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

Hey Callum97,

You have a fair GPA and great GMAT score and your undergraduate college being one of the top 10 in the country certainly adds to it.
Properly justifying why your performance dipped during the first and second year of your undergraduate program (explaining your circumstances and how they had an impact) would help to make your profile better.
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.


The internship experience you have adds a great brand on your CV which definitely works in your favor. Since your role was in the field of sales and trading you would have to elaborate and showcase how you chose projects and roles directed towards the finance aspect. It would add on to your profile and showcase how you have been dedicated towards this field.

Apart from this you could take up certifications in the field of finance like CFA or FRM to showcase your interest in the field of management. Also showcasing any volunteering or CSR activities that you participated in during your work experience would highlight your application. If you do not have any yet you should definitely work with a social initiative or an NGO as it would showcase your social initiative and your drive to give back to society.

Your target schools MIT, Princeton and Columbia all come under the dream category.

Since, dream schools have a very stringent acceptance rate of 12-15%, you need to target a mix of dream, competitive and safe schools. Apart from your targeted list there are some other schools that you can target as well :

Dream : NYU Stern, USC Marshall, Boston Questorm
Competitive : University of Washington, Fordham, Ohio State, Ohio Fisher, University of Minnesota
Safe : EDHEC, IESE

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.

Hey Nelly98,

I would like to start off by saying that you have a pretty decent profile.

As you have a strong inclination towards a Master’s in finance, anything pertaining to the finance field helps convey your keen interest in the program.

Beginning with academics, your GPA of 3.6 is pretty good as it showcases your strong academic abilities. Not just this, a relevant academic experience, major in banking, complements your intent to undertake the Mfin program.

Also, your GMAT score of 700 is a great indicator of your academic capabilities.
Although your GMAT score in the Quant section is slightly low, you need not worry as your overall score is great. With a well-drafted application, you would be able to overcome this concern.

Further, your work experience in the banking/finance field will certainly work in your favor. However, with adequate emphasis on your roles and responsibilities you can effectively cover up the essentials of a meticulous application. Since your work-ex lacks on the note of big brand names, you can easily negate that by illustrating the kind of the projects you undertook, the impact you created in your position, and how you went above and beyond in your roles and built a strong foundational base in finance.

Your extracurricular seem pretty decent as well. You can talk about the initiatives you took while holding the position of CR in your university and the impact you could create. I am guessing that Fridays for future Berlin is a volunteer opportunity, which again showcases the empathetic side of your personality and how you have a proactive attitude towards life.

Your international exchange experience also gives your profile a boost as it displays your international exposure and how well you have performed in a foreign setting and gained invaluable experience.

My suggestion to you would be to work on your extracurriculars as business schools look for well-rounded candidates with holistic profiles. You can take up certifications in finance such as CFA, FRM, and stock exchange certificates. You can also take up leadership roles by associating with NGOs and voluntary organizations where you can lead projects and create a substantial impact.

You can also take up an internship in any of the Big 4 or any quality internship in the field of finance, as it would further help you strengthen your application.

Going by the schools you wish to target, they fall into the following categories:

Dream: HEC, Cambridge, Imperial, Oxford, and LSE come under the dream category. In the sense that you have 40-50% chances of getting into these schools. Furthermore, these schools require a strong extracurricular portion as they look for well-rounded candidates and are stringent with their admission process.

Competitive: Other schools such as Bocconi, HSG, Mannheim, and SSE fall under the competitive category and you have 60-70% chance of getting into them.

Thus, the major chances of getting into these schools depends on the quality of your application materials. So, it’s important to ensure that your application is top-notch and sets you apart from your competition.

As you are in the early stages of deciding your ideal schools, you can book a FREE Consultation Call with our expert consultants who would help you brainstorm the best course of action based on your profile and career plan.

Link to book a FREE Consultation Call with us-

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

Hey tejasd22,

First, since you haven’t shared much of your profile details, it’s slightly difficult to thoroughly evaluate your profile and give suggestions.

However, based on the details provided, I’d say that you won’t be able to target LSE and Imperial. Imperial requires a minimum GPA of 8. And almost all the B-schools in the UK have a minimum eligibility requirement of a GPA around 7 or above. So, you can’t really target these schools.
But there are several other schools and programs that you can target.

