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hi paul,

25 year old american male, location: NYC
Attended top 30 US university. 
Majors: Economics/ Premedical studies
GpA: 3.3/4.0
gpa: 3.85(post undergraduate)
Gmat: 690 47M 38V AWA 5.5

Experience: 
early m&a/banking firm-1 year (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.

Accepted.com · Answer

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,

chet719 · Answer

Paul, 

I couldn't help asking a follow up question after reading this post. I am in a similar situation as joemama--applying this fall and have an opportunity to take another job. However, the job is a promotion within the same company (USAF finance), and the job is in a very high profile position (top secret); it is located in a "special programs" office where we finance the procurement of some major weapon and intelligence systems. There would be a lot of opportunity to lead teams and work with large dollar, interesting projects. The job would be a great career move as well, and more importantly, progresses in the direction I want to go after B-School.  Do you still think in this case it would be a bad idea to make the move?  

Thanks,

Chet

PaulBodine · Answer

Chet,

Your situation actually seems different than "joemama"'s. Your new opportunity sounds very promising, so I see no reason to pass up on it. It can only strengthen your profile. In terms of its value to your B-school essays, that will depend on whether you can make an impact in the new position between now and the fall. Probably you will have some material you can talk about. 

The other issue is asking your supervisor in your new position for a reco letter. You will probably not have been in the new position long enough for that person to comment helpfully on your impact. But in this case, it would be fine to just submit reco letters from previous employers--the B-schools will understand. 

Good luck in the new position,

chet719 · Answer

Great! Thank you for your quick response. 

If you don't mind, I would like to ask a follow up question. I am turning 30 yrs old this Dec (i.e. crossing into the "older" realm for B-School).  My question for you is, do you think it would harm my candidacy if I waited until 07 to apply to B-School.   That means I would be almost 34 by the time I graduate. I think the additional experience would help me in my placement after B-School as well as my long term career goals. However, I don't want to kill my chances at getting into a top program either. 

Also, if I wait, I may be able to get the Air Force to pay for my education as well as my salary while in B-School. I know its hard to believe, but they have career development programs that provide for this. Of course, it is a selective program and I would have to compete for this opportunity. 

Anyway, some of the schools I am considering are: HBS, Wharton, Columbia, Michigan, Tuck, and Yale. 

You may be wondering what my career goals are. In the short run, I would like to get experience working on the acquisition side of the military (i.e. learn the complex processes, regulations, etc. of procuring military assets). At some point in the future, I would like to take a leadership role at a large defense contractor such as Lockheed Martin or Northrup Grumman, working with the military to develop and sustain its assets. This may be too much information.

Thanks again for your comments.

joemama142000 · Answer

thanks paul for your advice. I had a feeling but more gmat was not what i wanted to hear. :boom

PaulBodine · Answer

chet719,

You give very good reasons for wanting to wait until 2007 to apply, so I think you should wait. It sounds like you will be 32 when you will apply, which is on the upper edge of the middle 80% of every school you mentioned (except CBS, where it's 31). (Note that the upper edge of Tuck's middle 80% is 34.) So you will hardly be a statistical outlier. 

Moreover, you sound like you will be gathering excellent material to generate some compelling essays. The more dazzling that material, the less schools will care about your age. You have an unusual career track, which helps you, and specific post-MBA goals, which is what they expect of older applicants.

Good luck,

chet719 · Answer

Paul, 

Thank you very much for your comments.

joemamma,

Sorry for taking up your thread.

Accepted.com · Answer

You're welcome...

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