Maryland or Irvine or wait for tepper/georgetown

Question

Hi All,

Currently working in investment management in london and wanting to move to the US. Decided to pursue an MBA and have received an offer from Maryland and Irvine. Also currently on waitlist for Tepper/Georgetown.

Unfortunately, only managed to improve my Gmat score last month so got rejected with my old score from the top 10 schools.

My main motive behind an MBA from the US was the prospect of getting a job there as directly getting a job from london has proven to be a bit difficult. But 2 years is big sacrifice and if i got into a top school, i would def take that.

However in my current situation, am pondering whether to just keep working in london and keep trying for a job in the US OR join one of maryland/irvine...but they employment stats are okkish at best...

please advise

Mo2men · Answer

May I ask about your work experience and age? What is you second option if you do not get into IB??

noname007 · Answer

29 years with about 7 years exp.

Main option is investment management with backup in management or asset mgmt consulting.

basically two decisions
1) Continue in london and keep applying USA jobs vs. getting to non top 30 school 
2) if i go down mba route, then which school or alternatively wait for tepper/georgetown

teleste · Answer

What are your old/new GMAT scores? Waiting a year might be a better move depending on your goals if your improved GMAT score is a big jump from the one you used to apply this last cycle.

Living in DC to attend UMD would be nice, as would living in SoCal to attend UCI. Both options will prove to be pretty darn expensive though. Do you have scholarship money at either school? (Of course if you are used to London prices, the COL for those schools might not seem that bad to you...) In any case, I would think long and hard before paying sticker at any school if you are not totally comfortable with its recruiting pipeline for your desired career path.

By the way, there are usually still a few top 25 schools accepting applications on a rolling basis even this late in the cycle for Fall matriculation. (My beloved Vanderbilt has been one of them in years past.) It may be worth your while to look into that as well...

Good luck with the decision!

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

I can only chime in on #2 since you did not provide enough info to address #2 but I would probably see if you can sneak and admit from Tepper/Georgetown. Georgetown has good relationships in finance and a strong alumni network so with your experience it will be easier to secure an offer in IM with your past experience.

aerien · Answer

For your goals, I would err on the side of waiting for the likes of a Tepper/Georgetown, similar to  VeritasPrepDozie . Tepper & Georgetown both have strong finance programs (I personally give Tepper the edge here due to their curricular strength/ties to NYC with their computational finance program, which you could undoubtedly leverage as an MBA), and Georgetown has a very tight-knit alumni base across many of the big finance players.

Maryland can get you to where you need to go, but you'll likely have to do more leg work. Can't comment on UCI beyond that it's very local; if you want to stay in the Southern California area / LA area, it's your best bet here, but for IM you'll have to get into Pimco or you may be grasping at straws for options / have to go to boutique or niche firms, which may or may not be to your liking.

noname007 · Answer

thanks for the replies...

my main deliberation at the moment is whether to continue working in london and keep job hunting for the US? vs. Attending Maryland and hope i land a job after the MBA.

If i was admitted into a Top school...i would have def taken up the offer as i believe the two year sacrifice is worth it for a job in the US.

For Maryland, i am not too sure whats best..keep trying for the next two years to get a job in the US (while working in london) or spend 2 years doing a Maryland MBA and get a job that way.

I think the chances of a landing a banking/investment/consulting job via the MBA route (even if its from average rated MBA school) are higher then job hunting from outside the US.

Mo2men · Answer

I would not suggest targeting this field from outside the US. There is fierce competition inside the US so most recruiter most probably won't think in someone outside the US as they have talent from big names inside the US and they will avoid the hassle of working visa.

That being said, penetrating IB needs a strategy. You need to see who recruit from that school, where the most places where recruiters are and alumni. No wonder that New Your is the place for IB and hub for financial sector headquarters. So BS around is area is famous for their connections with IB such as HBS, Wharton, Stern, Columbia, Booth, Tuck ans few others. Those names are big feeders to the industry. The location of BS allows students for city treks and access for networking. The alumni is great tool and their role will be more important as they will compensate for the school attractiveness, if the IB recruiters do not go there regularly. Applying this to you case aerien & VeritasPrepDozie, both offered valuable recommendations. I'm leaning to Georgetown as their report shows huge percentage heading to financial sector. I do not recommend Irvin at all as it is local school not known for IB.

Otherwise, you can prepare yourself for next year with solid GMAT score and apply the big schools. As I remember GMAT score is as important to consulting firms as to IB.

good luck

aerien · Answer

You sound like you're wavering. And frankly (not sure what your visa/work authorization status is), it seems to be pretty tough to get a job in the US coming from outside the US right now -- it's even tough getting a job in the US while you're IN the US if you need work authorization. For that reason if you're not a US citizen and you're set on working in the US, I'd go the MBA route. It's not a guarantee by any means but it will open doors in terms of the network and connections to firms. You'll have to check as to which school would be a better fit for your considerations. If you're still not sure, it may be worth to holding off and reapplying. See if you can get into whatever you consider to be a "Top" school; again, no outcomes are certain but you won't look back and think "what if I had looked into  ".

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

I definitely think it will be easier to get a job in your desired field via a U.S. MBA. As stated above it is just so hard to remotely recruit from so far away with so many others also seeking similar roles that are much closer. Another option would be hedging and holding off for one more year and see if you can get into a better program and/or secure employment in the U.S. from your current location

Maryland or Irvine or wait for tepper/georgetown

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