Your GMAT score of 600 is also on the lower side. A score anywhere above 690 is considered a good GMAT score, so if you want to target top business schools its ideal to apply with a higher GMAT. Thus, you must target a score of 690 or above.

On the professional front, you have 2 years of work experience in the IT industry. And finance-related masters programs usually require a relevant work experience, hence you won’t qualify for MFin programs. But you can definitely target the MIM program. The MIM program is targeted towards applicants with 0-2 years of work experience, hence it can be a suitable program for you.

As you haven’t made a mention any of your extracurricular activities, you must take note of the fact that B-schools are highly inclined towards applicants with holistic profiles. So, if you don’t have any significant extracurricular experiences, you can build on it by taking up some volunteering activities and even take up some certification courses.
Also, targeting schools in the dream category would be a long shot for you. Nonetheless, with a strongly built profile you can target schools such as FSM, UCD, EDHEC, Cranfield, etc.

With inadequate details in hand, it’s vague to give suggestions. So, I would suggest you to take up a FREE Counseling Session with us, where our professional consultants would thoroughly evaluate your profile and give you suggestions as to which schools you can target and the best course of action for you.

Link to book a FREE Consultation Call with us-

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

Hi everyone!

I hope you are well. I just wanted to ask you to evaluate my profile and tell me what are the chances of getting in one of the following MFin programmes:

- ESSEC
- HEC
- EDHEC
- Bocconi
- LSE
- ESCP


My profile:

- 21 y.o. Italian
- 3rd Year BSc Political Economy student at KCL (on track for a 1st/ 4.0 GPA)
- Taken modules like Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Advanced Macroeconomics, Mathematics for Economics,
Econometrics etc.
- Undergraduate Research Fellow
- Worked as research assistant and research intern at a research institute (field of linguistic and computational
analysis)
- Took admin roles (secretary, analyst and VP) in different Uni societies (Asset Management, Financing Group Society,
Political Economy)
- GMAT 680 (Q43, V40); should I retake it?

Hello everyone,

I am currently working as a Junior Data Analyst with the Economist Intelligence Unit, I am applying for a few pre-experience Mfin programs (I have less than 2 years experience). I have a few programs that interest me, but not sure about my chances, I would like to get your point of view about it.

Profile:
Undergrad: 8.08GPA (graduated top 10%is of class - 120 batch size) Bachelors with Honours in Economics and minor in Mathematics from the top university in my country
GRE 320 (163-Quant, 157-verbal) I know it isn't a great score and I will retake it if the school requires but I do not have the time currently.
6-month finance Intern with the Govt. of India (NITI Aayog) worked on projects on national importance like startegic disinvestment of public enterprises.
I am currently working as Junior Data Analyst and my role broadly includes analysing worldwide macroeconomic and financial data in order to prepare financial models for forecasting indicators. Very quant heavy and analytical work.

Programs that I targeting -
London Business School (MFA)
London School of Economics (MSc Finance)
HEC Paris (Msc International Finance)
Oxford (MFE)
UCL (MSc Finance)

What do you guys think? Any chance of getting into any of these programs? Also please let me know if there are some other things I can do to improve my profile.

Thank you guys so much! I appreciate the help!

Hey guys. I'm planning to apply to MFin as well as MAccFin in the first application round. How do you consider my chances?

Nationality: German
Age: 22
Choice Schools: HSG, Imperial, Bocconi, HEC, LBS, IE, LSE, SSE
Course: MSc Finance / MSc Accounting and Finance
GPA: 3.7/4 (top 10%)
GRE: 321 (Quant 165, Verbal 156) equals 670 GMAT ( Q47, V33)
Work Experience: One internship at Corporate Finance/ Transaction Advisory (not Big4 but part of the 10 biggest players in Germany)
Undergrad: One of the 11 german "elite" universities in Economics and exchange year in Colombia
ECs: Organized a Model United Nations at my university together with others, One year of volunteering in Dominican Republic, Worked as a Tutor for Maths for Economists
Others: I did many statistics/econometrics classes and know how to do some Data Analytics using R


So what schools do you guys think I should apply at? Especially if i want to go into Investment Banking or Consulting.

