redacted ~ thanks

...

I am just curious as to people's thoughts on my story having a chance at getting into a good school given these conditions:
- I went to a regional college with a full scholarship my freshman year, got a 3.4 and transferred to a better school (it was top 10 for my program but only ranked between 40 and 60 overall.)
- I then proceeded to stop going to classes there, and ultimately dropped out to pursue a very lucrative opportunity.
- I earned 6 figures and some notoriety/achievements before finally deciding to go back to school now.
- I am currently in a 100th or so ranked school with a 4.0 (previous GPA's do not transfer), and intend on graduating with a 4.0.

Are there any continuing education programs or courses any of you can recommend? I've completed 2 at NYU (credit analysis and RE finance) because my company offered to pay for the entire thing. Now they offered to pay for another course of my choosing. Would love to hear any high quality ones that may prove to be useful. Thanks

Do most people bring their car on campus with them? Do they sell their car? Or just leave it at home? I'm thinking about buying a car soon, and B-school is in my plans for a few years from now. So I'm just curious about what others have done

So say one is following the well travelled BB -> Buyside -> Bschool path, what is the best way of making yourself stand out from other IBD candidates? The vast majority of them will have target schools, stong GPA and GMAT in the bag. Is there anything one could do, given the little time of work a BB analyst has?

just to paint the picture: 1st year analyst at a top BB, planning ahead...

Why not go to medical school if you have a high gpa, and take the pre reqs online or through summer school. Why not go to medical school?

Apart of me thinks it would be so cool to be a physician
-saving lives
-bringing people back from the brink of death (Emergency med)
-very rewarding

The only thing about medical school that turns me off is the long wait for the ROI, and all the boring course work to get into it (biochem, ochem, etc etc)

Hey I know many ppl here are very knowledgeable and was wondering what should I do. Currently have a 3.8 GPA, and I am from Canada (Toronto).

I was wondering what should I do CFA, MBA, MFIN, MFE...

I think I would like to do investment banking so I was thinking of aiming to do my MFin, at Queens University. I believe Rotman, Ivey, and Queens students run Bay Street. Though Queen's Mfin program usually require candidates to have work experience they will make an exception for strong candidates that demonstrate two of the qualities (undergrad in business, gmat >650, and CFA lvl 1).

Current 3rd yr student in canada, non target school, near perfect GPA. I still managed to get some interviews with some IB firms in Canada, and have other interviews coming up for non banking jobs?

I want to know this summer should I prepare for my gmat to try to get into Princeton's Masters in finance or Harvard's 2+2 program or should I spend the spring studying for my CFA lvl 1 and do financial modelling programs?

Obviously work experience is the main issue for b-school.

But would good stats make just 1 or 2 years of "average quality" work experience adequate for a finance target like Stern's MBA? e.g. a tradeoff.

This is his stats:
Penn UG, 3.87, Psych major, 730 GMAT. He does healthcare consulting at an no name. He also didn't graduate college until 24.

Give me good info/anecdotes so I can send this to him. He feels stuck in his job and wants to enter a BB associate class.

I have a question targeted for current or graduated MBAs(and especially those familiar with career switchers).

My background is mostly in product development as a software engineer for a decent company (I bet many of you in finance have seen some of my creations) before moving on to a quasi quant/software role at declining asset management firm. I want to make the step to an investment-role in a buyside firm, and believe an MBA will provide that extra push.

However, is this an unrealistic expectation given my work experience? If so, what would be a more appropriate post-mba job (consulting/banking/something else)? A friend of mine attended H/S/W with a consulting background, and wasn't able to make his desired career switch because he lacked experience.

I'm testing the waters to see if B-School is the right option for me two or three years down the line.

I was hoping you all could take a look at my resume to see what, if anything, needs to be improved for a decent B-School resume. (My concentration has yet to be decided. However, I'm looking to apply to a top 15 school.)

Thank you everyone in advance. I'd love to review any resumes of yours, as well.

