Meet The HEC Paris MBA Class Of 2018

Stanson William Dobbs

HEC Paris MBA

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: I’m an adventurer with a passion for traveling, who loves being out of my comfort zone, except for heights!

Hometown: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’ll be driving from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to Paris, France to attend HEC Paris. The drive will cover more than 12,000 km and will pass through 8-10 countries.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Oklahoma with a BBA in Finance and International Business

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation: United States Peace Corps (Cameroon) – Small Enterprise Development Volunteer; Mongolia Growth Group (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) – Sr. Manager of Internal Controls and Analytics

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Although it might seem like a common accomplishment, graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree is my biggest achievement. To begin with, I never graduated from high school. I dropped out after the 8th grade, and it took me some time to realize that I had chosen the wrong path. Once I did, I worked very hard to make up for my poor decisions. I double majored and double minored while working one or two jobs throughout my college career.

Looking back on your experience, what advice would you give to future business school applicants? My advice would be to start early on everything, as it takes a deceiving amount of time to get through the application processes, including the GMAT. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to edit and reread essays again and again. Also, don’t be afraid to ask your family and friends for help in this process. There is no right or wrong answer, just be yourself, tell your story. The last thing an admissions-committee member wants to do is read a boring essay.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA?  There were several factors that led me to apply to HEC Paris. It is one of the best programs in the world and will provide me the opportunities to transition from real estate to social impact investing or consulting. Furthermore, it will provide an experience that is unlike any other worldwide; the student body is approximately 90% international students. As a school that offers excellent academics and has a reputation of developing some of the best-qualified MBA students, the return on investment is much higher than its US-based peers. To further enhance that point, the opportunity cost is also considerably less than in US programs.

Tell us about your dream job or dream employer at this point in your life? At this stage in my life and career, I am very interested in strategy consulting and social-impact investing. My dream jobs would be working as a consultant at a MBB or as an associate at CDC Group. I am very keen on consulting because of the challenging and continuous learning environment that I would work in, and CDC Group would allow me to pair the finance skills I have acquired through the CFA program with my passion for investing in sustainability and development.

What would you like your business school peers to say about you after you graduate from this program?  It is important for me to be remembered as a person who went out of his way to help others. That is my style of leadership and teamwork. I would like to be a classmate who is considerate of others and willing to help when I can. I think it further enhances the environment on campus and allows for unique learning opportunities for my peers and myself.