Thanks in advance.

Hello everyone,

I am currently working as a Junior Data Analyst with the Economist Intelligence Unit, I am applying for a few pre-experience Mfin programs (I have less than 2 years experience). I have a few programs that interest me, but not sure about my chances, I would like to get your point of view about it.

Profile:
Undergrad: 8.08GPA (graduated top 10%is of class - 120 batch size) Bachelors with Honours in Economics and minor in Mathematics from the top university in my country
GRE 320 (163-Quant, 157-verbal) I know it isn't a great score and I will retake it if the school requires but I do not have the time currently.
6-month finance Intern with the Govt. of India (NITI Aayog) worked on projects on national importance like startegic disinvestment of public enterprises.
I am currently working as Junior Data Analyst and my role broadly includes analysing worldwide macroeconomic and financial data in order to prepare financial models for forecasting indicators. Very quant heavy and analytical work.

Programs that I targeting -
London Business School (MFA)
London School of Economics (MSc Finance)
HEC Paris (Msc International Finance)
Oxford (MFE)
UCL (MSc Finance)

What do you guys think? Any chance of getting into any of these programs? Also please let me know if there are some other things I can do to improve my profile.

Thank you guys so much! I appreciate the help!

h

Hey guys. Would be great to hear your views on my chances for the schools I'm aiming for. Thank you!

Background and nationality: 20 year old, Italian
Programs: Said MFE, LBS MFA, LSE MFin, HEC MIF, Bocconi MFin. Will be applying to Jan deadlines
Undergrad Information: Studying law at top 5 UK uni, expecting mid 2:1. Also, the professional body I am registered with to become a chartered accountant (see additional info below) offers its students the opportunity to get a degree from Oxford Brookes University in Applied Accounting upon completion of certain exams. Not sure how much weight this carries over and above the chartered accountant qualification though.
GMAT: based on diagnostics am expecting/hoping 750+, will be taking exam in December. I think I might just be able to hit a q50 if I prep enough.
Work experience: have only had two internships at corporate law firms, nothing in finance
ECs: virtually nothing of note, I only play some sports recreationally... will do anything to improve this part of my profile by jan so any recommendations are welcome!
Additional info: I am also studying to become a Chartered Accountant (ACCA) alongside university and have completed various modules related to financial reporting and financial management with relatively high scores. In addition to English, I speak Italian, French and Hindi. Not sure how much languages matter though.

I'm basically pretty worried about my lack of work experience. Even though the programs I'm applying to are pre-experience, it seems that a lot of my peers have substantial work experience in this area. I am also worried about my weak ECs section.

Would really appreciate any advice on how to improve my profile. Please be brutally honest - thanks again!

Hey nabeeldochki,

You have a pretty decent profile.

Your First class Degree from Oxford Brooks does showcase your academic prowess. Moreover, your undergraduate program of Applied accountancy compliments your core interest in finance.

Also, your work experience as an Equity Analyst definitely showcases your inclination towards the field of finance. You haven’t mentioned the company name but in case it’s not a global brand, you would be required to focus on the kind of roles you have undertaken, the projects you undertook, and the positive impact you were able to create during your stint. Thus, effectively showcasing your work ex can help you establish in the minds of the admission committee that you are no less than a Big 4 candidate.

CFA certificates will act as an add-on to your profile. This certification greatly conveys your passion for finance and a proactive attitude towards learning and advancing your skills.

Another significant aspect that schools focus on is extracurricular activities. So you would be required to elucidate your pro activeness in extracurricular and other initiatives. In case you don’t have any, it's recommended to work upon the same to build a holistic profile. You can take up volunteering work at local shelters or more certifications in the field of finance, to begin with.

Your target score of 700 is a good score and would not only be adept in displaying your academic prowess but would also open the doors for most of the top business programs for you. Although, I’d like to mention here that HEC is a pretty competitive school, so you need to make sure that you work hard on your application and try to ace every part of the same.

Given your school choices, Both HEC and LBS come under the dream category and are very stringent with their application process. As they only have an 8-15% acceptance rate, it becomes imperative to not only have a holistically developed profile but to also compliment it with strong application documents that would help you highlight the strong suits of your profile as well as smooth over any flaws by providing apt justifications.

