Wisconsin ASAP - MBA, CFA for Investment Management

Question

Background
I am member of the Class of 2009 at the University of Wisconsin. I have volunteered as a member of this forum to help answer questions for those students that have a potential interest in applying to Wisconsin, particularly the ASAP Program

I am currently a first-year student in the ASAP Program, which stands for Applied Securities Analysis Program. This program specialization is a CFA Program Partner and includes management of a $40m portfolio as a second year student. The ASAP Program is focused on students interested in investment managment. Placement opportunities include both buy-side and sell-side research, but primarily buy-side. It boasts many prominent alumni, including Bill Nygren of Oakmark Funds, Paul Leff of Perry Capital, and Phill Gross of Adage Capital. Best of all, these people come back to Wisconsin as guest lecutures to help teach the first-year class "ASAP 101" and listen to stock pitches from second year students. In January 2007, the ASAP Program was featured in Smart Money Magazine, see attachment for the article.

Wisconsin ASAP MBA Home Page:
https://www.bus.wisc.edu/asap/default.asp

Wisconsin ASAP Placement Data:
https://www.bus.wisc.edu/asap/program/placement.asp

See more alumni here: https://www.bus.wisc.edu/asap/testimonials/default.asp

cnc2 · Answer

I am open to taking questions and will try to check this forum several times a week.

The student profile for the ASAP Program exceeds the averages of the Wisconsin School of Business, which is a good thing considering how competitive it is to land buy-side positions.

Avg. GMAT ~690-700
Years of Experience Middle Range: 2-5 Years
GPA ~3.3-3.6

helpslip · Answer

Hi,
Would you be willing to take some questions on the Grainger Center / SCM specialization. I realize it is outside of your area.

Thanks

cnc2 · Answer

Sure, what are your questions?

gmatclb · Answer

This looks pretty interesting.

How many students are admitted each year?

Do I need to have passed any CFA exams to be considered?

Thanks.


What job function does the majority of the graduates go on to do? ex trading, research, investment banking, etc.

cnc2 · Answer

This Class of 2009 has 18 students. You can see profiles online at uwasap.org > go to students section. There are 16 second year students. I am not sure how many total people were admitted, but I can tell you no spots were left over for the later rounds (past April).

Taking the CFA beforehand is a plus to your application, but I would estimate only half have passed a CFA Level 1-3. If you have never taken the CFA, you register for the June 2009 exam. Many of our students get scholarships, discount rates from Schweser, and a CFA Review class is given specifically for ASAP students. The pass rate last year was 100% for ASAP students. The UW ASAP Program is also a CFA Program Partner. This means that at least 70% of the material in the CFA examinations is included in our curriculum. As a side note, the CEO of the CFA Institute, Jeff Diermeier is a UW ASAP Alum.

Jobs placement is mostly buyside money management firms. We did have a few people intern on the sell-side last year at Credit Suisse and UBS. You can check out placement on the website as well. It is quite good, especially considering the competitiveness of placement within Investment Management.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I hope this helps.

helpslip · Answer

In looking at the website the number of folks in the SCM program seems tiny (c.10). I wonder do they take classes in lockstep or do they simply intersect for the part of the curriculum that focuses on SCM? Is the specialization treated as addition to the core program or do the people in the program follow a unique track from day one? The class size (for the whole MBA program) given on the website is relatively small. I would assume that in both cases this is a positive (more contact with faculty, personal attention, etc) but I wonder how the Grainger program affects developing a network with others in the MBA, and with presenters/recruiters who's visit is not targeted to the Grainger center.

I would also like to understand the profile of the group admitted Are they primarily quant/analysis types or are they more broadly oriented? How much and what type of work ex do they bring to the program? What industries do they come from? 

Thanks a bunch.

cnc2 · Answer

helpslip, 

The MBA Core consists of 4 classes fall and spring is taken in lockstop, but you will only have some of your SCM colleagues in the core with you. For the core, students are divided into two cohorts randomly. You will have a minimum one to two extra classes each semester (beyond the core) with only SCM.

There is no negative impact on networking with other MBA's. I would say you become closest to those within your speciality purely based on the common interests you share professionally. You take your core classes with variety of specializations. Every Thursday the entire MBA is invited to a social called TAPS that is held at bars around campus. 

Given that I am not in the SCM specialization, I can't really comment on the background of those in the program. I know several SCM's, but I am uncertain whether they already have a background or are switching careers.

helpslip · Answer

Hi cnc2,
Thanks for the answer. I think the random cohort sounds good. I would prefer to interact with the widest mix of people possible. I certainly don't expect you to take a survey but, if you think of it, it would be great to know a bit about the career arcs of the SCM folks you know. Also I am curious about the age / experience distribution within the group. Do they tend to be older with broad experience or vice versa. TAPS sounds great (with the exception that it is often played at funerals). I work with a fellow who went to undergrad there and he tells me it is a fun place.
Thanks

cnc2 · Answer

helpslip,

Madison is definately a fun place. It has far exceeded my expectations. Even though it is only about 300,000 population the city feels much larger because its population is concentrated around the capital and university.

As far as the SCM profiles, please visit this website:

https://www.bus.wisc.edu/grainger/resumes/

It gives a brief profile of each of the SCM specializations. There are not any resumes posted due to security issues. It was a school-wide decision for this year.

Wisconsin ASAP - MBA, CFA for Investment Management

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