Hey everyone,
I'm a 28 year old CPA who is currently working as a senior tax consultant at a big 4 firm. Next year is my promo to manager. The work I do is incredibly unappealing to me and I can't imagine a career in tax. I'd really like to transition to IB through an MBA program, if possible. The work seems more engaging and obviously so does the pay.
Besides having a career path that doesn't translate well to B school, I also have a horrible undergrad track record. I went to a low ranked state school and graduated with a 2.7 GPA with a dual degree in Accounting and Finance. Unfortunately during my freshman year of college my dad passed away from cancer and I never really recovered academically.
I haven't taken the GMAT yet, but my Manhattan prep scores are consistently in the high 600s - low 700s.
My dream would be to work at a BB on wall street, but that seems incredibly unlikely. I know that top finance schools would likely not even consider me. Is there any IB target school that would take a serious look at me?
Thanks for reading.
you've gotta really focus on the GMAT to show schools you're smart despite your low GPA (although your dad getting sick is definitely a fair reason for it). You ideally want a 720+ to have a shot at some of the Top 15-20 schools. I'd also take some classes online or at a local college and get As in them to show you are capable of doing well in the classroom
Just wondering, is GMAT Quantum good for quant and ir? I like the GMAT Pill verbal but not the quant and looking for good quant course. Is it good for someone who hasn't seen GMAT Math since high school days? Or should i go through math workbook first?
Thanks for your response. Assuming I can work my way up to the 720 range, what school(s) would you recommend for finance recruiting that would be in my wheelhouse?
i used GMAT quantum for quant and highly recommend it
If you're dreaming of working at a BB, your dreams are probably misguided. Most people dream of banging Cheryl Tiegs or motor boating Dolly Parton (or whoever the new hottie is), not slaving in front of a computer 80 hours+ per week.
Nothing wrong with the job, per se, but definitely not dream worthy. Do well on the GMAT and the dream is yours.
This. Except I'll qualify that there's actually plenty wrong with the job and if you (correctly) find tax work soulless and soul-crushing, you'll wind up in a similar place in banking, except you'll have shown at what price you'll make the trade-off.
But since you want to get into banking anyway, given your situation, you need to clear a 700 and really, really butter up one of the schools ranked 10 to 17 (Stern/Fuqua/SOM on the upper end, Johnson/Goizueta on the lower, and the other schools in-between). They're a good enough platform to get you a banking job.
I'll take the bait. What's the career path that you believe is not soul crushing? Also Columbia is typically ranked just inside the top 10 and Emory is usually closer to 20, so how are they both on the lower end?
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