sanfan wrote:
Hello! I'm an international applicant from Taiwan. Female age 27 at matriculation. I'm targeting at top 20. Below is my profile.
1. Work experience: 4 years actuary focus on risk management in life insurance company
( 1 year in Fortune 500 and 3 years in a large local company)
team work environment, nature of work is financial modeling and reporting, close to the company management, no much leadership experience
2. Exam: GMAT 730 (50,38), Toefl 103 (speaking 23)
3. Undergraduate: Major in finance, GPA 86/100 or 3.8/4 from top 1 domestic school
4. Designations: ASA, CFA level 1
5. Activities: leader of school dance club, exchange student in Europe, business competition
6. Career goal: just want something related to finance, actuary is also fine. But in the essay I will say short-term goal is consulting in financial industry and long-term goal is management position in Asia. Is it appropriate?
7. I chose an actuarial job because I have good quatitative skill but still want to do something business.
I am interested in Ross, Cornell, CMU, UNC, Emory, Wisconsin and UIUC, but also consider adding Rochester, Duke or a top 10 school. I really appreciate if you can give some advice on school selection. Thank you!
My concern is that it is hard to substantiate a goal of management if you haven't done any management before. I'm wondering if the MSc in Finance makes more sense for you to make the move to the financial industry: they'll like your Quant skills and will be less concerned about the lower TOEFL/Verbal GMAT scores and minimal leadership. As it stands now, I don't see your chances at Ross, Cornell, Tepper, or Duke as great, but the others are certainly worth a try in parallel to some MSc applications.
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