joemama142000 wrote:
hi paul,
25 year old american male, location: NYC
Attended top 30 US university.
Majors: Economics/ Premedical studies
GpA: 3.3/4.0
Premedical studies gpa: 3.85(post undergraduate)
Gmat: 690 47M 38V AWA 5.5
Experience:
11 months work for start up mergers and acquisitions/banking firm speicalizing in tech/healthcare (current)
4 months lab research assistant for top medical school (formal program)
Volunteered over 100 hours at local hospital
1 year internship for morgan stanley
Involved in the management/construction of family owned real estate
Accomplished high school athlete
Proficient in 3 languages
Have traveled extensively
Received a Film/Screenwriting Certification
I am all over the place i know. But im interested in alot of things. Somehow that seems to hurt me because it shows that im not focused. I would like to do alot of things in my life.
My immediate goal is to break into a bulge bracket investment bank or establisthed asset management firm. I missed that ship because when i graduated, the job market was terrible and so i decided to go back to school to do something unrelated. Now im working again and was hoping to get hired laterally but i dont think its going to happen. I eventually would like to gain experience in private equity or hedge funds. I am looking to get an mba or msf. I primarily want to use my schooling to get me in the door. I know those industries ive mentioned are all about connections but i currently have not many and feel hopeless.
I plan to resign from my job soon because I am unhappy for several reasons. I have not learned much or as much as i wanted over the past year. Spent alot of time doing grunt work due to the small size of my current firm and its start up phase. I dont have faith in my employers and we are growing at a slow rate. I have applied for other jobs but have been denied of the jobs that i want. My current firm has no recognition and i feel that it gives me little leverage. With my current situation, it doesnt appear feasible to reach my goals without higher education.
I had not planned on applying to anything until a 2 years from now but i wanted to get a feel of where i stand now and 2 years from now.
Progarms that i may be interested in. Maybe to do a msf in finance( one year) and do an mba (one year). My reason for doing so is because most mba programs with concentration do not go too indepth in finance. I feel that finance is essential as a concentration for what i want to do but i would also like to learn about other things such as real estate, ecommorce, healthcare, which would be nice to concentrate in for the mba program. I really do not want to do the cfa program.
Or i could just do a two year mba and 2 concentrations
I have not given serious thought yet but here are some Schools of interest: Northwestern, Emory, Berkely, Oxford, LBS, Cambridge, Insead, UCLA, Vanderbilt, UVA, Georgetown.
Id prefer to get out of nyc for schooling.
Any advice/comments would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Joemama142000,
Your varied background does not necessarily hurt you as long as you convince the schools that it's all part of a plan or that there's a developmental thread. If they conclude that you bounce from one goal to another then obviously that hurts you.
It's not for me to advise you to stay at your current job, but in terms of strengthening your profile for a B-school application unemployment is not a positive. Hopefully you can find a new position with a firm that's relevant to your career goals.
I'm not sure if you're asking whether you're strong enough to apply now. If you are, then I'd say no. With some leadership experiences and increasing responsibility over the next two years--and a 700 or higher GMAT--you could have a chance at most of the schools you mentioned. Emory, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, UVA, Oxford, and Cambridge will be easier to break into than Northwestern, Berkeley, LBS, Insead, and UCLA, which have lower acceptance rates.
If you do get into one of the top programs you may not need the MS in finance in addition to the MBA because a top MBA will provide you with many appealing options. For that reason, I would probably apply to the B schools first and decide on the MS in finance later.
I know it's difficult to get good leadership opportunities early on in a finance career, so I recommend getting as much leadership experience as you can outside of work, e.g., perhaps your family firm or through a supervisory or board role with a volunteer organization.
Good luck,
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Updated on: 31 May 2006, 02:03
