Hi all,
I will be starting in audit this fall and wanted some advice. My end goal is to work in a "strategic finance" or financial management type of role within a company later on. Based on what I've read here, moving into FP&A from audit is doable but doesn't always happen. Maybe it's a bit foolish for me to plan so far ahead when I haven't even started my career, but I at least want to start thinking about potentially using an MBA to make the switch down the line if the need arises.
Other things that I've read on here indicate that getting into the MBA business schools">M7 is really hard from audit. Given my past history of being a poor standardized test taker and otherwise uninteresting profile, I think getting into those schools will be a tough sell. My question then is whether I'd be competitive for schools in the Ross/Darden/Anderson/Yale/Cornell range with a Big 4 background and at least a 700 (I didn't score 700+ on my first GMAT attempt to get into my masters program, but I think I can at least get in the 700s if I study full-time and not attempt to study while working part-time...it's getting into the 730+ range that would be hard) or are those schools also out of reach for someone like me?
Finally, I wanted to know how "low" could I go, so to speak, as far as MBA programs go to still have a shot at the more interesting corporate finance jobs at top companies. I really don't want to spend time and money on an MBA and then exit to a corporate finance job that is glorified accounting/reporting (note: this doesn't mean that the job description includes NO accounting because I know that's going to be part of most corporate jobs to some extent). I really want to move into something that deals with analyzing the financial impacts of decisions companies make and financial decision-making, so I'm hoping to go to a school that would give me a shot at those roles. I'd also be open to consulting (even if it's at a tier 2 shop), so I'd ideally want to be a at a place that places well in those roles. As far as PE/VC/HFs are concerned, I'm not interested at all really, but I doubt I'd get into those from a non-M7 school anyway.
If anyone has advice regarding this, I would greatly appreciate it. I apologize for being so vague about what I mean by "strategic finance", but it's a fairly vague term to begin with. I can try to elaborate in case what I said doesn't make any sense at all.
Thanks!
Yes, but I'd plan to get a 720 GMAT for those schools. Also the pure strategic type of roles are possible, but hard to get in the 10-15 rank.
Gonna bump this in hopes of more responses. Same aspirations as the OP.
For what you're aiming for if I'm understanding it correctly, I think you should stick to M7 + Haas, Tuck, Ross, NYU, Cornell, Darden, Fuqua, Yale, and Anderson. It is possible with the top 10-16 ranked schools. You should also consider McCombs, Tepper, & Kenan-Flager for good regional placements.
I’ll give you my two cents on your test score question (there’s a very similar thread right near yours with some Big 4 Auditor opinions as well).
First of all, yes, of course you should do as well as you can on the GMAT, and there’s probably a minimum that you need to exceed. Above average would be even better. However, there is no raw number that will be good enough. You have to think of your overall profile and what your weaknesses are. Schools outside of H/S and probably W are likely to blink at one smallish weakness. That small weakness (usually) can’t be a 600 on the GMAT, or a 2.4 GPA, or an extended unemployment. However, it can be a 690 GMAT when the school’s average is 700, so long as your GMAT is at or above average (let’s say above 3.5), you have good work experience, and everything else.
Moreover, your academics are a package. If you have a 4.0 as an applied math major but only a 690 on the GMAT, you’re probably okay at the schools you listed because you pass the quant barrier. If you have a 690 with a huge verbal score, and were an English major, that’s an entirely different story.
My overall point is this: your work experience is probably a “smallish weakness”, assuming you stay in Big 4 audit until your application. Big weakness? Not at all. Therefore, you probably want to get your academics to the point where they’re at least equivalent to your target schools averages, which would be a 700 GMAT for the schools you listed (assuming your GPA is solid). Would it be better to get a better score? Of course, but a 720 isn’t going to get you in to any of those schools, whereas a strong story, solid work performance (promotions and recs) and ECs paired with a 700 will give you a much better shot.
Raw numbers are REALLY important, but in my opinion, at the top schools, they serve mostly as a disqualifier. I am relatively sure that my GPA (3.2) knocked me out at H/W, preventing them from giving the rest of my application much of a look. However, at the schools just below them, they were willing to take a look beyond the GPA, and I got into all three (with a barely above average GMAT). I think this is even more true as an auditor, where AdComs probably won’t have much of a question as to whether or not you’re “smart”, but more if you’re interesting and will do interesting things in b-school and beyond. That means iron out your story and do cool shit outside of work that you can talk about in essays and interviews.
Basically, I think the biggest obstacle for you is to shed the accountant label as opposed to getting an exceedingly high test score, although the latter never hurts. I won’t comment too much on the jobs aspect, but I’m pretty sure all those schools would put you in the running for both solid corporate finance jobs and Tier 2 consulting.
Go for M7
I'll definitely be trying for M7, but I also understand that it won't be easy to get there. It's competitive enough for bankers/consultants at ivies and I'm not banking on getting in as a non-target accountant, even if I crush the GMAT. Is it really that much harder to get where I want to be (excluding MBB) from a T15 school? I thought the M7/HSW distinction was more relevant for PE/HFs but less so for corp fin
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