Bad GPA, Good Job --> MBA
So I graduated from a top 20 undergrad school with a pretty bad cumulative GPA after transferring (~2.8-3.0) due to the fact that I worked 40 hours a week (job + internships) and maxed out my credits every semester to graduate early. Despite this, I landed at a job at a smaller hedge fund in NYC, as well as a few other job offers.
Assuming I work here for a few years, and since there are only a few of us, the principal seems pretty intent on giving me some major responsibilities fast (including overseeing businesses in a sector I'm knowledgeable about, we do trading and PE), what are the chances that after 3-5 years of great work experience that I get in to a top MBA such as stanford/wharton/harvard/MAYBE NYU? Also what test scores would I need? I know I'm a pretty undesirable candidate, but I think I have a decent shot being a 21 year old working at a hedge fund doing some pretty hands-on things, but maybe I'm naive.
I don't 100% know if I want to get an MBA, but I want to do VC eventually, and due to locational reasons, those are probably one of the few schools I would go to as the opportunity cost would be too high for me to stop working for 2 years and move somewhere I don't like that isn't an elite school.
Appreciate the help.
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this should be useful for you. this guy had a 2.7 gpa, but solid everything else. i think he's choosing between duke and yale.
Money Never Sleeps? More like Money Never SUCKS amirite?!?!?!?
Stanford is out. No doubt.
Stanford is out. No doubt. HBS will be a long shot. With a Q51 V40+ GMAT you might have a shot at Wharton (don't count on it though). NYU is probably okay.
Now an "alternate transcript" could change things a bit but don't expect that to do magic.
How's the rest of your app? (ie story, extracurriculars, etc). How well known is your "small hedge fund"? The "career progression" will be extremely important in your case. Since you're competing with other hedge fund kids with much higher gpas. You HAVE to bring something extraordinary to the table.
I think you should focus on the last paragraph of your own post. VCs don't love MBAs as much as PEs do. So see if you can get into VC without the MBA. If you do, then work away and do an EMBA down the line just for the recognition.
Also, call up one of the admission consultants who offer free initial assessments. I doubt they'd say something drastically different than what I said.
Hedge fund is well known in
Hedge fund is well known in Asia, not as much in US yet, but we are a pretty well connected fund if that makes sense. I think career progression will be good and pretty fast since we are so small.
I was under the impression that MBAs are almost feeders to VCs. Since most good VCs don't hire undergrads, and unless I do something entrepreneurial then I THOUGHT MBA was the way to go. Or knowing somebody at a firm through investments etc...Am I totally wrong on this?
Thanks for the quick response.
Top 3 is probably out, but M7
Top 3 is probably out, but M7 or top 10 could happen if you execute well. At the top 3, you need to be very strong in every category with no major weaknesses if you are coming from finance. There will be people exactly like you (and better) without the weak GPA and they will have preference. If you destroy the GMAT and execute you should have a pretty good chance at Columbia / Kellogg / Chicago, etc.
Congrats on the HF job, that sounds pretty exciting.
So... Ravenous, you seem
So... Ravenous, you seem pretty well-research re: MBA apps.
What's your take on people who studied at no-name universities outside of the US/Europe?
I'll throw out the caveat
I'll throw out the caveat that I have some opinions -- I've been thinking about an MBA on and off for something like a decade and have collected a lot of anecdotal evidence from talking to a lot of people and done a lot of reading during that time. I applied soon after graduation and got wait listed at S / W -- so I have some thoughts but I can't really say I know definitively about anything.
For no name colleges, I would say it really depends. I went to a top 10 state school that is a regional power house, and from alums that I have talked to at H / S / W + the resume books I have see, you might see ONE person from my school per year in each of those. My ex boss went to HBS and said -- it's so easy coming out of [top 10 state school] -- all you have to do is be the #1 candidate from that school and you're in! Of course I don't know how many applied, but if you assume there were at least 50, the odds are quite slim. His stats and work ex were good, but he said it was pretty obvious that HBS tried to get wide geographic representation in, and the reason he got picked is that he was a "diversity candidate" (even as a white male).
I would guess the odds are even slimmer for true "no name schools." You do see people at each school that went to colleges I've never even heard of in the US and you see bios like that sometimes in the corporate world. The annual acceptance from one of those schools will be <1 per year, so your best bet is to be truly exceptional. My impression (that I can't verify) is that you are going to be better off coming from an obscure geography than a well represented one. If you killed it at New Mexico State and have a compelling story, you're probably substantially better off than someone who has similar stats from a 3rd tier school out of New England.