Moreover, while applying to international business schools we recommend the strategy of applying to a mixed bunch of schools from the dream, competitive, and safe category.

In the dream category, you can apply to schools such as LSE, Oxford, Ross School Michigan, Princeton, MIT, etc.
In the competitive category, you can target ESSEC, ESCP, Schulich, Cass Business school, etc.
In the safe category, you can apply to EDHEC and IESE.

As you are still in the early stages of your application process, you might be interested in seeking expert help in your application process. Hence, I would suggest you take up our FREE consultation call where we can help you to figure out the best course of action for you to realize your goals.

Link for the FREE Consultation call-

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

Hey apsk06,


You have a pretty decent profile.

Your GPA of 7.35 is quite decent. You have a strong educational background and have graduated from a top-ranking institution- IIT,. Your core interest in Finance while majoring in Engineering can serve as the focal point in your application by highlighting your transition from engineering to finance.

Speaking of your work experience, you have relevant work experience in the field of finance which would work in your favor as schools appreciate relevant work experience. Here, you should focus on the quality of your work, the positive impact you created, and how you went above and beyond and bloomed in the role. Moreover, showcasing the financial acumen you gained from your role would establish your academic prowess in front of the admission committee.

Another significant aspect that schools focus on is extracurricular activities as it showcases a holistically developed profile. Your 5-year diploma in tabla and involvement in the sports serve as a testament to your creative and leadership skills. Your achievements in these fields when complemented with the takeaways such as soft skills, headstrong attitude, and learning experiences would further help strengthen your profile. You have several NSS activities as well that act as a medium for you to establish a connection between your empathy and your analytical skills. Here you can draw a connection between the two by talking about the process of the work you undertook, the teams you led and how you led them, and finally the impact you created through these endeavors.

As you are yet to give your GMAT, I would recommend you to target a score between the range of 690-710 as it would not only serve as further proof to your academic capabilities but also open the doors for you to target several top business schools.

Even though you have a decent profile, there seems to be a disconnect between your passion for finance and your current undertakings. Hence, to bridge that gap I’d recommend you to take further certifications such as CFA and FRM or MOOC courses in Finance.

Given your school choices, LBS and LSE fall under the dream category whereas IE Business school is a competitive school. As these schools have a stringent acceptance rate, you’d have 40-50% chance of getting into dream schools while roughly around 70% chances of winning an admit from schools in the competitive category. Hence, while applying to business schools, a better strategy is to target a mixed bunch of schools from the dream, competitive, and safe category.

For the dream category you can target HEC, Duke, Cornell, Michigan etc.
For the competitive category you can target ESSEC, ESCP, FSFM, Esade Etc.
As for the safe category you can target SKEMA, EDHEC, ESMT etc.

All in all, You have a pretty decent profile and to compliment that you need a strong application that highlights all your strong suits, gives reasoning for the weaknesses, and displays how you’d be a good addition to the cohort.

Lastly, if you wish to seek more personalized assistance throughout the entire journey of applying to your dream schools, you can check out our comprehensive All-in-one service designed to provide you support at every step of your application process. Adhering to this comprehensive process, last year we helped applicants get into their dream schools such as LBS(35+ admits), LSE (20+ admits), and ESCP (55+ admits)!

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Hey TraMy,

You have a pretty decent profile.

To start with the strong suits of your profile, your academic background is quite decent. Your GPA of 8.05/10 is pretty impressive and showcases your academic prowess and capabilities.
Another significant aspect that schools focus is on extracurricular activities. So you would be required to elucidate your pro activeness in extracurricular and other initiatives. In case you don’t have any, it's recommended to work upon the same to build a holistic profile. You can take up volunteering work at local shelters or certifications in the field of finance or build upon the extracurriculars you participated in during your UG - clubs, associations, competitions, etc.

You have a decent work experience as well. Here you should be highlighting your roles, key projects you undertook, your learning takeaways and how you bloomed into the role. These attributes would help you display your leadership skills and key strengths, thus differentiating you from your peers

Your GMAT score is indeed on the lower side and as you are targeting a specialised program of Mfin. I would recommend you to raise the score to 650 to 680. Your Quant score however is quite decent and only needs to be improved by 3-4 points to highlight your quant abilities to succeed in the field of finance.


