Advice needed

Hello fellow monkeys. I'm from Croatia and currently I'm a student enrolled on an integrated study program in economics, which means that upon completion of my studies I will receive a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in analysis and business planning. My GPA is almost perfect and I received a dean's award for one of the best students at my university. I am currently a summer intern in deal advisory (M&A) department at one of the Big 4 firms and have also secured a summer internship for next summer at the most prestigious asset management fund in Croatia. I have also started preparing for GMAT ( aiming for 700+ ).

My desire is to enroll in MSc finance at LSE, MSc FA at LBS or some similar target university / business school in the UK or USA ( yes I would have two MSc which may be stupid, but in my opinion it's the only way of transitioning and maybe breaking into IB ).

What do you think are the chances of being accepted at one of those universities / business schools? If there is a possibility, do you think that it's too late to start networking after my acceptance considering that most of MSc programs last only one year.

Finally, do you have any advice and what would you do if you were in my shoes to maximize the chances of success in terms of getting accepted and in terms of breaking into IB?

2 Comments
 
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I don't follow all of the questions, but in terms of acceptance, you'll need to ensure that your references from professors are rock solid; don't underestimate this. Typically, professors who don't know a student personally will write "[ ] completed at [ ] course with a result of [ ], which is considered [ ]. Course content included [ ]" They need to do a ton of these, so typically have a template.

What you need to stand out is have your professors (ideally the most reputable / published professors) really bat for you and write a personalised statement. This is key to maximizing your probability of acceptance (I can't comment on the absolute probability of acceptance - I don't know your university, the program, etc.)

As for M&A / IB, do you have the option of sticking with your Big 4 role? If you can and you're top ranked, they might consider moving you to London where the market liquidity is much higher for recruitment, and you can move to other banks there. That's a good alternative I think if the absolute probability of getting into LSE is low.

 

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