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brownbear99
15 Dec 2016, 14:40
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Just finished a rough cycle but was fortunate enough to get into Ross. Unfortunately though, it was the only school of the five I applied to that let me in and they gave me no money. For a bit of background, I went to a top 50 school (closer to the top of that range), worked in investment banking, and now work in corp dev at a large company ($10B+). Undergrad GPA is 3.6 and GMAT 730. If I choose to go in the Fall I'd have 3 years of WE at Matriculation. My goal is to pivot back to an investment bank but in Equity Research and then move to hedge fund after that. My question is do I pull the trigger and go to Ross or reapply next fall to try and get into a better ranked program that has a bigger finance focus. Would I be able to get into Equity Research at a large bank like Goldman or JPM or Citi via Ross? Would my result be that much different if I applied again next year? Biggest factors that would change are the WE, possibly a better GMAT (though is that needed?), and more volunteer leadership possibly. Ideally I'd like to go to a more finance type school (i.e., Wharton, CBS, Booth) but I'm not sure I should skip on Ross, spend another year at my job all for the possibility of getting into another place. But then again I am early in my career and got no scholarship... Also how might hedge funds view Ross on my resume down the line?
Any thoughts/advice? Would love to hear them
Any thoughts/advice? Would love to hear them
Porkbun123
Joined: 28 Jul 2014
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15 Dec 2016, 15:29
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Well...I'm not in much of a position to say anything considering how my cycle went, but...
I think you should reapply. You are young and can easily strengthen your profile (even an additional year would help). That would put you in a strong position to ED CBS.
I think you should reapply. You are young and can easily strengthen your profile (even an additional year would help). That would put you in a strong position to ED CBS.
15 Dec 2016, 15:44
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You are young and probably can mature a bit more like a good wine, and get some scars and battle stories for your application. With only 3 years of work experience, you will be on the young side and that has an impact on recruiting/internship search as well.
The areas you are trying to get into are highly competitive. There is always the question of why did Chase or Citi hire a particular person - is that because they went to Wharton or were they more likely to be hired even before doing so. What the school helps you get is get on the list of certain employers who come on campus or have a tradition hiring on that campus (MBB is perhaps the most well known group). As the result, yes, you may have an opportunity to apply for JP Chase position through Wharton on campus recruiting vs. Ross where that opportunity won't be available, but that's not guaranteed you will get it at Wharton or any school. There are no guarantees obvously. However, the fact that some of the schools you applied to did not admit you, further provides a suggestion that they did not feel some of your application aspects were strong enough or perhaps you were ready enough when compared to other candidates (it is all about your competitive pool).
What is good about you is that you have clear goals. Many MBA applicants lack that clarity and just fumble around (over 50% of folks change their career plans after the first year but that's a diff point; change is not a problem, lack of commitment/direction is)
If you believe you can improve your profile (essays, resume, LOR's, leadership, etc), career progression, management/leadership experience and make yourself meaningfully more attractive then yes, apply next year. If you feel you will have very little change career-wise (stalled) or you basically will waste it as you hate your job, I would take Ross up on the offer. It is a bit hard to tell without getting personal and you don't want to spill the beans here either. My suggestion would be to pay $300-500 to a consultant you can trust and get them on the phone and get a professional opinion (perhaps they can spot something missing in your application or a simple fix such as age). Get them to evaluate you for next year and what they think of Ross in 2017 vs. Wharton in 2018. Think of it as a home inspection or a car inspection - they come handy.
As to the GMAT, retaking it this season is definitely no use and GMAT is somewhat irrelevant in the top 5/10. However, if you do decide to retake it next year, it will be handy as some consulting/banks do like to ask for it - I had them ask and make a cut off at 700 or 720 (e.g. Barclay's specifically said don't apply unless you have that level of the GMAT and some MBB's/consulting/PE companies do ask for it as well). However, I think GMAT is the least improvement you need, as you correctly pointed out. You are well within the "normal" band of average GMAT scores.
P.S. I do know a few people who have gone to Ross, Booth, HBS, Yale, etc and their career tracks are quite different, and you would not be able to tell who went to which school. They are all very different people with different goals and priorities - that's what seems to determine where you end up more than anything - you.
For anyone who cares, here are some employment reports to compare Finance/Research/Equity/Employers/Etc.
Wharton Reports:
https://statistics.mbacareers.wharton.u ... nglepg.pdf
https://statistics.mbacareers.wharton.u ... -FINAL.pdf
Ross Employment Report: https://michiganross.umich.edu/sites/de ... 2.9.15.pdf
P.S. You did not apply to a few schools that favor younger applicants - Yale, HBS, Stanford?
The areas you are trying to get into are highly competitive. There is always the question of why did Chase or Citi hire a particular person - is that because they went to Wharton or were they more likely to be hired even before doing so. What the school helps you get is get on the list of certain employers who come on campus or have a tradition hiring on that campus (MBB is perhaps the most well known group). As the result, yes, you may have an opportunity to apply for JP Chase position through Wharton on campus recruiting vs. Ross where that opportunity won't be available, but that's not guaranteed you will get it at Wharton or any school. There are no guarantees obvously. However, the fact that some of the schools you applied to did not admit you, further provides a suggestion that they did not feel some of your application aspects were strong enough or perhaps you were ready enough when compared to other candidates (it is all about your competitive pool).
What is good about you is that you have clear goals. Many MBA applicants lack that clarity and just fumble around (over 50% of folks change their career plans after the first year but that's a diff point; change is not a problem, lack of commitment/direction is)
If you believe you can improve your profile (essays, resume, LOR's, leadership, etc), career progression, management/leadership experience and make yourself meaningfully more attractive then yes, apply next year. If you feel you will have very little change career-wise (stalled) or you basically will waste it as you hate your job, I would take Ross up on the offer. It is a bit hard to tell without getting personal and you don't want to spill the beans here either. My suggestion would be to pay $300-500 to a consultant you can trust and get them on the phone and get a professional opinion (perhaps they can spot something missing in your application or a simple fix such as age). Get them to evaluate you for next year and what they think of Ross in 2017 vs. Wharton in 2018. Think of it as a home inspection or a car inspection - they come handy.
As to the GMAT, retaking it this season is definitely no use and GMAT is somewhat irrelevant in the top 5/10. However, if you do decide to retake it next year, it will be handy as some consulting/banks do like to ask for it - I had them ask and make a cut off at 700 or 720 (e.g. Barclay's specifically said don't apply unless you have that level of the GMAT and some MBB's/consulting/PE companies do ask for it as well). However, I think GMAT is the least improvement you need, as you correctly pointed out. You are well within the "normal" band of average GMAT scores.
P.S. I do know a few people who have gone to Ross, Booth, HBS, Yale, etc and their career tracks are quite different, and you would not be able to tell who went to which school. They are all very different people with different goals and priorities - that's what seems to determine where you end up more than anything - you.
For anyone who cares, here are some employment reports to compare Finance/Research/Equity/Employers/Etc.
Wharton Reports:
https://statistics.mbacareers.wharton.u ... nglepg.pdf
https://statistics.mbacareers.wharton.u ... -FINAL.pdf
Ross Employment Report: https://michiganross.umich.edu/sites/de ... 2.9.15.pdf
P.S. You did not apply to a few schools that favor younger applicants - Yale, HBS, Stanford?
