Dream job vs masters?
Landed my dream job on the buy-side out of undergrad despite shitty grades. I'm in the EU and have a lower second class (equivalent to 2.50-3.00 gpa in the US). I also managed to try hard for the GMAT to get a decent score (700+) and got into a decent masters program in management, however. Should I take the analyst offer or pursue the masters program? It might be more practical right now to take the analyst offer, but I'm worried about the chances of getting into a good MBA (M7) later on. I think that taking a pre-experience masters program before the MBA kind of covers my undergrad years. What should I do?
If it's your dreamjob, you should take it. You could always do a masters later on. That's just my idea.
How would I get into a good MBA without covering my grades with another master though?
So what do you plan to achieve with an MBA if you have already landed your dream job?
This is indeed a tricky situation, but a good one to be in nonetheless, you've got two, in my opinion, good options here. I would say that experience can be as valuable as a master's at this stage in your career if it is relevant to your future career plans, AND an MBA will require some experience anyway. Depending on how you feel that you would cope with a master's and where this would leave you in a year - whether you can get another job - it may be worth it. I'm not sure how helpful it is, but it really depends on if this dream job leads to where you want to be. If it does, why change it? If it doesn't have a go at adding value to yourself and then taking that dream step.
I don’t know if it’s different in europe but US b-schools won’t care about your masters GPA. They care about undergrad. So passing up your dream job to attend extra school in the off chance you may want to later get an MBA so that you can then compete for a dream job that you could just take right now . . would be clinically insane in the US. Maybe europe different but can it be that different?
This is actually my stituation & reasoning hahaha. Why would US b-schools not care about masters GPA (MiM/MSF/etc.) and how sure are you of this?
They will give it very little, if any weight. This is what my admissions consultant told me when I applied (I had done law school) and it also makes sense because so few applicants have grad school plus the school discloses the undergrad GPA of its class so the emphasis is there.
So the bad news is that grad school won’t cover up undergrad GPA.
The good news is that if you take this dream job and get good experience there, the b-schools care about that a lot. Much more than they care about grades. Again this is what I’ve heard Andy it also makes sense to me: people with good pre-MBA jobs have the easiest time getting good post-MBA jobs. Post-MBA placement is the best indicator of a school’s value.
*and (not Andy)
So, to clarify, having pre-masters MBA from a top school (e.g. LBS/LSE/INSEAD/MIT/Duke) + great job (buy side straight after) + shitty UG grades will give an applicant an insignficant advantage over if he were to just do the great job + shitty UG grades? assume same/similar job pedigree & targeting M7 in the US. Any admissions consultant recommendations btw?
So first of all I think by “pre-masters MBA“ you mean pre-MBA masters so I’ll assume that.
In your comparison, the candidate has the same ‘dream’ job in either scenario. If that is the case, I still say yes, the advantage of the masters is insignificant. Probably helps a little but not a lot. It certainly does not whitewash the undergrad GPA.
However the bigger problem I see with the masters is that it could cost the candidate the dream job we’re speaking of. Maybe I misunderstood OP but I thought this was a tough gig to land that might not be available later.
For consultants, I used a firm called Clear Admit. Thought they were pretty solid but nothing brilliant, probably not worth the $ in the end. But they were competent.
If you want to do an MBA in the future, it does not make sense to do a MiM now. MiM programme leaders advise against pursuing an MBA after doing a MiM because they both cover very similar content and provide a similar experience.
I would advise you to take your dream job now and try to progress as much as possible up the career ladder so MBA admissions know you'd be a quality candidate.
"MiM programme leaders advise against pursuing an MBA after doing a MiM because they both cover very similar content and provide a similar experience." Where did you see this? Source?
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