Even though you have a quite decent profile, there seems to be a disconnect between your current experiences and future goals. Your work experience and education background are more catered towards the field of marketing hence it would be important for you to showcase a passion for finance by talking about what prompted you to get into the field.

Furthermore, as there is no continuing theme of finance in your profile i would suggest you to take up finance certifications such as FRM and CFA and other MOOC courses to build up your skills and subsequently showcase your passion for finance. You can also take up an internship in the field of finance at preferably one of the big brands to further display your financial acumen and skills.

Moreover, you should check the IELTS waiver option with your target schools as a lot of schools have a waiver of IELTS for the candidates who have completed their education in the English language.

Given your school choice, NUS is an upper-competitive school which means that you have 50-60% chances of getting in the program. To get admitted to a competitive program such as Mfin you need to have a holistically developed profile coupled with a strong application which highlights all of your strengths and provides apt justifications for any flaws in the profile.

Application holds a 30% weightage in any application process and serves as the window for the admission committee to evaluate and assess your candidature. Hence, it is incredibly important to have a strong application that sets you apart from the competition.

Due to the lack of adequate information, providing any further suggestions won’t be fruitful. Hence, I would recommend you to take our FREE Profile evaluation to figure out your strengths, weaknesses and where you stand amongst your competitors. It would further provide you with a personalized list of schools you should target based on your profile.


LINK to the FREE Profile Evaluation-
https://www.mim-essay.com/profile-evaluation/


Hope this helped!

Hey roomonfire,

Your academic background is quite strong and interesting. Your good scores and GPA coupled with the international exposure you gained during your undergrad showcases your stellar academic capabilities. Moreover, receiving a 40% internship to study in France further sets your profile apart by authenticating your academic skills.

You have undertaken a fair share of extracurricular activities. Your market research, involvement in group endeavors and debate competitions highlight your analytical skills, proactive attitude and leadership skills.

Speaking of your work experience, you have relevant work experience in the field of finance which would work in your favor as schools appreciate relevant work experience. Your profile lacks big brand names, but you can negate that by talking about the quality of your work, the positive impact you created, and how you went above and beyond and bloomed in the role while bringing to light the reason you opted for these particular companies.

As you wish to target a competitive program such as Mfin, I would recommend you to use the strategy of applying to a mixed bunch of schools from dream, competitive and safe categories to increase the chances of receiving admits.

Dream category consists of schools with stringent acceptance criteria and have an acceptance rate of 8-15%. For this category you can apply to schools such as Princeton, NYU, MIT and LBS etc.

Competitive category consists of schools with 60-70% acceptance rates. Here you can apply to schools such as Duke, Cass Business school, University college London and ESSEC.

Safe category consists of schools with lenient acceptance rates and with your profile you have a chance of 80-90% of acceptance. Here you can apply to schools such as EDHEC and IESE.

One notable thing that I must make you aware of is the importance of the application process while applying to these schools. Business schools get thousands of applicants for small cohorts. Hence, it is important to couple your holistically developed profile with a strong application that not only highlights your strengths but also smooths over any flaws by providing apt justifications.

Application process holds 30% of weightage in the entire admission process and by no means is a step you should skimp over. Hence, you should make sure to craft a strong application process that not only establishes you as a worthy candidate but also sets you apart from the competition.

As you seem to be in the early stages of your admission process, you might be looking for professional help to aid you in the process and provide you with expert guidance and suggestions. Hence, I would recommend you to book a FREE consultation session with us and get a thorough and personalized evaluation of your profile and a comprehensive strategy to tackle your application process.

Link for the FREE Consultation call-

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


Hope this helped!

Hey Ife2Osi,

You have a strong profile.

Academically, you have a great GPA that showcases your academic prowess, however, 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, you have a lot of leadership and volunteering roles which all showcase your strong interest in developing your profile holistically. So make sure you elaborate on what you did in the roles and how you handled problems, planned the events, raised funds, etc. You should dig deeper into this aspect and bring out varied skills in your profile. Though to be clear , Adcoms are more interested in impact created rather than participation, hence highlighting your quantifiable achievements would help enhance your application.

