Masters in Finance both Pre-experience and Post-experience 2018 by FT

Isn’t Vandy would be too ambitious, as 2 deadlines have already passed.

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Hi billionare,

Really insightful post. Opens up a different perspective.

I have an offer from SMU (Singapore) for Quantitative Finance Masters on the table. However I have three other options as well, ESADE Spain, UCD Ireland and NUI Ireland. I have to respond to SMU by 21st. What's your opinion on the market for QuantFin and FinTech when Europe and Singapore are compared ? And what university would you suggest.

Thank you.

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Hello everyone,

I am new to GMAT club. And I hope I am posting at the right place. I want my profile to be evaluated for both MFin and MBA programs.

I am an India, age 26.

Class 10: 95.80 % ( School rank 1, district topper, state rank 11)
Class 12: 85.00% ( School rank 5)
UG: NIT Jamshedpur, B. Tech: 82.90% (Top 20% of the batch)
PG: MBA in Finance (Minor in Operations), FMS, University of Delhi, 75.44% (Rank 4, Top 2% of the batch)

Yes, I am targetting a second MBA or an MS in Finance (yet to decide and I am inclined towards Finance)

Pre-MBA work experience: Associate Applications Developer at Oracle Financial Services Software, 20 months
- Worked on Retail, Corporate and Islamic banking modules
- Improved functional performance in liquidation, standing instructions etc.
- Improved loan processing timing from 7 days to 2 mins
- Improved credit rating performance and profile evaluation time
- Worked on Java & Scala programming langauges

Internships
1. Department of Space, ISRO, 8 weeks
- Worked on developing Real-time disease outbreaks system, working on Python 2.7, wrote more than 13000 lines of code
2. Axis Bank, General Management Intern, 8 weeks
- Improved the Prime Plus product by removing and adding certain features, and rebranding it

Post-MBA work experience
- No experience, I will start working in April. Just beginning an early preparation for GMAT and learning more about the International B-Schools
- Placed on campus in a Financial Analytics firm
- Also targetting off-campus companies for roles in IB, Equity Research etc.

Projects
1. Equity Research, Company: Equitylevers
- Worked on developing the overall company analysis model
- Prediction, valuation etc
2. Financial Modelling, Academic Project at FMS
- Building Markowitz portfolio using 25 listed stocks on NSE, Sharpe ratio; 1.33
- Predicting USD-INR exchange rate using OLS regression
- Predicted Customer credit default and churn in telecom industry using logit & probit models

Software/Tools: Excel, MATLAB, Pythion 2.7 & 3.6, Python libraries - Pandas, NSEpy, Numpy, Matplotlib etc.

Extracurricular - Mostly college level
- Rubik's cube
- Drawing & Painting
- Football

Positions of Responsibility
- Heady Boy at School
- Coordinator of events at tech fest of NIT Jamshedpur
- Placement Cell of NIT Jamshedpur
- Restructuring Committee at FMS Delhi

Any other info is needed?

- I took CAT (an exam similar to GMAT in India) 2016 - Secured 99.87 percentile in CAT
- I have not taken GMAT yet (expecting 720+ )
- Please comment about the chances and which one would be better considering that I am a bit inclined towards Finance, Consulting would be my second choice.

Hi, great post! Would you mind evaluating my profile chances to get into the following programes (application in mid February when I receive my official GMAT score report)?

-MSc Finance at LSE
-MSc International Finance at HEC Paris
-MSc in Financial Analysis at LBS


My profile:
-GMAT: 710 (90%) Q47 V40
-Bachelor: Economics a target university in Spain with a 8.60/10 (8 out of a class of 160)
-1 year Exchange: University of Chicago: Booth (Economics, Corporate Finance, Strategic Management...)
-Recommendation letters: strong recommenders from UChicago, my home university and manager at the Consultancy.
-Statement of Purpose: Quite good in my opinion
- Actively participating at my University Consulting Association. Additionally I ended up 2nd in a Case Consulting Competition with a Jury of members of Bain, BCG and McKinsey and was invited at their recruiting process.
- Start Up co-founder. Lead the team in the Mobile World Congress Start Up competition & ended as European Semi Finalists.
- 2 summer Internships. first as a Financial Analyst at a well-known multinational and later on at a Strategy Consulting Boutique.
- Languages: Native Spanish and Catalan, Proficiency in English, Intermediate in French and very basic German.

