Profile Evaluation (United States perm. resident)

Question

Hello GMATClub,

I am currently a senior studying at a school relatively unknown to those non-native to Michigan and northern Indiana (a school safely deemed a "non-target" in high finance networks) and will be graduating in December of 2016. My career goals include spending time as an analyst at a mid-market or bulge bracket investment bank and I am here to get an idea of how strong of a candidate I would be for some of the schools I am considering. This is my current profile:

GPA: 3.3/4.0
GMAT: 690 (I am planning on retaking the GMAT to score in the 720-740 range to help offset my lackluster GPA)
Work/internship experience: I have worked in warehouses and odd side jobs throughout college to help shrug some of the debt off and my only office/clerk experience is a 10-month accounting internship at a small industrial manufacturing company

These are some of the schools/programs I am interested in:

-- Villanova MSF
-- Vanderbilt MSF
-- Boston College MSF
-- USC Marshall MSF (the west coast is a consideration at this point)
-- LSE MSc Finance (I'm not entirely sure of LSE and whether or not I want to launch a career out of London to start, but I have considered it)

I have a certificate from an online Harvard Computer Science program which I completed not long ago, but I don't know if that adds any extra meat to my profile. Let me know what you guys think!

DonnieDrastic · Answer

I forgot to mention that I am a 22 year old white male. I'm not sure how much that hurts or helps me. The only EC I have partook in is an investment portfolio club, but my attendance and participating throughout my time in it was spotty because of work and jobs taken during the school semesters.

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

Hi Donnie you might be better off posting this in the ask admissions section. I realize this is not an MBA but those who could provide good feedback would probably be more likely to subscribe to that thread than this one. I myself don't really feel completely qualified to evaluate your profile for this.

Farrell Dyan Hehn, MBA
Admissions Consultant & Verbal Strategist MBAPrepCoach.com

Farrell Dyan Hehn, MBA
Admissions Consultant & Verbal Strategist MBAPrepCoach.com

MSFHQ · Answer

Being a domestic student is a big benefit. You have a good GPA and a very good GMAT. You will get into Villanova and BC assuming your recommendations and essays are acceptable. I give you above a 50% shot at Vanderbilt as well. If you had a 720 I would say you are almost a shoe in, but I think a relevant unpaid internship might help you some. USC is an odd ball in some regards. I would give you less than a 50% shot (but only a little below this, you should definitely apply).

LSE is a great program, but I would be very hesitant to go to school there with the hopes of working in London. Especially with Brexit and how that might play out. Since you mention working to keep debt minimal I am going to assume you are not independently wealthy and actually want a ROI on this degree.

Let me know if you have any other questions. Happy to help.

DonnieDrastic · Answer

Thanks for the review. Can you touch a little more on USC being an odd ball (i.e. do you mean that you've seen star candidates fail to get in and less-impressive candidates slide in?)? I cannot find any information about the cost of the MSF program at USC except for a predicted cost of $65,000 for the 2016-2017 year which is a shame because it makes it one of the more expensive programs. Are you aware of any employment reports or employment details for those coming out of USC? Getting a sense of where students coming out of USC are landing would help alleviate concern with the higher ticket price of the program.

DonnieDrastic · Answer

Sorry to carpet you with more questions, but what is MSFHQ's general impression of UIUC's MSF in Illinois? Their employment reports seem healthy yet also don't specify which functions their graduates are ending up working in.

Staying in the Midwest is also something I am considering. I don't mean to seem that I am counting my options before having any. I'm just trying to get a feel for some of the best programs on the west coast (particularly South Cali), Midwest region (Chicago and maybe even boutique work in Detroit), and east coast (particularly NYC and south Connecticut).

If you have any connections which you can recommend at either or both USC and UIUC willing to chat through e-mail about the programs and employment prospects, that would be helpful.

MSFHQ · Answer

My statement was in reference to the fact that the program tends to really focus on applicants with great test scores and ignores those who might be easier to place, but with slightly less going for them score wise. That being said, the program is the best on the west coast right now, has a huge brand and reputation on the west coast and is definitely a semi-target for finance placements. 2015 placement reports https://www.marshall.usc.edu/sites/defa ... 15_v05.pdf

MSFHQ · Answer

UIUC is a good program. Well respected school, especially in Chicago. The program is mainly international students (Chinese) so keep that in mind. Because of this heavy tilt towards internationals, placements have taken a hit. Doesn't mean a domestic student who does well, networks and takes matters into their own hands can't be successful coming out of the program.

DonnieDrastic · Answer

MSFHQ,

Are you able to touch on the background profiles of domestic students which land IB jobs coming out of MSF programs? I've been browsing a few graduate forums that cover the MSF and some of the people going into MSF programs and I'm always a little distraught by the posts sharing how domestic students which come into the programs with good undergraduate backgrounds, do well in the MSF, and claim to have been actively networking yet come out the other end with no offer in hand, at least not in whichever particular field they were gunning for. Granted, this is the Internet and a lot of the things floating around can be outright lies, but have you personally seen students with backgrounds like the one above fail in terms of getting their target job? What would you mostly attribute that failure to?

EDIT:  For example, I've seen people mention how they have come across MSF students with previous IB internships (likely boutique, I'm assuming) land no full-time IB jobs coming out of MSF programs while other students with no previous IB internships or experience land full-time IB jobs. My guess is that the student with the experience not landing the full-time job wasn't able to impress their interviewers how the student without the experience was?

MSFHQ · Answer

Getting into banking isn't rocket science. It is a function of networking, coming off well, getting interviews and executing on these interviews. When researching programs you should try and find out how many students interview for jobs they want. Placements are on the student at the end of the day.

Some students party too much in school. Some struggle in graduate school and don't effectively network. Some get interviews, but do poorly. Some run into tough hiring cycles. All really depends.

Profile Evaluation (United States perm. resident)

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