Manager
Joined: 25 Jun 2013
Posts: 61
Location: United States
Concentration: Strategy, General Management
GPA: 3.2
WE:Securities Sales and Trading (Investment Banking)
Journey to Johnson
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08 May 2014, 13:43
Why I wanted to go to B-School:
I graduated college a couple years younger than most and therefore found myself in a Financial Advisor position with a BB bank at age 24. I knew that from here, I only had 2 career paths: I could either continue to build my book as an FA, or I could be promoted to manage other FA’s. I did not have any interest in grinding it out as an FA and knew that I would not be put in a management position at such a young age. I therefore decided to look into MBA programs to make a career switch to consulting.
Where I applied:
After getting a 710 on the GMAT (slightly lower than expected), I decided to apply to 4 schools:
Yale: Has great international brand recognition and a blossoming relationship with MBB.
Cornell: Again, good reputation and name recognition. Alums run Bain office in Dallas and McKinsey office in Pittsburgh
Tepper: Good quant program, solid consulting placement.
Vanderbilt: Best location of the 4. Lower tier, but respectable name in the southeast.
Decision:
After considering my option, I opted for Cornell. It came down to how I felt at the campuses as well as job prospects. I found that, while overall Tepper had higher consulting FT offers, almost all of Johnson’s FT offers came along w/ internships. This was very important to me as a career switcher, and also because internship to FT usual yields some tuition reimbursement.
What I would have done differently:
The only thing that I would change is that I would have applied to Tuck. I did not know that they have applicant initiated interviews, which is my strongest skill. Other than that, I was very happy with how everything went and I’m excited to be at Johnson!