MSF Class of 2020

You will ge into Vandy, Duke and BC with those stats. Round your GPA to a 3.2 and emphasize your major GPA. Work experience will be appreciated by Vandy and having anything IB will help you out.

UVA MS Commerce excludes finance majors. You can look at their Global Commerce program. Duke - great brand, but I would probably avoid the MSM. Too general. Vandy is the clear winner of the options available to you.

Hey Masaba0001,

A proper evaluation requires an understanding of your extracurricular, Academics and professional exploits. We will need details on the same to give you a comprehensive evaluation. I would suggest you to send us over the respective data for the same at info@mim-essay.com so we can better evaluate your profile.

As for the details you have provided here, I would like to say that you have a quite decent profile.

Starting off with your academic background, You have a pretty decent GPA and you have majored in Finance which again showcases that you have a strong passion for finance and have taken steps towards building a strong foundational base in it.

Your GMAT score is also good and displays your strong academic capabilities.

You have a relevant work experience as well, something that business schools definitely appreciate. Here you can highlight your strengths by talking about the kind of projects you undertook, the kind of activities you partook in and how you created a positive impact by being a part of the company.

You haven’t mentioned any details about your extracurricular activities. Extracurricular activities are really important as they showcase that you have a holistically developed profile and a proactive attitude.

Now coming on to the schools that you have mentioned. The schools you have mentioned fall into the upper competitive category and have an acceptance rate of 20-30%. A good approach in this scenario would be to target a mix of schools that fall into upper competitive or dream schools, competitive and safe categories. As yes, there are indeed better programs out there.

In the upper competitive category you can target schools such as UC San Diego. USC Marshall, Princeton, Duke, University of Minnesota etc. In the competitive category you can target schools such as UT Dallas, University of Buffalo, Rutgers, Babson Etc.

When it comes to scholarships, yes there is a chance of bagging one. You can target merit based or need based scholarships, as per your profile and requirements. For scholarships, the majority of chances depend on the quality of the application you submit for them. Strong applications increase the chances of getting scholarships by ten folds. So do make sure to put a lot of time and effort in your applications.

Hope this helps.

If you want to get a deeper insight into your profile and your selection chances at your target schools, you can check out this free profile evaluation tool,

https://www.mim-essay.com/profile-evaluation/

Hey, thanks for the response! WUSTL is just so expensive though. Can’t believe that $91K price tag!
Also, I mailed Boston’s admissions team about their employment statistics. They don’t look very good for international students. So, I am a bit sceptical.
Anyway what about Brandeis and Vanderbilt?

Hey, thank you for replying. The information is really helpful.
I do have ECs, forgot to mention. I was the President of my college’s placement cell for 2 years and the statistics improved significantly by the time my term was over.

Yeah, WUSTL's cost is stupid. I would apply, get into schools and be frank with them. Cost is an issue. All US colleges are having major financial issues. Cutting spending across the board. A paying student is a huge win at any tuition level. I would simply say you cannot afford WUSTL and you have cheaper options. You'd be surprised what schools can do when you just lay out the dollars and cents to them.

When I did my MSF the tuition was $28K. The prices I see nowadays are crazy considering the job prospects. Much needed realism is far overdue.

Hey throwaway2353,

A proper evaluation requires an understanding of your extracurricular, Academics and professional exploits. We will need details on the same to give you a comprehensive evaluation. I would suggest you to send us over the respective data for the same at info@mim-essay.com, so we can better evaluate your profile.

Looking at the details you have provided here, I would say that you have a decent profile. I also see you are strongly inclined towards programs in the field of finance and are looking to build a career in finance.

Starting off with your academic background, You have a pretty decent GPA and you have majored in Finance which again showcases that you have a strong passion for finance and have taken steps towards building a strong foundational base in it. While the brand of your college is pretty decent, you will be competing against applicants from the top schools of your country so it might be a slight drawback. However, you could always overpower it by showing how you have learned new skills and enriched your experiences in your own college.

Your GMAT score is great and displays your strong academic capabilities.

You have one internship in the field of finance, something that business schools definitely appreciate. Here you can highlight your strengths by talking about the kind of projects you undertook, the kind of activities you partook in and how you created a positive impact by being a part of the company. As for the “peer tutor”, it demonstrates your leadership skills and clarity of concepts, which act as proof of your academic prowess.

