Hello everyone!
I am planning to apply to several MFin/MiM/MS this winter/spring. I am in kind of a weird spot since I have 2 years of full-time work experience. I could have worked for 1-2 years more and try to apply for an MBA, but I would like to take a break from the professional life and experience the US/UK a bit. I still want to go for a FT MBA/PT MBA/EMBA down the road, but that’s not relevant for this discussion. Please help evaluate my profile, and beware the long post!
Background:
27, male, Southeast Asian (planning to get an MBA at 32-ish, or at 36-ish if I go for EMBA)
Education:
1. UG: Top 120-150 university according to the QS, in Northern Europe. BSc in Economics. GPA: 3.49/4 (I should have studied harder, but I was too focused on prepping for my internships).
2. GMAT: 730 (just make the cut at some programs. Should I aim for 750-770?)
Work experience:
1. 0.5 years (recently joined) at a Big 4 company (Deal Advisory). Assisting companies in performing due diligence for their M&A deals.
2. 1.5 years at another Big 4 company (also in Deal Advisory). Supported companies in developing financial models and performing valuations for M&A and capital raising purposes. Promoted to Senior Associate after 1 year.
3. 2nd internship: M&A at a Big 4 company, closed one deal during the internship.
4. 1st internship: Risk Advisory at a Big 4 company (not again!).
Extracurricular activities:
1. Sports at work: 1st prize in intra-firm, five-a-side soccer tournament; represented my Big 4 company in 2 soccer tournaments at the city level
2. Sports at university: played soccer for the school team. Helped the captain in organizing weekly trainings and friendly matches.
3. Others: founded an investment club at my university and recruited 12 members. We used a simulated investment fund to make investments. Results: 5% gain over 3 months, which was 2% higher than the S&P500 during the same period
4. 5 math prizes (bronze/silver) at various national math competitions in Asia/Australia – this was during high school so I’m not sure if it is still relevant.
Other relevant information
1. Submitted a CV for review to LBS (Master of Finance) and Cambridge (Master of Finance) and got a nod from both programs to apply. Not sure if that’s a big deal
2. LoR: 3 strong recommendation letters from work from 3 Directors. 2 professors also agreed to refer me, but I don’t think their recommendation will be strong
Career path post-graduation
In decreasing order of preference: BB banks M&A/coverage groups > MBB > other front office roles at BB banks (asset management, debt capital market, equity capital market, corporate banking etc.) and asset management firms/hedge funds. Looking to work in either NYC/London (slight preference for NYC).
Target programs
Europe
1. Oxford (Said) – MSc Financial Economics
2. Cambridge (Judge) – Master of Finance
3. LSE – MSc Finance + MSc Accounting & Finance
4. LBS – Masters in Financial Analysis. I wrote up there that I submitted a CV review to the Masters in Finance program, but I learned that the average work experience is 6 years. Therefore, I’m going to play it safer and go with the MFA program
5. INSEAD – Master in Management (not sure if I should apply to this program, but their curriculum looks very interesting - where I get to study in many of their campuses).
US
1. MIT (Sloan) – Master of Finance
2. Stanford – MS Management Science and Engineering
3. Columbia (CBS) – MS Accounting and Fundamental Analysis
4. Yale (SOM) – MMS Asset Management
5. Duke (Fuqua) – Master in Quantitative Management (not a feeder to finance jobs but