You also have quite a few volunteering experiences which is again a great value addition. It showcases your ability to take up initiatives, impact others and to empathize with other people. B-schools are looking for applicants that are future leaders and such experiences and qualities strengthen your application.

As far as your work experience goes, since it is in the field of finance, it adds value to your profile since Masters in Finance programs require applicants to have relevant experience in the field of finance. You ought to explain and highlight the more on the major projects of your work and how these experiences helped to develop and further groom your skills and knowledge. Since you lack big brands in your CV and you would be competing against applicants with work experience from the big four firms. Thus, you need to highlight why you chose these firms, how you have gone beyond the role, any initiatives you took and any kind of impact created to showcase a strong profile.

Coming to your certifications, you have cleared CFA level two which is great value addition to your application especially for M.Sc. in Finance programs.

Speaking of your GMAT score, with your profile any score above 710 would work in your favor and allow you to apply for the top business schools.

Talking about your post-graduation endeavours they show your leadership ability, your ability to take up challenges and take initiatives. Which also work in your favour and show a strong and holistically developed profile.

One concern that I’d like to address is the gap year post graduation. You definitely need to be posing a right alibi for the same and portraying constructive endeavors during this time as gap years aren’t much appreciated by any B-school.

Moving to the schools you’ve shortlisted, schools such as MIT, Princeton, LBS and LSE all come under the dream category. While schools like Wilfrid Laurier and Riotman fall under the competitive category. Looking at your profile you have a 50% chance of getting admitted to the schools in the dream category and a 70% chance of getting admitted in the schools in the competitive category.

Apart from your targeted list there are some other schools that you can target as well :

Dream: Imperial, HEC, Oxford, NYU: Stern
Competitive: IE, ESSEC, EDHEC, Imperial

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. A strong application increases your chances of acceptance by upto 30%.

If you're looking for a strategy to target these top B-schools and increase your chances by upto 3 times, you can check out our comprehensive all in one solution that has helped thousands of applicants get into their dream schools including LSE, LBS, HEC and INSEAD!

Link to our All-In-One Solution-
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Here, you can even Book a Free Consulting call to connect with one of our consultants.

Hey aledetti98,

Academically, you have a pretty good GPA, that showcases your academic prowess, moreover your undergraduate school being one of the top ranked in the country, certainly adds to it. However, 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.

For your extracurricular activities, your achievements in the International games of math are great and showcases your quant abilities for the field of finance. I’d like to let you know that Extracurricular participation plays an important role in strengthening your applications as B-schools are on the hunt for all-rounder profiles. Thus, it is essential to shed some light on the endeavors you’ve taken up at any clubs, associations, sports, fest, or events you managed or participated in during your undergrad. Volunteering initiatives 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.

Coming up to your courses and certifications, justifying why you took up these courses and showcasing the knowledge you have gained, how you have benefited from them, and applied the learnings practically could help build a strong profile.

Now, your internship with BCG in strategy consulting is a great value addition, while not directly related to the field of finance the addition of a big brand name will help make your profile stronger. Justifying why you chose this role and showcasing how this exposed you to the field of finance would work in your favor.

For your work experience, you have relevant experience in the field of finance which is great and most certainly would strengthen your profile as Adcoms are looking for applicants who’ve had relevant experience in finance. While this brings you at par with your competition, you ought to explain and highlight the major projects of your work and how these experiences helped to develop and further groom your finance 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.

Apart from this, you could pursue certifications in the field of finance such as CFA and FRM. Certification such as these, not only showcase your passion for the field of finance but also strengthen your application.

As far as the GMAT goes, a score of 690 and above with 50 or more in the Quant section, would allow you to target the top schools. You should definitely aim to score as high as you can since a strong GMAT score would bolster the AdComs confidence in your academic abilities and improve your acceptance chances.

Whenever you are applying to schools abroad, it is always better to target a mix of dream, competitive, and safe schools. That said, from the schools you’re targeting I would like to define your chances of acceptance as per 3 categories:

Dream (40-50%): St. Gallen
Competitive (60-70%): Nova Lisboa, WU Vienna, Warwick
Safe (80-90%): Copenhagen

Additionally, here are a few more schools that you can consider:

Dream (40-50%) : HEC , LBS, LSE
Competitive (60-70%) : ESCP, ESSEC, ESADE, FSFM, IE
Safe (80-90%) : EDHEC, Skema, Grenoble, IESEG

To increase your chances of getting admitted at these schools you would need to ensure that you have a very strong application consisting of well-drafted 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.

