Hello All, I am planning on admissions for the year 2018.
I am a current student at BITS Pilani, India pursuing my Bachelors of Engineering in Computer Science. I am in my final year(4th-year 1st semester).
I am currently doing an internship in a Software Multi-National Company for 6 months in Data Science. My GMAT Score is
760(Q50, V42, IR8, AWA 6) and I am taking the IELTS on November 25th.
I have decided to apply for MSc Finance and related fields in Universities in Europe. I am preferring Europe as the courses here are only 1 year long compared with 2-year courses in the USA, mainly because financial costs of 1-year courses are less than 2 years courses.
Also, I have seen that the colleges and programs I am going to apply have their applications start around October 2017 and end around June 2018. My current CGPA is 6.7 and it will be 7.2(First Class) after my 4-1, so around January 10th. I am also planning to sit for placements(Job) as a backup plan. This is why I am planning to apply to these colleges around February beginning. I know this is late but my CGPA will increase to greater than 7 and my placements will end around Jan 15th. So I wanted to ask you if my plan is viable. I am planning for MSc finance or related course in finance from HEC, ESADE, BOCCONI, UCL, Edinburgh, University of Bristol and Cass. I have seen that these courses expect no prior experience or background in finance and accept students with Quant related course such as engineering.
I had Mathematics in 3 semesters of my study which included calculus, statistics, probability, etc, and some mathematics in computer science courses as well.
I have a very nice knowledge of programming.
I have very less experience and knowledge in Finance as I have focused on Computer Science till now, but have done 1 course ( Principles of Economics) and planning to do 3 more courses in finance in 4-2. Also planning to apply to CFA level this July 2018, if that will increase my chances. I am also thinking of doing online certification courses in finance in 4-2 to show the adcom I am committed and interested.
I have 2 months full time in an NGO related to livelihood training for the poor. and some other Extracurricular activities such as clubs etc.
My main problem is the no experience in finance(although the programs don't expect that they may prefer prior knowledge), and my CGPA is also not great but considering BITS, I think it is above average. Also, I will be applying for the later rounds(the rounds in February).
I think my strong point will be my GMAT (760)
I am planning to apply to the following colleges.
HEC Paris
Bocconi
IE Spain.
ESADE Spain.
The University of Edinburgh.
Cass Business School.
LSE, LBS, Oxford( highly competitive so don't know If I should apply ???).
I wanted to know my chances in these schools and if there are any better programs that I have a chance that I have missed.
Also, what should my safety schools be ? (can cass or Edinburgh be considered safety schools ?)
what do you think about my plan?
Thank You.