MS Finance Profile Evaluations [Master Thread]: Post all Profiles Here

Hi kitty90,

Thank you for your post and for sharing your profile. With a strong GRE, you are a competitive candidate. Your written work should also capture the breadth of your experiences demonstrating a competitive candidate. Be sure to communicate with your recommenders what would be beneficial for them to speak about in their letters of support.

If you would like to continue the conversation and discuss how I can help with your applications, please reach out https://www.siaadmissions.com/complimen ... nsultation.

Good luck!



_________________

Dear CKLaw,

Thank you for sharing your profile.

It seems that you have a strong foothold in financial markets and I am assuming you would want to continue in the field.
Any specific reasons you want to go for a MSc program and not a MBA. Is duration of the program a consideration? If not, I will recommend you to Business schools such as LBS (London Business School), where I definitely feel that you would get a more multi-dimensional perspective of business and markets than just the financial angle.

Having said the above, your age and work experience is a little on the higher side as far as MSC programs you have chosen are concerned. Typically professionals take up this program within a couple of years of their under graduation itself. While you are a great academic fit for these programs, you will need to show how you will be a good cultural fit to the program and demonstrate what you are expecting from the program that you already haven’t got exposed to in your professional career.

Do feel free to reach out to myself or my colleagues at CrackAdmission in case you seek any support / guidance with regards to your application.

Cheers and Best of luck.
_________________

Dear @CBCFKJE,

Thank you for sharing your profile.

It is difficult to break into private equity if you are a recent graduate or postgraduate with little experience in the field. The way to go forward for you would be transition from an equity/IB analyst post your masters into a PE role after gathering a few years of experience. This is a realistic short and long term goal for you to achieve and the same should be portrayed in your application.

As far as your candidature for a seat at Vanderbilt for the MSF program, I definitely feel that your GMAT score of 740 (assuming you have got it by now), well above the average of class ~695, will be a key differentiator for you. Having said that, you will need to compensate for your lack of professional experience, but stating how you have taken up positions of responsibility in your undergrad institution that are aligned with what you want to do in future. A good way to do this would be give an example(s) of the initiatives you undertook and the strategies you developed as a core member of the team that managed your school’s equity linked fund. Also show your capacity for leadership and entrepreneurship.

Overall I feel that you should be confident your admission chances assuming you draft a compelling application focusing on your strengths, motivations and informal experiences, and in parallel achieve the 730+ score

Do feel free to reach out to myself or my colleagues at CrackAdmission in case you seek any support / guidance with regards to your application.

Cheers and Best of luck.
_________________

Hi All,

Request you to kindly evaluate my profile:-

Indian Male
Age - 25
Work experience - 3.7 years

Education Background
Graduated in Bachelors of Commerce - 2016 - 71% - Shri Ram College of Commerce (Delhi university)
Cleared CFA level 1 - 2019 - 90th percentile
Company Secretary foundation - 2016 - 89%
Also, have done certification courses from National Stock Exchange India and other certification courses

Professional Experience
1 year in Boutique Investment Banking as an Analyst
2 year in Consulting and Investment Research as a Senior Analyst
10 months in a Financial Services company as a Financial Analyst

Questions:-
Is 680 a good enough gmat score considering the above information for schools such as Judge Business School, IE , Essec, Esade, SDA and other major European schools
I want to work full time the country of my education and probably settle there, which countries do you recommend apart from Canada and Australia
Looking forward to make a long term career in Investment Banking or Investment Management

Any opinions/feedback welcome

Your Scores are Really Impressive, MIT is a tough place but itis wonderful place to Grow you will have wonderful opportunities after completion of the course, i wish you best of luck for your Abroad Education Dream Global Tree

Hi kitty90,

Having an overview of your profile, I can say that you have a decent profile.
It’s great to see that you did your undergrad from a Top 5 French Grand Ecole.

Your low GPA backed with valid reasoning (health concerns/involvement in extracurriculars) can be addressed in the school’s application, luckily french schools are flexible on the GPA front and look at the overall profile (Your GPA would be an issue mostly in UK schools)

Although you don’t have any full-time work-ex, internships are a strong aspect of your profile. Having done internships in 3 distinct nationalities is quite remarkable as it exhibits your diverse professional & international exposure, and schools are usually more receptive to applicants having prior international experience and can act as a big asset. So make sure you highlight the same.

Moreover, your internships in the finance and related areas complement your interest to build a career in the finance field. Thus, these can effectively be showcased in your application.

Further, you should highlight the leadership activities you have pursued while organizing the different events you were involved in the community NGO you were running.


Since you are talking about looking for top MFin programs in France majorly, here are some school suggestions for you- ESSEC, ESCP, EDHEC, & HEC apart from these you can also try INSEAD MiM program.

