - foreign clients who have a presence in the U.S.
â–¡ Acting manager on group's largest compliance engagement
® Communicated directly with Tax Director based in London to answer any questions and provide client deliverables
® Reviewed associates work and provided comments for any necessary updates
® Participated in client meetings to walk through workpapers
® Provided training to groups in Paris and London on specific firm technologies in order to increase overall engagement efficiency
â–¡ Manage and delegate tasks to team in India to complete compliance process
â–¡ Assisted engagement team in London by being the direct contact with the IRS in order to complete necessary client forms
§ M&A tax due diligence - buy-side and sell-side DD for foreign clients who have U.S. tax obligations
§ Tax provision and audit assistance
§ Corporate restructuring engagements

Certifications: CPA licensed in New York; member of AICPA

Extracurriclars

1. College
-Business school mentor program: 2 years - paired with professional in accounting industry
-Club tennis: 2 years
-Reformed University Fellowship: mentored middle school students while providing tutoring assistance in basic curriculum
-Intramural sports: tennis and softball

2. Professional
-Recruiting: received multiple recognition awards for efforts
-Junior Achievement: on team that helped raise over $3,000 in two separate years
-Mentor (NYC): asked by associate to be his mentor
-Mentor (Paris): main contact for global intern participants to help make move to France easy and provide professional guidance
-Transitional Coach to incoming staff and interns to aid with the transition into the firm and provide continuing professional guidance

Other

-Basic knowledge of French language
-Taken full advantage of living in Europe by travelling extensively (visited 17 cities over the last year)

References- two strong recommendations

I will be beefing up my volunteering over the next year. Hoping to use connections to volunteer at US embassy.

Goals: move into consulting (MBB)

Thanks in advance!