My guess is that everything outside the top 3 is similar but less stringent. If you went to a 3rd or 4th tier school and have epic stats and want to get into Tuck or Kellogg something, that's probably much easier (no knock against those schools).
I would guess it is the same
I would guess it is the same ex-US -- if you went to some school in Romania or something, you could be a diversity candidate. They're probably going to take a handful of people like you, so all you have to do is be the best candidate out of that pool. If you went to a 3rd tier school in Germany or something, that's probably a pretty tough sell.
Having been to a recent
Having been to a recent welcome weekend (small subset of entire body), you have the usual US suspects + OXBridge + a few canadian ones (not talking asia).
You can find a few here and there but mostly outliers.
Redsox, you need to carve out a niche and stand out in other ways.
I know its been discussed
I know its been discussed around the forum, but any suggestions for something I can do in my limited free time from work?
I do want to start some sort of tech company. Or at least launch an app or something. I had previous experience pitching an idea to VCs but it never took off.
I'm white, from the northeast, and upper-middle class. I don't exactly have the story or demographics behind me, especially on paper, to be compelling in that sense.
Count out Stanford/Harvard
Count out Stanford/Harvard based on GPA. Unless you have some crazy humanitarian story just not likely. Also... why the heck do you want an mba? You just started working and are clearly going to stay there for a while... give it 2-3 years then worry about what you want to do. B-school isn't going anywhere.
Not to mention Hedge Fund is
Not to mention Hedge Fund is becoming more of a dirty word to adcoms.
From my experience, it seems
From my experience, it seems like you will probably end up outside of M7+Tuck with that kind of stat/work experience (doesn't apply if you are minority and/or female).
RedSox212: Since most good
Since most good VCs don't hire undergrads, and unless I do something entrepreneurial then I THOUGHT MBA was the way to go.
MBA is the only other viable alternative, but you'd have a much tougher time getting into VC as a finance person than as an entrepreneur. Based what I've read and heard (ie not from personal experience), VCs have been shying away from financiers more so than before (I'm sure there are all these stories of people getting in and all but I'm talking aggregated across everyone).
Does an MSF take precedent
Does an MSF take precedent over undergrad GPA when it comes time for MBA applications? If you bombed undergrad (<3.0) but are a solid 3.5+ in your Master's program, how do you reflect that on the apps and is it looked at more favorably?
My name is Nicky, but you can call me Dre.
RedSox212: So I graduated
So I graduated from a top 20 undergrad school with a pretty bad cumulative GPA after transferring (~2.8-3.0) due to the fact that I worked 40 hours a week (job + internships) and maxed out my credits every semester to graduate early. Despite this, I landed at a job at a smaller hedge fund in NYC, as well as a few other job offers.
Assuming I work here for a few years, and since there are only a few of us, the principal seems pretty intent on giving me some major responsibilities fast (including overseeing businesses in a sector I'm knowledgeable about, we do trading and PE), what are the chances that after 3-5 years of great work experience that I get in to a top MBA such as stanford/wharton/harvard/MAYBE NYU? Also what test scores would I need? I know I'm a pretty undesirable candidate, but I think I have a decent shot being a 21 year old working at a hedge fund doing some pretty hands-on things, but maybe I'm naive.
I don't 100% know if I want to get an MBA, but I want to do VC eventually, and due to locational reasons, those are probably one of the few schools I would go to as the opportunity cost would be too high for me to stop working for 2 years and move somewhere I don't like that isn't an elite school.
Appreciate the help.
While it can be a good thing to plan ahead or to peek at what is over the horizon, at this point you're better off just focusing on your present: your job. You just graduated. 3-5 years at your age is a friggin' eternity (read: whether you go to b-school or not, you will likely change a lot over those 3-5 years in your early 20s in terms of your perspectives, values, attitudes, etc.). That's why it's really hard to say what will happen. You may hate hedge funds and in a year, you run away with a girl you fell in love with to start a business together in Australia. Or you may do so well in your firm that you may not want to go at all. Or you get so burned out that you want to leave business altogether (and go to med school). Regardless of what happens, it's pointless to think about it right now.
Focus on doing the best you can in your job - learn as much as you can, seek out mentors, and so forth. Outside of work, don't do silly shit to build your resume. If you have the energy and time outside of work, get involved in stuff you actually give a shit about - it doesn't have to be charity. Start a band. Play baseball. Volunteer at a campaign office. Do all the things you should be doing to live a full life, to stay busy. If you do that, you'll know in a few years whether your future self really wants to even go to b-school.
Alex Chu
www.mbaapply.com