Please evaluate my profile

Question

Hi there,
 
I appreciated if you could evaluate my profile:
- male, 32 years old, German
- master degree in management from #3 business school in Germany; member of beta Gamma Sigma (top 20% of graduates); some international experience (semester abroad in USA)
- 4+ years post master work experience in mid cap commercial bank 
- CFA Level 3 candidate
- GMAT: 680 (V42, Q39)
Career Goal post MBA: Equity Research.

Since I am a relatively old candidate, I am looking for a 1 year program (to save the second year and not be even older at graduation) and am considering to apply to INSEAD and Kellogg. I think both schools are strech schools for me, but nevertheless would like to aks for your evaluation.
Ideally, you could give me Feedback in the form of "recommend to apply to INSEAD and/or Kellogg" or "don't recommend to apply to INSEAD and/or Kellogg" or provide me with your estimated success probability.

If you like to comment on some other questions I have, this would also be appreciated:
- Am i too old for getting an MBA? I would be 34 at graduation. My goal would be to get a job in equity Research / equity investements.
- INSEAD and Kellogg are for sure great shools, but are they also great for for candidates who want a finance job post graduation? (I selected them primarily because they are the only top Schools offering 1 year MBA programs)

Many thanks!

bryantmichaels · Answer

You should actually have a shot at both programs. The one year programs are more forgiving of core stats like age, grades and GMAT scores. Your stats are good, but while you would be a long shot at these schools' full time programs, you should actually get some attention from their one year programs. Schools are not required to report stats for their part time programs, so it does not get figured into their rankings scores. My bigger concern would be your getting attention from finance recruiters. If you have a good line on a job or connections, this could be easier through a self-directed job search but most banks who recruit MBAs are looking for the younger set they can put through their training program and start from scratch out of b-school. Hope this helps.

funnyguy · Answer

Thank you. This definetly helps.
However, to get the most out of your feedback, I would like to discuss some points: 
- You write "...while you would be a long shot at these schools' full time programs, you should actually get some attention from their one year programs." ==> When you write "full time programs", do you refer to the program lenght being one year instead of the usual two years or to full time vs. part-time/weekend/EMBA-style teaching format? If I'm not completely mistaken, both programs are full time programs (just for one year though)
- "Schools are not required to report stats for their part time programs,..." ==> Are we talking about the same programs? If I'm not totally wrong, INSEAD's main MBA program is only offered as a 10-month program. So I'm almost certain, they do have to report stats for this program. Also, I don't see why the stats of the one year Kellogg MBAs (who basically just enter the second year of the 2 year program) should not be reported (but this is a guess).

Thank you and have a great Weekend.

bryantmichaels · Answer

Thanks for the clarification questions. Yes both the 2-year and the one-year programs are full time, but in the US, they do not include one year programs in the rankings calculations, so those schools can be more forgiving of core profile characteristics if they feel you will be a good fit. As for INSEAD, I must apologize for the confusion. You are absolutely correct, that INSEAD only offers a one year program (actually one cohort is 10 months, but the January cohort with internship is 12 months). In the case of INSEAD, you would be in the same applicant pool as everyone else, unlike at Kellogg, where you would only be competing for space against others applying to the same short program.

funnyguy · Answer

Thanks once more.
If you feel like giving me even more input on recruiting strategy, I would like to ask another thing (if not, I'm still happy with your above replies;)
You wrote "My bigger concern would be your getting attention from finance recruiters. If you have a good line on a job or connections, this could be easier through a self-directed job search but most banks who recruit MBAs are looking for the younger set they can put through their training program and start from scratch out of b-school."
==> I believe the typical candidate for bank jobs would be a MBA graduate who has e.g. 3 years of work experience pre-MBA (potentially the analyst years in banking), then gets his MBA, interns as a "summer associate", and then gets hired after graduation as a first year IBanking associate. As far as your concern relates to this recruiting pattern, I am not really concerned because I don't want to go into IBanking anyway. 
As you know, I want to become an Equity Research Analyst or Junior Portfolio Manager (preferrably on the buyside).
Therefore my questions are: 
- Does your concern also relate to recruting into the investment management industry?
- Would a post-experience masters in finance (e.g. at LBS) be a better fit for my career goal? The MiF is a bit less selective and prestigious compared to the MBA and for roles that require a lot of leadership and are transaction oriented (M&A, Mgt Consulting, PE, VC), probably MBA graduates outrun MiF graduates. However for a more analytical role (though not quant role) like equity analyst, I really wonder if MiF or MBA are better?

Thank you.

bryantmichaels · Answer

Thanks for the clarification questions. Yes both the 2-year and the one-year programs are full time, but in the US, they do not include one year programs in the rankings calculations, so those schools can be more forgiving of core profile characteristics if they feel you will be a good fit. As for INSEAD, I must apologize for the confusion. You are absolutely correct, that INSEAD only offers a one year program (actually one cohort is 10 months, but the January cohort with internship is 12 months). In the case of INSEAD, you would be in the same applicant pool as everyone else, unlike at Kellogg, where you would only be competing for space against others applying to the same short program.

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