Evaluation Request: 25m/3.7/700
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07 Oct 2014, 16:54
Hi,
I was hoping to get a feel for what is realistic and would appreciate some feedback and if necessary, a pointing in the right direction:
Currently:
- Dual citizenship - UK and Canada (living in Canada, grew up in UK), Caucasian.
- 25 y/o
- 3.25 years work exp: back office mutual funds --> front office private wealth management - looking to work another year
- 2+ years in a directly client facing role
- 3.7 GPA - BA Honours Psychology, good but note 'Elite' school in Canada (e.g. not U of T or Queen's) but highly respected.
- 700 GMAT (verbal higher) - studied for a little over 2 months, feel I could possibly raise Quant score a little and get 720 if necessary.
- Level III CFA candidate - debating on not bothering with this and hammering out a better GMAT given future aspirations
- Extracurriculars: Squash (team captain in high school, varsity level in University), nationally ranked swimmer (UK - younger years), prior volunteer experience w/ homeless shelter (5yrs ago or more).
- languages: English, French (Strong but not fluent), Spanish (very basic - 101)
Reasons for MBA:
- Strongly dislike pure 'sales' culture and work in a sales office (tier 1 boutique by Cdn standards)
- Lack of interest in Canadian "resources + 5 banks" economy in general - relocation using a psychology undergrad is not plausible, looking at US/UK preferably but would go anywhere language necessity isn't absolute
- Wavering desire to go into asset management strong interest in strategy consulting
- Would genuinely love to learn more about business in general as I am an Arts major
- I need mental stimulation and constant challenge, MBA opens doors to careers in those lines.
Post MBA Plans:
- Strategy consulting with finance or industry as a fallback
- MBB would be nice but deloitte, booz, OW etc. all fine.
- UK preferred. US has visa issues I'd rather not have to role the dice on, plus I have full UK citizenship.
Schools of interest:
EU:
- INSEAD (1st choice given int'l nature, reputation in EU, consulting exits)
- LBS (a close 2nd)
- IESE
- SDA
- Open to suggestion for other UK schools - heard mixed things on Cass & Manchester, Said/Judge have higher work exp req's than I feel I can hurdle.
US:
- Kellogg (stretch)
- Ross
- Fuqua
- Open to suggestions for schools to look at here. I sense given the career goals a EU/Int'l school makes the most sense.
Concerns about my application
- I keep finding myself in jobs where people leave or go to other areas rather than get promoted. My 'leadership' is stuck at team captain (squash) and training colleagues at work how to do more complex analyses for custom client materials.. in summary "poor work experience"
- Limited extracurriculars (I blame CFA for giving me little spare time but am unsure if that is safe to allude to)
- Psychology degree
Thanks,
R.