Profile Evaluation- master in finance or financial economics

Question

Hi,
I am a 22years old male Chinese international student who currently studies at decent US university ranking around 35 with a business major and CGPA of 3.49/4.0
I took the gmat test and scored 760 with Q50V42 and IR7 with probably a 5 on writing.
I have three internships during my undergraduate years:1. Small Private equity firm, 2months, analyst 
2. Financial Service company for individual investors, 2months 
3. Government-owned bank back office, 2 months
I don't have much e/c, mainly have joined couple clubs in my undergraduate years, had two volunteers one in the US and one in China.
Something on the side, I know some coding, video editing, and three languages. 
My clear weaknesses are lack of E/C and relatively low GPA, so I understand there isn't much of a chance for me to enter the top mba, but I wanted to post to ask anyway.

So programs I applied are:
Princeton Msc Finance
JHU Carey Msc Finance
KCL Finance(Asset pricing)
UCL Finance
ICL Finance
LSE Finance and private equity
HEC MIF
Rejected:Columbia Financial Economics
Oxford Financial Economics

My dream school would be lSE's Mfin p&e program but I am not sure what are my chances are, given my profile matches its requirement except for gpa.
Also if you can, please let me know if there are any other programs that suit me （Finance or finance-like such as risk）?
Thank you for your time and effort!

MSFHQ · Answer

First, your lack of work experience is what is stopping you from a top MBA. Your profile is strong otherwise.

My comments are this. First, the list of programs you have doesn't make much sense. For the US you have Princeton (low odds) and JHU (guaranteed). I'd suggest you look at USC, UT Austin, Vanderbilt, Boston College, etc. All great names and programs with a history of placing students in good roles and all places that I think you have a high chance of getting into.

As for European programs, my experience is they focus on GPA and class ranking. With that said, your GMAT is outstanding and you have a 3.5 which is still pretty good. EC and volunteering only really matter for MBA applications so don't worry about that. Since my advice is less precise when it comes to European programs, I would say apply to places where your profile matches and exceeds the posted class profile on their website. I still think you are a good candidate for many of the very good EU/UK programs.

GMATIstoohard · Answer

Thank you for replying. I forgot to mention that I am really into UK schools as I think it will be plainly better to go somewhere else, so I didn't care much about those schools that are well placed but not extremely extraordinary. Also, I got an invitation for an interview from Imperial College. However, as I asked my friends, it seems like people who applied the same time period as I did have got back from LSE yet I have nothing.

billionaire · Answer

Hello GMATIstoohard Obviously GMAT was not that hard for you since you scored excellent 760

You applied to some very good programs for Finance. Yeah LSE is great, but so are Princeton, UCL and ICL, for instance. If you want more excellent quant programs for recommendation, here they are : University of California, Berkeley Financial Engineering Baruch College, City University of New York Financial Engineering Carnegie Mellon University Computational Finance Columbia University Financial Engineering New York University Mathematics in Finance Cornell University MEng, FE concentration Columbia University Mathematics of Finance Massachusetts Institute of Technology Master of Finance University of California, Los Angeles Financial Engineering University of Chicago Financial Mathematics Knowing some coding is a plus and your internships are relevant. Dont worry about lack of extra curricular activities, thats more for MBA than MS in Finance or MSFE. Good Luck on becoming a quant

GMATIstoohard · Answer

I thought my lack of quant back ground hindered me from applying to those programs though( since i am not math major nor did i take anything more thant 1 multivariable caculus class)
Or is it those things aren't really the critical factors?

denim96 · Answer

Hi, I applied 3 weeks ago to the MSc Finance at LSE and got an offer this week. Overall, I think you have a strong profile and an impressing GMAT. My “only” concern would be the GPA, but i think you can make out for it.

Personally, to stand out I tried to get strong Letters of recommendations from reputed individuals who personally knowed me well and wrote a good Statement of Purpose. Good luck!

Posted from my mobile device

GMATIstoohard · Answer

Thank you for the info! Fingers crossed

sy160 · Answer

Hello everyone,

I'm currently a senior at a mediocre university in the United States. I am graduating with summa cum laude. I have a double major in Accounting and Finance, and a minor in Mathematics. I want to apply for masters in finance at Columbia. I know it's competitive. I just wanted to get some evaluation of my chances for acceptance at Columbia ms financial economics. Here is my profile:

An international student (Nepal) at a US university
Major GPAs: 4
Cumulative GPA: 3.93
GMAT 710 (Q50/V37)
Honors college: graduating with Summa Cum Laude
two research papers (writing in progress)
Fluent in Python, R, Stata, excel
President/founder: Financial Management Association (FMA)
Founder of a community library in my hometown (providing access to more than 10,000 individuals)
Election Commission: Student Government Association
Student Ambassador: college of business and economic development
President: high school student council
Internship: at a top bank in Nepal
No work experience: senior at current college. no internship because I'm an international. You all know how difficult it is to get internships and jobs in trump administration.

I am working hard to get into some competitive master programs. Please help me evaluate my profile and suggest me how I can better improve my chances. Thank you,

MiMEssay · Answer

Hey GMATIstoohard , So firstly your selection is contingent upon 3 main factors, Overall profile ( academics, work ex, extra-curricular, etc) GMAT /GRE Score Application ( How well you are able to present your story through your application) You have a pretty strong profile. Though your work experience is not enough for an MBA admission it is more than sufficient for Masters in finance program. Your work experience in Financial Services is undoubtedly an add on to your profile and enhance your profile more as it shows that you are quite clear with your career goals and school admission cell will definitely appreciate it. As for the GMAT, a score of 760 is pretty strong. In case if you feel your profile is weak because of your low GPA then the GMAT score can help bolster it to a level and you don’t need to worry about it much. Your essay will play a major role in your application, so highlight your profile strengths the best way you can make sure that you spend enough time perfecting them. As for your targeted school, LSE requires a well-built all-rounder profile. Each profile is different in its own way and can bring something new, interesting and positive to the school. This is especially important for such programs as they derive much of their value from diverse exposure. As for your profile you have overall you have a good profile and as you mentioned you come from one of the Top 40 US Business schools, so that will add on to your application. Schools such as LSE, HEC, Princeton are quite competitive and you will need to ace every part of the application (essays, GMAT, LOR, resume) to get noticed. Further, I would suggest you take this profile evaluation to get a better idea about your chances at your target schools: https://mim-essay.com/profile-evaluation?gcf Hope this Help

Profile Evaluation- master in finance or financial economics

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