Coming to the courses you have taken up in finance, demonstrating your reasons to take those courses and what learnings you derived from these courses could help strengthen your application to the masters in finance programs.

You haven’t mentioned any details about your extracurricular activities. Extracurricular activities are really important as they showcase that you have a holistically developed profile and a proactive attitude. Since you are yet to graduate you could bolster this aspect of your profile by getting involved in clubs and activities.

Now coming on to the schools that you have mentioned. The schools you have mentioned fall into the competitive category and have an acceptance rate of 50-60%. A good approach in this scenario would be to target a mix of schools that fall into upper competitive or dream schools, competitive and safe categories.

For the MSF in the upper competitive category you can target schools such as

-UC San Diego,
-Duke,
-Fordham,
-Boston University,
-Babson

In the competitive category you can target schools such as

-UT Dallas,
-University of Buffalo,
-Rutgers,

For MIM the school would be :

Upper competitive : University of Illinois, USC Marshall, Princeton, Duke, Fordham, Texas Mc Combs.
Competitive : Cox, University of Florida, Northeastern University
Safe : George Mason, Thunderbird, Hult

You would have a 40-50% chance of getting admit from the schools in the dream category and a 60-70% chance from the schools in the competitive category. To increase your chances of getting admitted at these schools you would need to ensure that you have a very strong application to back your profile. You need to showcase your journey, what makes you different from your peers and how you are a great value addition to the school.

Hence, if you’re planning to apply for the 2021 intake, you can check our flagship service- All-In-One Solution to see how we could assist you in preparing a polished application and highlighting your strengths so that you have a shot at these and even better schools.

Link to our All-In-One Solution-

https://www.mim-essay.com/mim-all-in-one

Here, you can even Book a Free Consulting call to connect with one of our consultants.

Thank you so much for the advice!

Hi, I'm from Singapore and would really appreciate some feedback on my profile. I'm planning to apply for MS Finance in USA for Fall 2021 intake.

My GMAT score is just average 650 (Q45/V34). GPA is around 3.28/4. However I do have 4 years of working experience in various specialised fields in Finance.
- 1.5 years in Audit in a Big 4 Accounting Firm
- 1 year in FP&A in a fast-expanding regional e-commerce startup
- Current ~ 1.5 years in Credit Risk Analysis in a US Tech MNC.

I also have a Chartered Accountant Certificate in Singapore and graduated with double degrees in Accountancy and Business Management (Finance).

My target schools are Fordham, University of Rochester, Purdue, Ohio State Fisher College, University of Maryland, Syracuse, Brandeis etc. Please let me know my chances of getting in these schools or what are the safe schools I can target. Thanks very much!

GMAT is OK. Obviously, ESL aspect of your profile is what is hurting you. Assuming your verbal was higher you'd be 700's. I would imagine schools will focus on your TOFEL because of this. Work experience is good. GPA is another "weak" aspect. Like a 3.3 doesn't really hurt or help you. Overall, your application looks like a lot I see from overseas. Nice, work experience, ok scores.

All the schools you listed would be good schools to apply with your profile. I'd say OSU is the stretch, but they have a good program. Rochester as well. Outside of these schools, pick programs in or very close to major US cities. This is where you can find a job as well as other resources. Syracuse is in the middle of nowhere (I went there for UG). Fordham would be better since it is close to NYC (although right now, who knows if that is a benefit). Maryland/JHU would be good. Close to DC/Baltimore. Purdue, great brand and name. I would look at UIUC.

Plug the school into a map and see how close to a major city they are. That is where you will be able to intern, find a job, find other ways to gain experience or education.

Hope this helps.

Hi MSFHQ,

Thanks for your suggestions. Might do a retake of GMAT given there's still time and work on the verbal. Also hope to improve my quant score since I'm applying to Finance programs.

Would definitely hope to go to a major city like Chicago, New York, DC etc, so will consider the locations carefully.

Just a question that since my profile is like many international applicants with just average GMAT and GPA, I guess focusing on work experience, extra curriculars and other achievements like certifications would be good to stand out. However some MS finance are pre-experience programs, and I don't want to be directed towards an MBA. Do you have any advice how to navigate this in my SOPs? Thanks!

