Re: Calling all US Military Fall 2013 Applicants!
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03 Apr 2013, 15:08
Hello All,
Let me apologize in advance for the length of this profile and series of questions. It is a hybrid of career choice and school questions- I am considering the necessity of MBA school / chances / where to apply and believe I understand the nuances of most schools inside the top 20.
I am an Air Force Captain with about 7 years' service. Undergrad double major in Supply Chain/Econ from one of the better Big Ten schools with a 3.7 GPA. Also have an MSc in Quant Finance from an average Pac-Ten School (not in California!) but with a fairly robust curriculum and 3.8 GPA.
My AFSC (MOS) is in the Finance arena, but have had some very atypical assignments, have checked the blocks on deployments to both major AORs in ways that were not standard Bob on the Fob G-8, and am currently working at an Embassy assignment... fair amount of breadth and I'm reasonably sure that for a non combat arms role my profile is strong - would be grateful for feedback on my Linkedin/Resume and would happy to provide on a PM.
I have also passed my CFA Level 1 exam and will be sitting for the Level 2 in June.
BLUF: I want to work at a hedge fund full stop, first as an analyst, and progressing to a portfolio manager. Eventually I want to run my own fund and if all goes well I have some longer term plans about how I would want to build out the fund and turn it into more of a venture philanthropy/ emerging mkt micro venture capital endeavor - this would be the crux of any essays I would put in for MBA schools. I would also attempt to parlay my international experience in essays. This plan has evolved, but for the most part it is what I've wanted to do since my junior year of college. I feel as though the career progression I've sought is pretty self-explanatory to any school with the Master's degree concentration and the CFA, and my rationale would be the school as a natural pipeline for a career change and network exposure.
My dilemma is as follows: I am questioning the necessity of attending MBA school at all, because last year I was seriously considering getting out and managed to land interviews at several of the BB banks in NY, which at the time I viewed as a critical stepping stone to the alternative asset space. Managed to land one job offer in the market reg side in oil futures surveillance, but the salary offered was on par with a first time job out of undergrad. I have a spouse with grad school debt and we could not make the numbers work in NYC. I worked closely with Veterans on Wall Street to get to these interviews, but the industry was in such flux with Dodd-Frank at the time that 4 firms asked me to wait until summertime. That said, I've maintained contact with my interviewers and hope/think that they will keep me in mind down the road.
In parallel I was offered this very unique Embassy job opportunity; my wife is in the NGO/Int'l Development arena and we had to jump at the chance. In the Air Force you only have 5 days to accept an assignment selection or you have to establish a date of separation and no deferral of an offer. Fast forward to today and we have another year left here, but possibly up to two years if I put in for an extension.
Leading up to the week that I accepted the overseas job, I had been cultivating relationships with a few hedge fund managers and sought their counsel - a common piece of advice I got was get the international/life experience, skip the MBA completely, pursue the CFA, and learn Python programming. They also recommended trying to start directly at a HF rather than try to navigate the as-of-yet uncertain maze of what Sales/Trading desks at the big banks will look like post the major regulatory changes. Although they personally said they would speak to me when I returned home - 2 years is a long time and there are no guarantees.
Since before I was commissioned I've been trading equities/options on my own and have managed to grow the portfolio to a fairly comfortable level (market hours are friendly in SWA); I have all of my transactions documented and can verify performance figures. As an undergrad I was also active in my school's investment association which at the time was running the largest student run fund in the world, and studied in the UK my junior year that concluded with a short internship in London at the LME and a week survey at the Bank of England.
Back when I was applying for the Master's program I didn't do as well on the GMAT as hoped and got a 660 which I attribute to poor time management. But that was 7 years ago meaning it is off the books at this point, and I am quite confident I could push above 700 with a reasonable amount of prep.
First, given all the above details, is there an overly compelling need for me to go to MBA school? The fact that I was offered an analyst/undergrad position is a concern I have because an analyst's salary will not work for me in either NYC or SF as family planning is going to be a reality in the very near future. The other big banks seemed to be hinting at a senior analyst level or even associate position, but likely for a summer offer. I certainly understand the risk they are assuming with an unproven person coming into a new industry. Since that time many of the large firms have come out with military specific programs, which they may have known about when we were speaking, but were not public at that point. Believe me, I have heard and understand the "You're taking the difficult path" rather than the natural one by NOT going to MBA school.
Although there are differences between top MBA salaries over the course of career by most normal metrics, in my specific case I'm wondering if the lost opportunity cost is worth it... I will be a little older than your standard post Academy/ROTC guy and low 30s should be prime earning years, even if I am able to attend school cheaply or even for free with Post 9/11 and Yellow Ribbon. I remember looking at Johnson's 1 year program but the issue with that is no opportunity for an internship and you're left to your own devices at graduation- could be stated from a position of ignorance but I spoke with a few of the military guys there at the time and they recommended going for the 2 year one. With 1 year, the time isn't automatically built in so most of your school experience would be trying to get recruited.
If school is absolutely the way to go, for hedge fund specific positions, are there any other schools to seriously consider than Columbia, Wharton, NYU, and Booth? MIT certainly has a lot of academia in that realm with Andrew Lo's finance lab, but I perceive it to be more an operations/quant/management place. For West Coast, I would think both Haas and Anderson are well represented, but Stanford (impossibly tough to get into) seems to be much more tailored to the VC/PE/Startup set.
Is there any factor that I am not thinking about that I should give more consideration? With a 700 GMAT & reasonable quant is there anything more that you would recommend in terms of application approaches other than what I've already mentioned?
Thank you very much in advance for any advice you can offer, and once again I apologize for the length of this post.
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