Calling all corporate finance peeps. Now that I am thinking about business school, I wanted to see what realistic chances are corporate finance dudes really have at a top b-school.
Here's a quick profile:
- 27 years old time of matriculating (2015)
- 5 years experience (startup, corp finance (tech), corp finance (auto))
- No promotions per se, but I anticipate (hope) to be a senior analyst by the end of this year.
- Have regular presentations and work fairly closely with the company's CIO and CFO on a huge transformation project for the company (more CIO, but still, I'm just extremely fortunate, no skill on my part).
- 3.6 GPA, total non-target undergrad
- 660 GMAT (I really don't want to apply with this crappy score when I took it almost 3 years ago, will retake and aiming for 720).
- A unique extracurricular I guess. Led gatherings of 50 people volunteering in prison (both federal and state) bi-weekly.
- Taught kids in impoverished areas for 2 years.
- I have some other extracurriculars, but would prefer not to disclose them for personal reasons (I think they would "set me apart" in a sense).
Realistically, my goal post b-school would be consulting or i-banking, but if the pay is right, go back to corp. finance. Long term goal is to start a business, but getting different industry experiences I feel will help achieve that.
What schools should I be aiming for (hopefully given I actually get a 700+ score)? I'm kind of at a loss with so much conflicting information and generally being out of it for a while.
You definitely sound qualified for my F500. The issue is that we only take a few people from 1 or 2 schools per year, so (for my company only) your chances are pretty low. We just don't need many post-mbas because our pipeline of talent at the Manager level is very strong. Other companies may definitely have a different philosophy.
Also, you'd come in post-mba as a Manager. It sounds like you're probably about qualified to be a Mgr now. It would be much easier (again, for my company only) to get hired in as a Mgr now and then get mba part time.
Huh? Thanks for the information about your company but I was looking to get more info on what schools to target for an MBA.
Wow....yeah, I totally missed the point. I blame it on multi-tasking
Ultimately, I tell everyone that if they're trying for CorpFin I'd strongly consider passing on a full time MBA, but that isn't your question.
To answer your actual question - my limited experience is that I've seen mostly Northwestern, Harvard, Stanford and Duke. I'd go to the best of those schools that you can get in to.
I think he's referring to your job goals after school. Anyways, I think you have some things going for you but I think H/S/W is not very likely, with the rest of M7 stretches. Your top priority shouldn't be thinking about what schools to apply at this point, but rather focus on boosting your gmat score. Do it now while you can and not a few months later where you'd have to be focused on the research/essays.
Regarding the previous posts... remember this is a banking forum. If you aren't in banking then you are looked down upon.
With that said, I would feel much more comfortable about my chances applying from a F500 blue chip back ground than I would from some middle market investment bank. (Let's be honest - not every banker is coming out of GS/JPM/MS). Adcoms don't have the same tunnel vision on banking that people on these forums do. The banking pool is highly competitive with high GPAs. In my opinion, fortune 500 back grounds tend to have more opportunities to get involved in leadership projects and tend to come form more recognizable brand name companies. The rest is up to you to spin your story properly.
This is almost impossible to evaluate without your gmat score. If you're shooting for a 720, but currently have a 660, that's basically the difference between a very solid shot at M7 versus a stretch to get into top 15.
If you get a 720, you'll be in very good shape, depending on how strong those extras really are. a 3.6, 720, and blue chip employer with good extras makes you a contender just about anywhere, with the exception of H/S, and maybe W. Are the jobs blue chip or F500 companies?
What is the exact employment path, if you don't mind sharing? One concern is that it seems a bit disjointed, and given that you clearly haven't ironed out your post b-school goals, it's definitely going to be crucial to streamline everything. You very much need to think about how your corp. finance/start-up experience flows into b-school, and how b-school will help to make you ready for your goal. Best bet is probably consulting, since you can play the strong corp. finance experience that you already have with the need to develop as a strategic thinker in b-school and in your jobs out of b-school (consulting). Then maybe combine your startup/tech/auto into a longer term goal. Just a thought.
I'm not going to dive into the 660 analysis because there's no point. First step is to get everything together and crush that GMAT. A 700+ puts you in good shape, and a 720+ puts you in very, very good shape.
Thanks for everyone's responses. The companies are both in the F500, tech is considered blue chip and auto is one of the most recognizable brands in the world.
I don't intend to apply with the 660. I made another thread about my score but basically I'll either hire a tutor or take a verbal class (my area I need to improve). That is my priority for the next coming months.
As to my goals, I'd say consulting would truly be my first choice post MBA. As for my current employment path, started in a small startup mainly doing finance work/projects. Then went to tech corp fin. and recently moved to auto, although I was brought into their IT finance team given my background.
By the way, is there really a big discrepancy between a 700 and 720?
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