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 including schools like HEC, INSEAD, and LBS!

Link to our All-In-One Solution-

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

Hey Rovshan16,

You have a great profile.

Academically, you have a pretty good GPA, which showcases your academic prowess and how you have been a great student. However, 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 you have not mentioned any details about your extracurricular activities, I’d like to let you know that Extracurricular participation plays an important role in strengthening your applications as B-schools are on the hunt for all-rounder profiles. Hence, it is essential to shed some light on the endeavors 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.

As far as the GMAT goes, an overall score of 700 and above with a score of 50 or more in the Quant section, would allow you to target the Finance programs at most of the top B-schools. You should definitely aim to score as high as you can since a strong GMAT score would bolster the AdComs confidence in your academic abilities and improve your acceptance chances. Since you are yet to give the exam, I would suggest that you take the exam by the first week of October as it would allow you to target the Round 1 deadlines for most of the schools. Since, applicants in Round 1 have a higher chance of getting accepted and bagging scholarships.

As far as your work experience goes, since the Master’s in Finance is a specialized degree, B-schools are looking for applicants with relevant experience in the field of finance. Hence, 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 in the field of finance. 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.

As for scholarships, you have two types of scholarships - merit-based and need-based scholarships. So you can be targeting either of the two. The primary difference between these two types of financial aid is that merit-based scholarships, unlike need-based financial aid, are awarded to students based on academic or other merit rather than demonstrated financial need. That said your scholarship application would consist of an essay, through which you would need to justify why you are worthy of the scholarship and why you need the scholarship. Making the essay convincing and highlighting your needs would increase your chances of getting a scholarship.

A few things that they take into consideration for the merit based scholarship applications are your GMAT, GPA, endeavors, extracurricular activities, and how you would add value to the school. So keeping the following points in mind while drafting your application can definitely help you secure the scholarship you are applying for.

As for the schools you need to be targeting, one thing that I would like to address is that whenever you are applying to schools abroad, it is always better to target a mix of dream, competitive, and safe schools. To help you understand better, I’ve suggested a few schools that you could be targeting according to the different categories.

Dream : HEC , Baconni
Competitive : ESCP, ESSEC, ESADE, FSFM, IE
Safe : EDHEC, Skema, Grenoble, IESEG

Further, if you need a more in-depth profile evaluation for a more comprehensive list of target schools and for help in forming your application you can email us your resume at info@mim-essay.com and further you can also check out this free profile evaluation tool for same :

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

Hi tvap98,

I would like to start off by saying that you have a pretty decent profile but there is always room for improvement. Speaking of your GPA (3.1,) it’s good enough and definitely showcases your academic prowess. That said, schools that you are looking at, hunt for a holistically developed profile, meaning, they look for candidates who maintain a strong balance in both academic and extra-curricular activities. If we look through your profile, you have been to Nova School of Business and Economics (Lisbon) which definitely comes under one of the top universities and would most certainly act in your favor as B-schools do tend to shortlist candidates that have graduated from top colleges worldwide.

Going ahead, you have been a board member at the university’s portfolio management club and also a student’s union member helping in creating partnerships with local companies which seems great. You can adequately address them in your application to showcase how you have managed both the classroom and outside activities, whilst honing your skills and grooming on your knowledge. This is definitely a highlight, but we will recommend you to engage more in other extra-curricular activities to upgrade your profile. You could opt-in for volunteering at an NGO, attend workshops, seminars or be a part of some club.

Further, to enhance your skill set, you can take a CFA certification that will help you compliment your interest in finance as well.
Taking into consideration your work experiences, having worked as an analyst at a Big 4 is undoubtedly a great achievement in itself and par with most of the competition you will face. Now, in order to differentiate yourself from the crowd, you can talk about the projects you have worked upon so far, the value you’ve added to the organization, and the skills you’ve honed in the process. This would attract the attention of the admissions committee.

Also, since you haven’t taken the GMAT exam yet and are aiming for 720+, I’ll say that you are on the right track as with this score you will have many doors open for you.

