Meet The Winners: The Beat The GMAT $100K Challenge
As many of you know, last month Beat The GMAT hosted a campaign to distribute $100,000 in GMAT/MBA courses and services. In the five weeks of this campaign, we distributed over 600 prizes. And we nearly died of exhaustion in the process. :)
Today I wanted to introduce the Mini-Grand Prize and Grand Prize winners of the $100K Challenge: Fiona and Suneel
Fiona won the Stacy Blackman Consulting Mini-Grand Prize, which is an all-expenses paid trip and tour of one school of her choice, anywhere in the United States. Fiona is based in New York.
Suneel won our Grand Prize worth $25,000, which is an all-expenses paid tour of five schools (HBS, MIT Sloan, Stanford GSB, Haas, and one school of his choosing). For this trip, he will be accompanied by me and the CEO David Park as his personal tour guides. Suneel is based in Bangalore, India.
Check out the full profiles of Fiona and Suneel below. Congrats to both of you!
Meet Fiona - Mini-Grand Prize Winner
I graduated from Harvard College in 2008 with a major in economics and a minor in psychology. I was born in Hawaii, and grew up in Hong Kong where I went to an American school there, called Hong Kong International School. Aside from school, I have been a competitive figure skater and short track speed skater since I was 4 years old, and have represented Hong Kong in various world championships. I have also been a member of Hong Kong's national and winter Olympic teams in both sports. I have since carried my passion for figure skating on through to Harvard, both skating with Harvard's own competitive team and organizing their "An Evening with Champions" charity benefit during my all 4 years there.
After college, I had been working for Morgan Stanley's hedge fund, Front Point Partners, in their high yield/distressed credit fund for 2 years. I recently finished my 2-year analyst program with MS, and now volunteer for a non-profit that I have been involved with since last year, called Figure Skating in Harlem. Currently, I serve as their marketing and events coordinator, reporting directly to the Executive Director and Founder of the organization. I also volunteer as a skating instructor and educational tutor for the girls in the program as well, and have been doing so since 2009. You can learn more about my organization on my website: www.figureskatinginharlem.org
What this prize means to Fiona
This prize means a lot to me because I have been wanting to visit business schools for a while now to help me figure out which program I ultimately want to attend. Having studied at Harvard for 4 years and now living in New York, it is much easier, both geographically and economically, for me to visit the schools in the Northeast, but much more difficult for me to visit the schools anywhere else. Now that Stacy Blackman has graciously donated 1 business school tour to anywhere in the US, I can finally take that trip to California! Without it, I don't think I could make it out to the west coast. So thank you Stacy, I am so grateful for this wonderful opportunity and will definitely make the most out of it.
Meet Suneel - Grand Prize Winner
In 2005 I finished a Bachelor of Business Administration from Karnataka University, Dharwad with specialization in Finance. I'm presently working at Deutsche Bank's Investment Bank Division as an Analyst. I have over 4 years of experience in the field of finance and capital markets.
Cricket is my passion and I always tell my friends that cricket is my first love. Apart from that, I enjoy trekking, swimming, and last but not least the GMAT.
What this prize means to Suneel
There is a saying that opportunities will come in different forms but recognizing it, grabbing it, and utilizing it are what defines success. This prize is the biggest surprise and opportunity that I have come across in my life so far. This prize has given me a chance to see the worlds top b-schools, meet current students, experience a different culture, and, very importantly, interact with Eric, David and Beat The GMAT team. Without this prize, visiting these schools from my part of the world would be an otherwise distant dream. Its a wonderful learning opportunity.
Life has given me an opportunity and this is the first step to realize my dream, which is to be admitted to one of the top business schools in the United States. Thanks Eric, David and Beat The GMAT for giving me this opportunity.