Profile Eval - My Chances for a Top 25 MBA Program

Question

Hello,

I recently graduated from undergrad this past December and have been working for a global investment management firm. The role is basically a mix of client reporting and supporting the sales team for when they meet with clients. I've been thinking about doing an MSc in Finance so I recently took the GMAT and scored a 660. However, I'm debating if I should just work for a few years and go for an MBA. My profile isn't good enough to get into a top MSc program like LSE, MIT, etc. so I feel even if I study for a MS I'll eventually have to apply for an MBA anyway. But I am considering if getting an MSc in Finance could help me change my career trajectory, and with better work experience maybe I could become competitive for a top 15 MBA program.

Anyways, below is my current profile:

GPA - 3.5
School - top 40 school in the US based off USNews rankings (studied finance/accounting)
Work Experience - back/mid office role in the asset management industry
GMAT - 660 (but I will retake and aim for 700-720 if I decide to apply for an MBA later)

So what are my chances for schools like Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon, USC, or Vanderbilt? My biggest concern would be my work experience as I'm not sure if I can move to a better role. Assuming I retake the GMAT and score in the low 700s, do I have a decent shot even with sub-par work experience (will try to achieve two promotions and get my CFA before applying)? If not, then would it be wise to do a MS Finance and try to pivot to a better role first?

Thanks!

SiaAdmissions · Answer

Hi  tcity2018

Thank you for your post and for sharing your profile. Can you share a bit more about your goals? Why do you require an MBA/MSc in Finance? And why now? Thse are important questions you will need to answer before applying to either program.

At this stage (with less than one years of work experience), it will be challenging to gain admission to an MBA program. The average class profile has about 5 years of post-undergraduate work experience. Two promotion and a CFA would definitely help your candidacy. As to an MSc in Finance, how do you envision it helping you reach your goals? Without an understanding of your goals, it's difficult to comment on this one.

I think you would benefit from an offline conversation. When ready, please   reach out   and let's discuss your profile further.

Best,

Susan

tcity2018 · Answer

Hi Susan,

Thank you for your response! To clarify, I am at a crossroad between pursuing for an MSc now OR waiting for a few years and pursuing an MBA (focusing on work, the CFA, and improving my GMAT). I am not planning to apply for MBA programs this year. What I would like to know is if my profile looks promising for a top 25 MBA program down the road - assuming 700-720 GMAT score, passing the CFA exams, and work experience in a back/mid-office role along with a couple promotions. If it does, then I'd save my money for the MBA over the next few years. If my profile looks too weak for a T25 MBA, then I would consider pursuing an MSc in Finance. I know things can change in the next few years, but this is assuming all else is constant. Hopefully that makes things a bit clearer.

My goal is to transition to an investment role - it could be at an asset management arm of a bank, traditional asset manager, hedge fund, etc. Essentially I'm trying to target front office roles. However, I am also open to other areas of finance like consulting, banking, etc. and I know an MBA can put me in a good position for those roles during recruiting. But like I mentioned, if I don't have much of a shot at T25 MBA programs, then a MSc would probably be the next best thing for me.

Any more advice or insight (from anyone) would be much appreciated! Thanks!

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

tcity2018  I think you would definitely be competitive at the schools you mentioned, if you pull up your GMAT to the range you indicated. A lot of this is still within your control. You seem pessimistic about work experience. I will say, look for roles where you can score wins, show impact, have control over the variables. Where you can take initiative. Get to work on volunteering, making your way on to a board, showing contribution in the community and maybe your alma mater. If you are working in a large firm, they might not give you the keys to the castle as a fresh grad but they might at a community nonprofit; show impact there.

