I just recently started my first year as an analyst at a boutique investment bank in NYC (relatively small). Coming out of college I graduated with a 3.45 overall and a 3.8 in my finance concentration(Top 50 public school) I held both a retail brokerage internship my sophomore summer and a private equity internship my junior summer.
My main question is in 4-5 years what do you think my chances are at getting into a top 20 MBA program? What are some things that I can do to help pad my resume?(Already involved in charity work in NYC) As we all know the number of applications to b-schools drops off when the economy picks up. I'm sure I'll have a better shot then versus now.
Any input is much appreciated
Have you taken the GMAT? If not, do you have a gut feeling for what you might score?
You seem to have addressed the other aspects of the application:
Undergrad- Your overall GPA may be slightly below the mean of the top schools, but I don't think in any way this is a dealbreaker. You seem fine in this regard.
Work- While your internships are great experience, MBA programs are going to be focused on your work post graduate. They will want to see progress, as this will be seen as indicative of leadership ability. You will need to impress your employers and gain more responsibility. You should be applying with an upward trend here. The good news is that your 4 years of boutique IB experience would position you very well, assuming you did well there.
Extracurricular Activities- Good work on the charity side. Again, the adcoms would prefer to see solid leadership and dedication to 1 or 2 activities than volunteer work with 15 different charities. The trick is to find 1 or 2 that you actually care about, and will be motivated to put in the time and resources required to make a substantial impact. Like your work experience, this will be largely determined in the next 4 years, but there is no reason that this should keep you out of a top 20 program.
So the real question mark here is, what about the GMAT?
"I'm not sure what the four 9's do, but the ace, I think, is pretty high."
Your best bet at this point is to really focus on your career. Show initiative, step up, get promoted if possible, take on interesting projects, and try your best to be a rockstar. You are really early on and the best thing that you can do now is get the most out of your work experience so that you can get strong letters of rec and really sell the experiences in your essays.
Besides making the most out of your work experience, you will want to take the GMAT in about 2-3 years - not yet, because, as you probably know, it is only good for 5 years, and if you apply in 4-5 years and don't get in, you are cutting it close and may even have to retake. So give yourself some time to get used to the job, and then work your way into taking the GMAT.
In addition to the GMAT, you want to keep volunteering, and try to build upon it - really step up and try to take on a but of additional work or even some sort of a leadership role, in any capacity, with a volunteer group or an EC of your choice. The ad com likes to see well rounded candidates, but they want to see well rounded candidates with at least some sort of leadership experience of potential in each field.
You are very early in your career, so for now, enjoy life, enjoy what you're doing and really make the most out of your opportunities. Your GPA shouldn't be an issue, nor should your school. Don't, however, assume it will be easier in 4-5 years, it may be, or it may be the same, or it may be harder. Time will tell, so don't focus on that, just focus on developing your candidacy as best you can.
Kind regards,
IBanker www.BankonBanking.com Articles, News, Advice and More Break Into Investment Banking
Thanks a lot Bankon and BlueHorseShoe, the input is much appreciated.
As an analyst, chances are you aren't going to have much (if any) time outside of work for anything (let alone extracurriculars). Ask any analyst or ex-analyst here what it's like to even maintain friendships or relationships outside of work, and if they're honest with you, it's hard.
Adcoms also understand that, so they're not going to expect a chock full of extracurriculars from you while you're working as a banker.
If you're not tied to banking (or finance), what can work for your career (not just for b-school admissions) is to do your 2-year minimum, and then get out. Don't get trapped in the situation where you're a few months away from your 2 year mark and you don't know what to do next. By then, you should have some tangible choices in front of you AND have made a clear cut choice what you want to do in year 3 (stay in banking, or take the "other job" that you have lined up). To be in that position, you should think about what it is you'd love to do after your 2 years NOW. Would you like to spend a year working at a non-profit? Would you want to work abroad in year 3 -- whether in banking, or doing something else (i.e. work for Disney corporate, etc.)? Join the Peace Corps?
If you focus more on what is best for your overall professional development (beyond just "finance" or the analyst program), the stronger candidate you'll be for any job or b-school admissions process. It's not about padding your resume, it's about building a body of work and life for yourself that fully engages you - because that will show up in how you write your resume, as well as show up in your face when you're talking about your career progress in a face-to-face situation (such as an interview).
You'll soon figure out that there are two kinds of people in banking: those who really want to be there (yes, they do exist, although they are a minority), and those who "end up" staying year after year (the majority - they continue to remain in banking by default, like walking zombies - mind you, this isn't limited to banking - it's a lot of people in any industry).
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