Hope you could find what you were looking for. However, I believe having an in-depth analysis of your profile will help you decide better.

We would be glad to help and figure out what are the best schools you can target and improve your admissions chances. We had over 26 admits in HEC last year and over 16 to Essec.
Feel free to set up a call with one of our consultants and discuss all your queries.

https://www.mim-essay.com/book-an-appointment-form/

Congratulations on your admission to a grand ecole. Are you studying at a top US school now? If so, your GPA from that school should be marketed as much as possible in your app. If your GPA is lower because of a serious health complication, then you should definitely use the optional essay (most schools have a question to the effect of “is there anything else we should know about you/your academic record) to explain that. Good to also have that validated by a university staff member familiar with your case as well. If you do use this essay, make sure to “get in and get out” speedily -- explain the situation but don’t go into too much detail and don’t feel sorry for yourself. Make it informational and brief.

I’d push back on your claim that you “have no formal work experience” -- 3 summer internships while in undergrad is about as much work experience as anybody has. Some college seniors get into top MS Finance programs with only 1 good summer internship on their resume.

A lot depends on your GMAT/GRE. You’ll want to do as well as possible on that to counteract your low GPA and how that you can handle rigorous, quantitative work. Like you’ll probably need to exceed the school average by one standard deviation or so. Take both the GRE and the GMAT and see which one you favor.

Have you thought of applying to INSEAD? Given your foriegn language ability and work all over the world (India, Argentia, Spain, France, US… this is rare for a college student), you might be really well positioned for a masters there. They tend to take a shine to the french Grand Ecole system and may turn more of a blind eye to a lower GPA out of reverence for the institution itself.

The big gap in this write-up is how you plan to handle your strategic positioning in your essays. What do you want to do post-masters? Why do you need a masters to help you get there? What kind of student will you be in your program (what clubs will you lead, what conferences will you chair, how will you contribute outside the classroom?). Schools care about these things. You need to have “breadcrumbs” linking your past successes and passions, which you can demonstrate based on prior jobs, extracurriculars, hobbies, etc. to your master’s student and post-master’s student goals in order for them to seem imminent achievable but also very ambitious.

If talking to an admissions consultant about school selection and strategic positioning in light of your individual circumstances may be helpful, feel free to reach reach out to claudia @ claudia@admissionado.com.

Hello! Does anybody know where to find information about loans for a Master in Finance?
_________________

Hi all,

Planning to apply for a MSc Finance / Financial Economics / Investment&Wealth Management this year (Sept '21 intake). I have a strong preference for UK or European programs in order to secure a career in London or in the European Union.

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 23

Undergrad Program: BSc Economics in CIDE (Top 1 Economics University in Mexico, or maybe 2 depending on the ranking)
Ranking: first place and graduated with honours
Extra:
-Semester abroad in Lyon2: Master in Money, Banking and Finance
-I speak four languages: Spanish, English & French (advanced), German (intermediate)


GPA: 4
GMAT: Haven’t presented the exam but expecting 680-700

Work Experience: Worked 1 year at the Central Bank of Mexico (of which 6 months were an internship), currently working at BofA in FI/FX Strategy Research.
Teaching: teached Time Series applications in R during a semester at CIDE, as teacher assistant
Research: BSc thesis about finance

Target Schools: HEC, St. Gallen, Imperial, Bocconi, ESSEC, LSE

How are my chances looking?
And how much will my low GMAT may hurt me in these top programs?
Is it worth applying later (last round) to get a higher score in GMAT?
What should be by back up for these schools?

Thank you in advance.

Hi Everyone,

My profile is slightly different in that I'm hoping to switch careers to finance, so I'd really appreciate some feedback on how competitive I'd be for the LBS MFA program.

I realise the program is 'pre-experience' but as you'll see below I don't have any finance work experience as such.

I'm 30 years old and graduated with a Masters in Physics, 2:1 from the University of Manchester in 2013. 'I'm from the UK).

Since then, I've earnt a PGCE and have been teaching physics at high school level, the past two years in Shanghai. This experience isn't finance related, but I'd hope to highlight some soft skills I have developed through teaching.

I have been investing my own portfolio for the last 4 years in equities and commodities.

I have passed the CFA Investment Foundations program and am currently a CFA L1 candidate (hoping to sit in December).

I haven't done any training for the GMAT, but in the three practice tests I sat last week I scored between 770 and 790. As such I'd hope to score very well with some practice.

I should perhaps also mention that my IT skill re quite strong, I have worked on several personal python projects and competed in some kaggle contests to build my data skills.

Again, any feedback on how competitive I would be (and for similar programs at e.g. LSE) would be much appreciated.