As you are targeting top schools for M.Sc. in Finance out of the schools that you have shortlisted, HEC and LBS fall under the dream category (40-50% chances of acceptance), while Imperial College, Warwick, and Bocconi fall under the competitive category (60-70% chances of acceptance).

Apart from the targeted list, you can also look at other option such as :

Dream: Oxford, Michigan's Ross, NYU Stern, MIT, USC Marshall
Competitive: UCL, ESSEC, ESCP, EDHEC
Safe: SKEMA, IESE, Grenoble

While the profile you have showcased is great, you should definitely focus on building a strong application that highlights your choices and why you did what you did, so that you can stand out amongst equally great peers and increase your chances of getting accepted

Further, if you need a more in-depth profile evaluation and for help in forming your application you can drop us a mail at info@mim-essay.com

Hi mrmonkey03029,

At the first glance, your profile looks quite promising with room for further up gradations which will increase your chances of intake in the B-schools of your choice.

Your 4.0 GPA will be a very great addition to your profile as it showcases your stronghold in the academic front. Moreover, you are currently pursuing your undergrad from KCL which further works in your favor since most of the top B-schools shortlist their candidates based on their undergrad college rankings and reputation.

Here you have mentioned your undergraduate major which is B.Sc. political economy along with modules like microeconomics, macroeconomics, advanced macroeco and math for economics. Though these modules are a good starting point for a master in finance, you still need to mention some sort of certificate or specialized course that you might have undertaken in the finance field. And if not, then I’d suggest that you partake in one either at your own university or somewhere else. This will surely sync your profile with your preference for a Masters in finance.

Furthermore, you have also mentioned that you are an undergraduate research fellow which again complements your GPA as it showcases your clarity of concept and how you have practically applied your theoretical knowledge.

Moving forward, you have talked about working as a research assistant and research intern at a research institute which might not really be related to the field of finance which is why you can maybe talk about why you opted for this particular job role and the kind of exposure you got so that you can connect it with your aim to pursue masters in finance.

As for extracurricular activities, you have mentioned that you took leadership roles during your under graduation. These positions of responsibilities would most certainly aid in highlighting your proactive attitude and initiative taking ability. Additionally, you have also mentioned that you were part of financing the group society which is obviously a major perk in your profile. To further enhance your profile, you can highlight the projects that you were part of, the exposure you had here, the major takeaways and how you added value or contributed to these societies.

All in all, you should show more inclination towards the field of finance which is slightly lacking in your profile. So to combat this, what you can do is get a good internship in the finance field in one of the big four companies and along with this, you can also pursue certain finance certifications like CFA or FRM. This will basically align and set up your profile for a master in finance field and it will also display your passion and dedication towards finance.

Talking about your GMAT score of 680 with QA-43 is honestly on the lower bar of the spectrum. So retaking your GMAT is the best way to go about it as a QA score of 49 and above is considered a good score which acts as the reflection of your quant abilities and your capability of succeeding in the field of finance. So you should definitely target a GMAT score of 710 as it will pave a way for your entry into your dream college categories like HEC, LSE and the competitive college category of EDHEC, ESSEC, BOCCONI and ESCP.

On this note, I would say you have 50% chance of getting accepted into your dream schools and a 70% chance at the competitive schools

Lastly, I would suggest you to target round one where the chances of getting accepted are higher. So if you are able to pull-off a good GMAT score within the first week of October then go forward with round one, but if not, opting for Round 2 work in your favour as well.

All said and done, while you have a good profile, there will be thousands of applicants out there with similarly great profiles, which is why your application would play a huge role in enhancing your chances of getting accepted into your target schools. You would need to highlight your profile USP’s and how you can be a great addition to the school whilst posing the right examples to legitimize your claim. Additionally, you need to ensure that your LORs and Resume, equally depict the strengths of your profile.

Thus, if you’re looking for expert counselling sessions and services in the form of multiple editing, proofreading and up-gradation of your application which consist of your Essay, SOP, LOR's and resume that hold a 30% value in the selection procedure, you can check out our All in One service that has proven to help over 2500+ applicants get into their target schools!

Below you will find the link for our All-in-One service.

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

Hope this helped !