I have a series of 10 ideas to boost your profile here:  https://mbaessaycoaching.com/category/pre-mba/

Beyond where you can get in, give some reflection to the likely paths with an masters in finance vs. an MBA. There is a lot more versatility with an MBA but if you are hard and fast committed to a finance career goal that is something to consider. Nothing precludes you from doing the masters now and getting an MBA later if you so choose.

tcity2018 · Answer

Thank you for your feedback. Sorry if I sounded pessimistic, I'm just assuming the worst case scenario. My job search around graduation was pretty grueling and gave me a reality check of how competitive the job market is. The economy doesn't look to be doing so well either as of late. Of course, I will try to advance my career to the best of my ability, but to what extent, that remains to be seen. If I'm able to pass the first two levels of the CFA this December and next June, I think that could give me a boost to move to a better role, either at my current firm or another.

The reason why I wouldn't want to get an MBA and a MSc is just purely for financial reasons - I feel getting both would be too expensive for me (unless it positioned me for a top 10 MBA). And the versatility you mentioned is a key reason why I'm leaning towards an MBA - it would help a lot for switching careers, moving to another location, the establish network, etc.

Below is a longer list of schools I'm interested in (I will eventually narrow it down):

Duke
UVA - Darden
Cornell - Johnson
Georgetown
Carnegie Mellon
USC

And some international ones - LBS, University of Toronto, HKUST (would be a local applicant for US schools and HKUST and international applicant for LBS/UoT)

Duke, UVA, Cornell, and LBS seem to be the reach schools, but what do my odds look like?

Many thanks!

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

tcity2018  no need to apologize, I understand that having a tough time getting a job is traumatizing. It really is.

It's OK that you sound pessimistic and it's also a good idea for you to focus on daily steps you can take and what is within your control, rather than thinking about the job market at large or reasons to avoid taking action/taking risks. That's just not going to go anywhere good.

I invite you to consider that maybe you will have a different experience in the job market than you did this past time. Try not to allow this past experience to bleed on to all your future choices. I had a very different experience recruiting after undergrad versus my MBA. I'm not saying it will be the same for you but you I do know the best thing for you is to have faith and walk in confidence that it could be the same for you.

Who knows, getting both degrees might actually be a good decision I'm just saying you seem to be looking at it from this perspective of costs than the possibilities it might open up. 59% of those who are doing an EMBA at MIT have an advanced degree already. So maybe the MBA is something you could do down the line, and have it be partly sponsored. It's very difficult to advise you re: MS vs MBA without having a clearer sense of your goals/passions/aspirational legacy.

it's very difficult to forecast the dynamics of your profile right now without a gmat score or anything to work with period but you have a good GPA at a good school, a CFA does build your profile and now you need to establish teamwork/leadership/problem solving and aptitude for process improvement/innovation. Do that in your job or elsewhere but do that.

For the schools, I think that you have very reasonable goals and in fact I think maybe you could should aim even higher. The best thing for you to do right now is to recognize that the power is in the present moment just do what you can day by day and try not to catastrophize, something I know much about myself. Just set daily goals like today I am going to get involved in a volunteer organization. And then today I am going to devote my time to that organization. Try to just focus on what is within your control.

I strongly encourage you to go through the 10 tips I have in the articles I referred to you to get some things in motion that will make you feel more empowered and lead to better results when you do apply to an MBA in the future. Reread what I wrote to you in the first paragraph about how to best proceed.

tcity2018 · Answer

Thank you for your advice. I'll take a look at the article and brainstorm how I can position myself as a MBA competitive candidate over the next few years. Since you suggested I should aim higher, what do you think about schools just outside the top 10 like Yale, NYU, and UCLA (along with the ones previously mentioned - UVA, Duke, Cornell) if I'm able to improve my GMAT to 720 and pass the CFA exams? I graduated right after turning 23, so I'm considering matriculating at 27, almost 28 (this would be about 4.5 years of work experience). And I wanted to ask - for admission offices, do they evaluate your application based on other candidates in the same industry (so for me, it would be other applicants in the asset management industry)? Or do they compare applicants across different sectors (consulting vs banking vs etc.)?

Once again, many thanks for your responses and insight!

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