Hey zzxs,

You seem ambitious about pursuing a career in finance. If you properly portray your passion for finance in your application, schools will be interested in this.

As far as the profile is concerned, your academic background in the field of finance works in your favor as for the MFin programs schools tend to pick applicants with relevant experience in the field of finance. Moreover, your GPA is also decent, which showcases your academic prowess. While your grades do play an important part, your extracurricular activities and your other endeavors matter as well because AdComs are looking for applicants with holistically developed profiles.

As for your extracurricular activities, your certification as a Chartered Accountant showcases your strong interest in finance and how you have been taking that forward. Though, to be clear, B-schools are looking for applicants that are future leaders and have experiences in volunteering activities or social initiatives. Hence, it is essential to shed some light on the endeavours you have taken up at any clubs, associations, sports, fest or events you managed or participated in during your undergrad. Volunteering initiatives, certifications or internships undertaken during the course of your study would also count towards your extracurricular initiatives. Thus, you should dig deeper into this aspect and bring out varied skills in your profile or seek to build in this area if the need be. Furthermore , to improve your profile, you could get involved in CSR activities to bolster your extracurriculars and build a holistic profile.

As for your GMAT while your overall score is decent, your Quant is slightly on the lower end and for finance courses it is one of the main referencing points. I would recommend that you retake the GMAT and aim for an overall score of 690 and above with a Quant score of 50 to increase your chances at the top business schools. If you aren’t open to retaking the exam.to cover it up, make sure you properly highlight the internships and the extracurricular related to finance during your undergraduate. Do keep in mind that it is imperative to highlight your passion for the field of finance


As far as your work experience goes you have a big brand on your CV as well as extensive experience in the field of finance in varied roles which definitely acts in your favour, since MS in Finance is a specialized masters and AdComs are looking for applicants with relevant experience in the field of finance. You ought to explain and highlight the major projects of your work and how these experiences helped to develop and further groom your skills and knowledge. Highlight why you chose these firms, how you have gone beyond the role, any initiatives you took and any kind of impact created to establish a connection with your goals and portray the knowledge gained from these experiences.

All the schools you are targeting Fordham, University of Rochester, Purdue come under the dream category whereas Ohio State Fisher College, University of Maryland, Syracuse, Brandeis comes under the competitive category. Looking at your profile you have a 50% chance of getting admitted to the schools in the dream category and an 70% chance of getting admitted in the schools in the competitive category.

Apart from your targeted list Hult, George Mason and Thunderbird are some other schools in the Safe category that you can target.

While you have a competitive profile, to increase your chances of getting admitted at these schools you would need to ensure that you have a very strong application (consisting of - Essays, LORs and Resume) to back your profile. You need to showcase your journey, what makes you different from your peers and how you are a great value addition to the school. As a matter of fact, a strong application increases your chances of acceptance by up to 30%.

On this note, if you are looking to target the top B-schools and want to prepare a strong application that would increase your chances by at least 3 times, you can check our comprehensive all in one solution that has helped thousands of applicants get into their dream schools worldwide.

Link to our All-In-One Solution-

https://www.mim-essay.com/mim-all-in-one

Here, you can even Book a Free Consulting call to connect with one of our consultants.

Hope this helped!

So you already have significant experience. This will hurt you for pre-experience MSF programs, but help you for the experienced programs as they will focus on your work experience and not as much on your scores. For Chicago - Notre Dame is probably the best PT program in a major city. Boston College, same story. NYC - Baruch is your best bet. I would focus on working and doing a PT program. Lower opportunity cost. Your GPA and GMAT are fine for the PT programs. The top full time programs it might not cut it though.

Hi All,

I am looking to pursue MSF (STEM) degree from USA. I am a data scientist with 3 years of experience. Skilled in machine learning, NLP and other advanced statistical techniques. I have proficiency in technical tools such as Excel, Python, R, SQL, MATLAB, C. Passionate about working in investment management industry and want to use MSF degree to develop my financial knowledge ( Worked on the basics of accounting, financial markets, financial modeling through online courses)

Undergrad: B.Tech from top 15 college in India. CGPA (9/10).
GMAT: 710 (Q50)
TOEFL:110

Current Target Schools : Bentley, Vanderbilt, UCLA Anderson, Texas McCombs, University of Illinois.

Would like to know any other schools that have a good program and my chances at the above mentioned.