Posted from my mobile device

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to apply for a 2021 intake MiF program. My objective is to pursue a Master in Finance from a well-known business school to secure a job in S&T/HF in Europe.

Nationality / Age:
Brazilian / 22 y.o.

GMAT:720 (target - mock test averaging 720)
TOELF:110

Work experience:
Full Time:
1) 1 year - Associate at a Big4 - Investment Banking division (M&A/Restructuring - current job) in Brazil;
Internships:
2) 8 month internship at a brazilian credit Hedge Fund (+1B USD - biggest credit HF in the region);
3) 8 month internship at a swiss startup in London.

Educational Background:
1) Business Management in Brazil (non-target school, but well ranked regionally (top 20 market, below 50 for academic prestige)) - Graduated in 2019
CGPA 3.89 (9.73/10) highest grade of the class
2) Commerce in France (non-target) while in a scholarship Double-degree program (12 months program).
CGPA: 16/20 (French grades are a bit harder to "translate" into GPA).

Extra Curricular:
6 months of NGO work (10 hours per week)
Undergraduate teaching assistant (Corporate Finance) in university.
Won 2 Business Challenges at university level.

Extracurricular Obs*:
During college, I worked with my parents in their family business. For this reason, I didn't participate in extracurriculars activities while in studying. I choose to focus in my studies and helping my parents.

Master program(s) targets:
Oxford, HEC, St. Gallen, LBS, LSE, ETH Zurich (Quant finance), WHU, Bocconi. I'm open to hear suggestions as well.

Thanks for taking the time to evaluate this profile. I’m eager to receive your feedback.

Hi,

Kindly evaluate my profile:

Class X: 80.6%
Class XII: 80.3%
Undergrad Information: B.Tech ( Information Technology) 69%

GMAT:Yet to take, last mock test score - 590
Work experience : 5 years (Currently working into IT company for the last 4 years. Have had diverse roles throughout the tenure. Started with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and then delved into Marketing and finally Sales. Currently on a Techno-commercial role handling sales for the International Market for the B2B business and working with clients across the world as a Advisor. Apart from client interaction, also take care of OEM interactions with Microsoft, AWS etc.

Awards- Have won Best Performer Award 2016, Sales and Operational Excellence Award 2019, Best Performer of the Year 2019.

Post MBA goals: Want to get into the Managerial position with Finance as the specialization.

I am looking to pursue Executive MBA with IIM Ahmedabad or Bangalore. Please evaluate my profile and share your thoughts.

Regards
Swati Mishra

Can anyone give me an info of schools in US that give GRE waiver for MiF programs for CFA charter holder?

Thanks!

Posted from my mobile device

Hi everyone, I am new to the forum and plan to apply for a mix of master in management and master in finance programs this year. I would really appreciate a profile evaluation (also posted this to the MiM profile evaluation page)

School: Top 20 LAC in the States
GPA: 3.84/4.00 (3.95+ after freshman year)
GMAT: 780 in one take (v47 q50)
Major: ECON
Nationality: Chinese
Internship: Big four+Accenture
Target programs:
1. HEC+Yale M2M
2. HEC MIF
3. LBS MiM
4. LSE MFin
5. LSE MiM
6. Oxford MFE
7. INSEAD MiM
8. CBS MSAFA
9. Yale Silver Scholars

My concern lies especially on my school, which has good reputation in the US but may not be heard of by the B-schools in Europe. Does it matter that much if I graduate from a LAC instead of a larger university? I am also worried about the fact that I don’t have much club/volunteer experience.

Posted from my mobile device

The thread in the link below might be helpful for you

https://gmatclub.com/forum/covid-19-upd ... 20667.html

Regards
_________________

Hello everyone.

I'm currently a final year business student at a mediocre business school in Egypt, with a low profile. I intend to apply for the masters in financial analysis degree at London Business School (LBS) next year. Here's my profile, I'd very much appreciate your opinions:

CGPA: 3.4
GMAT: 710 (Q45V42)
CFA Level 1 candidate, taking the exam in February, so fingers crossed )
1 internship at a commercial bank
no extracurricular (nepotism is the reason why )

It doesn't look too good, I'm aware, but it is what it is. With that said, do I stand a chance? If not, is there anything I can improve?
Other suggestions are also welcome. Thanks in advance.

