YuzhouHuang wrote:
Hello everyone,
I am a 24 year old Chinese Canadian male born in Shanghai. My family relocated to Vancouver when I was 6. I then went to an international High School in Shanghai and to UC Davis in the states. I speak fluent English and Mandarin Chinese and Shanghainese.
GPA(Double Major in Economics and History):3.137-Just checked it...Definitely my weak point
Reportable scores :700(48q 38v 8IR) and 710(50q 37v 2IR)-Do not know How I got a 2 in IR...
Work Experience: I have been working as a junior financial analyst in the secondary market division of a Chinese Hedge/Asset management Fund for a year now. This is the proudest aspect of my portfolio. I also have miscellaneous experience as an amateur kickboxer and ...failed stand up comedian after graduation. I also managed a personal friend's entertainment career(I negotiated deals on her behalf making metrics to prove her story to pretty good success). I also worked have exp working at a Californian start-up as a business analyst and in Private Equity as a wealth manager(It was basically sales).
Letters of Rec: I have 1 letter from my history professor and 2 letters from work(1 from portfolio manager, 1 from senior analyst)
My goal is to graduate from an American school and use the OPT program to hopefully work in IB before I transition(fingers crossed) into PE.
My top choice is MIT's MSF but I think my credentials are a little bit soft. I genuinely love their program. I especially think the flexibility in both the Financial Engineering and Corporate finance side suits me quite well. I'd like go down the corporate finance side but still learn about the quantitative methods used to broaden my financial knowledge and breadth of understanding.
I've also heard very good things about Vanderbilt, Rochester, WUSTL, and Brandeis and Boston College and I understand they're directly corporate finance. I know all of these are respectable programs but my research into these schools is a little limited so I am not too confident in my own assessment. My questions are:
1.What're my chances at MIT's MSF with my internationalist background and grades? Is it worth a shot?
2.What other schools should I look into right now if I want to apply this coming January? What would be a good fit?
I realize it may be a long shot to MIT, but I really do love their program and think its rather aptly with my goals.
Please be nice...I am sensitive right now....
Thank you guys so much.
I think MIT is a long shot. Apply since you really want to, but I wouldn't expect to get in. GPA is pretty low and GMAT is not great by their standards. If you were domestic, I would say you might have a better shot, but being international will make it harder.
You can get into WUSTL, Rochester, Vanderbilt, etc. GMAT is all very good for those programs. GPA is still weaker, but not a disaster. Good work experience as well.
Hope this helps.