Best,

SuitandTie

Hey all,

I did some searching and got some decent info, but need some insight for the professionals who are already there:

UG non-target GPA is 3.05 bsba
Working in Pharmaceutical Sales (good numbers)

Ambition: MBA from vandy, indiana or emory, will apply to a couple of long-shots.

How: Certificate in Finance at UCLA Extension to create alternative transcript and show interest, crush the gmat (hopefully), get involved with the chamber of commerce

Result: MBA offer, graduate --> Work in S&T - Institutional Sales desk (open)

Do you think this is a sufficient plan?

I've read multiple assessments of HBS vs. GSB vs. Wharton across exit opportunities, school culture, brand, etc. Aiming for future in Asia, so increased brand name of HBS does come into play. Never experienced the west coast. Highly interested in VC and finance environment, but limited previous experience. Consulting-bound after college in MBB in US, though not likely for more than 5 years. Original long term plan was to facilitate growth for company in China, but have often been told, "don't close doors [to entrepreneurship, finance, options in US], you're just a college senior."

Need help with those MBA application essays? Not sure what schools to target? Or how, you know, to get in? Ask away, folks. We've got our team of experts on standby to answer your questions, whatever they may be. So... bring it.

I was wondering what are the exit opportunities of a boutique consulting firm? is it possible to get into a top 10 b school after 2 years of work?
-should i try to look for something specialized?
-will I be at a disadvantage because I am not from a MBB. I was set on going to med school until my senior year. I decided I hated it and went looking for jobs. Sorta found my place in consulting.
-should i try to get a job at a feeder firm for a year or two then apply to b-school

I just submitted the last app for round one and started wondering why do schools put these artificial deadlines in place? It makes much more sense to have rolling admissions and just line up applications by the postmark date. I understand there can be some "hard" deadlines for scholarships or visas, but what point does round based admissions serve other than driving students mad?

My MD is writing me an LOR he suggested I add a weakness as a strength to it. Should I?

...who go straight to the buyside (BX PE, TPG PE, GS SSG/PIA) go to bschool right after their 2 years? The path is typically 2 years IB --> 2 years PreMba --> BSchool --> PostMBA. But since they effectively skipped the two years of banking do they then just go right for an MBA after two years or do they go after another buyside gig and go to bschool later?

This is assuming they want to do PE not HF were an MBA is typically not a requirement.

We've all heard about them, so what do they really do? Is it worth it to become one? Is the networking good? Good resume booster?

Trolled around the forums and didn't really see much constructive talk about if its worth it to become a free mason. Walk by a lodge everyday on my way to work and I am slightly curious

So I know a few "elite boutiques" have a generalist model where analysts can get staffed on both M&A or Restructuring deals, but is that common in the MM space?

How would that experience look coming out of an Middle Market firm? I think I want to stay involved with advisory work, but have an interest in distressed PE/Hedge Funds. Also, think it would be good to get some experience on the buy-side then switch back over if I still like it.

Overall is having m&a and restructuring experience on mm deals unique? Set you apart well for Business School/ buy-side recruiting?

Also, how would this do compared to a strictly restructuring shop that does much bigger deals? Would the varied deal type overwhelm the size of the deal when it comes to outside opportunities?

How is nyu undergrad viewed by Business schools? Like if I didn't get into Stern?

How does rx place into bschool?

I was thinking a decent shop like millstein or miller buckfire?

I have made it down the line for the recruiting process with capital one as an operations analyst. As the position isnt particularly finance related - what is capital one's reputation in the business and banking world? If i were to take this position and excel would it be an effective way to move into a good consulting company (in a few years), Ibank(perhaps after Bschool down the road), etc?

I was just wondering what kind of extracurricular activities do people who got into H/W/S from banking have? How many hours a week can you really dedicate to outside activities when you're already working 6-7 days a week?

Anyone ever heard of I banking associates leaving for bschool getting some sort of stub bonus? Would like to know of specific banks that do this as ammunition at my bank. Many thanks!