Hi All,

Request you to kindly evaluate my profile:-

Indian Male
Age - 25
Work experience - 3.7 years

Education Background
Graduated in Bachelors of Commerce - 2016 - 71% - Shri Ram College of Commerce (Delhi university)
Cleared CFA level 1 - 2019 - 90th percentile
Company Secretary foundation - 2016 - 89%
Also, have done certification courses from National Stock Exchange India and other certification courses

Professional Experience
1 year in Boutique Investment Banking as an Analyst
2 year in Consulting and Investment Research as a Senior Analyst
10 months in a Financial Services company as a Financial Analyst

Questions:-
Is 680 a good enough gmat score considering the above information for schools such as Judge Business School, IE , Essec, Esade, SDA and other major European schools
I want to work full time the country of my education and probably settle there, which countries do you recommend apart from Canada and Australia
Looking forward to make a long term career in Investment Banking or Investment Management

Any opinions/feedback welcome

welcome to the Club deafheaven11 ,
First of all, 710+ is more than what LBS profile required, so you actually did well there.
If we talk about your academics i am sure they will be good enough as well, the other part of application that is left for you to get some brownie points are Essays, Personal statements, and Interview. So, I will suggest you to start working on that, since LBS R1 Deadlines are ending in early September.

And if you need a brief evaluation of your profile, post it under the following forum to get evaluated from the consultants: https://gmatclub.com/forum/ms-finance-p ... ml?fl=menu
_________________

Hello everyone.

I'm currently a final year business student at a mediocre business school in Egypt, with a low profile. I intend to apply for the masters in financial analysis degree at London Business School (LBS) next year. Here's my profile, I'd very much appreciate your opinions:

CGPA: 3.4
GMAT: 710 (Q45V42)
CFA Level 1 candidate, taking the exam in February, so fingers crossed )
1 internship at a commercial bank
no extracurricular (nepotism is the reason why )
I can code in java, python and VBA, if that's relevant.


It doesn't look too good, I'm aware, but it is what it is. With that said, do I stand a chance? If not, is there anything I can improve?
Other suggestions are also welcome. Thanks in advance.

(Reposted)

Hello everyone,

Honestly, I have never been fond of these types of posts because I understand how difficult it is to evaluate people off of a one-paragraph profile. That being said, I seriously have a lack of confidence which is holding me back from getting my applications ready to go. I would really appreciate your response and for taking the time to review my background.

Firstly, why MSc?
Honestly, I've been 50-50 about applying. I know a lot of you will instantly say I shouldn't go forward unless I'm 100%, but with the pandemic, it has severely altered the job market and it has me uncertain about a lot of things. I have a passion for finance, particularly equity research or S&T , or WM (pretty much anything buy-side that doesn't work 90+ hours). Additionally, as I will mention in my stats section, I go to a state school in New York which is a top state school, but, nonetheless, is still a state school. At my current internship, I'm the only guy at a non-target school and pretty much have 0 chance of competing with Harvard, Wharton, and Stanford applications at top firms. Getting a MSc or MiF could give me the chance to study at a top school for a year or two and allow me to compete with other target school graduates when the job market fully recovers. I hope this makes sense.

Background
I transferred from one school to my current school in my second semester of sophomore year. At my current school, I have a 3.81 GPA (graduating with about 65 credits from this school). At my previous school, I culminated 60 credits with a 3.20 GPA (I know, this might destroy my chances at any top school). I was pretty depressed and did not feel challenged (sounds generic, but it's true) hence my low GPA at this school.
I will be graduating with honors at my current school, likely Summa Cum Laude.

GRE- taking it very soon, expecting 167+ on Quant & 164+ on Verbal, based upon practice exams.

Founded a web design and marketing company, grossed 450k+ in 2 years. This was my Freshman/Sophomore year of university. Coordinated a team of six off-shore developers as well as a product marketing team, completing over 92 small to medium scale projects.
In my junior year, I started day trading equity and options. Turned about 25k into 100k in about 8 months. Still managing this portfolio currently, though I will begin full-time day trading again once school starts.
This summer, I interned for a boutique hedge fund in NYC. I did equity and economic research for the fund.
Vice President of a 300+ member Investment association at my college
Senior portfolio analyst at my previous school's investment fund
Honors thesis papers in the process of being written
One LOR will be the MD of the fund I'm working at.
Not sure if this helps but I'm a first-gen student and basically grew up in poverty throughout my childhood. I am white, but my father is Irish and my mom is Latino and Native American (weird, I know).


The schools I'm looking at. Please excuse the large range of schools.
Columbia University MFE
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
University of Chicago (Booth)
Harvard (not even sure if this would work because I believe it would have to be the 2+2 program)
Princeton
NYU Stern's Quant Finance Program (not ideal because it's half in Shanghai)
Also, LSE and Oxford but these schools are also a reach.

Main question: Am I out of my mind to consider applying to these schools with my subpar GPA?

Any bit of advice is appreciated. You can tear my stats apart, no hard feelings.
I really am looking to assess my options and any suggestions could help better my chances at top masters programs.
Thank you again.