I am worried because my quant score is not very high, and LSE might be very strict about it.
Also, do you think I might be able to get any scolarships if I get in?

Thank you!

Hey uttamkgulshan, so you have a 20 months work experience is it? Honestly, it is a bit on the lower end for Global MBA programs. MSc in Finance can be a good option though. You have a rich experience in Finance, if articulated properly can be an asset to your application. I would also strongly suggest you to consider CFA, it is one of the certifications that all major MFin Schools Value. Otherwise your profile looks pretty good. It is mostly the French Schools that accept CAT (a 98%tile+ is needed for top schools) . Do you have any target schools in mind? You can check out schools like Vanderbilt, USE Marshall, Ohio Fisher

Hi ignasi19

You are pretty solid from all other aspects except the GMAT score, as all three of your target schools look for strong GMATs (both from a Quant and overall perspective). If you haven't applied and made it already, you might want to look at a retake.

Hi.. I am planning to enroll in Masters in Finance and for that I would appreciate if you could evaluate my profile and chances of getting into my choices..
If someone already tried or have enrolled in schools of my choice please feel free to pitch in!

My profile:
-GRE: Q160 V157
-Bachelor: Commerce Major: Finance & Concentratin (between major & minor) in Accounting from McGill University, Canada (CGPA 2.71/4.00)
-Recommendation letters: Strong from my finance professor and employer.
-Statement of Purpose: Quite focused & goal oriented.
-Summer Internship at HSBC
-Started working at Central Bank of Pakistan after graduating & now its been slightly over 5 years in various fields / departments.

My choices: LSE & Rotman (University of Toronto), INSEAD (MBA)
Post Grad intended career: Asset Management or Risk Management.

I am worried because my CGPA is not very high, and schools might be very strict about it.
Also, do you think I might be able to get any scholarship if I get in?

Found here a lot of useful information, thank you, save.

Hey ignasi19,

Your profile looks pretty strong. Here are some pointers about the same :

Your rankings are really good and you have a competitive GMAT Score. Since the University of Chicago is pretty well known all over the world and one of the top 10 national universities, the Exchange program will definitely add value to your profile.

No Doubt you have quite a strong background in Finance(right from your academics to work ex to extra-curricular), your summer Internships as a Financial Analyst and consulting add on the value on the same. Though you have to make sure to pick the right data points from this experience to showcase why you are you want to take up finance as a long term career goal. If showcased properly, it can be an asset to your application.

Having said that, most of the applicants who apply to schools like LSE, LBS, and HEC do have a stellar profile, so in a lot of ways, even with a strong profile, you may be starting at level ground. Your entrepreneurship experience is interesting, can be used as a differentiator.

Your essays will play a key role in differentiating you from the rest of the applicants, so make sure that you are spending enough time on them, it would be always ideal to verify your SOP, with an expert so that he can guide, what you are missing on it if any.

Proficiency in multi-language is a bit rare, it can be your outstanding point in your application.

As for the quant score, yes it does matter, but with your overall profile, I would say it won’t be a hurdle for your admit.

With a strong application, I would say that you have a quite fair chance at your target schools. Though, you have mentioned just LBS, HEC and LSE as your target schools. It is always a better strategy target at least 4-6 schools categorized into a dream, competitive and safe as per your profile.

You can check out this link: https://www.mim-essay.com/blog/masters-in-finance/ It will help you to select some good Masters in Finance schools.

Talking about the scholarship chances, to be honest, it is a tricky thing and depends on a lot of things, in your case, the relative competition and which round you apply in will play a major role in getting you the scholarship.

So the best thing you can do here is to apply for Earlier Rounds of application, and ensure that your application is the best it can be, that way you have the strongest chance at a scholarship.

Hope this helps.