Here's my situation. I've been studying for the GMAT this summer while also doing an internship. My thoughts were, if recruiting doesn't go well for FT, then I'll have my gmat score and I can apply to Master of Finance programs.
After studying for a few weeks, and finishing some books, I got kind of burned out. I wouldn't have gotten burned out if this were my top choice, but it's my backup. Ideally I don't want to get a masters.
If recruitment doesn't go well for me by October, would I still be able to finish studying and take the GMAT and apply to schools? At this point I know the format of the test and the different sections of verbal and quant. I would primarily just need to really hit the hard quant sections. The earliest round of applications I've seen are usually in January.
Would this be a bad idea? I know this is my last summer, so after I get done at work with 6 it's a bit hard to study for a couple of hours knowing I could be doing other things and especially knowing that I might not even apply for grad school. Plus it's like $250 ish to sit for the GMAT... Decently expensive if you end up not using it...
You'll have time in october. I'd try and get the GMAT done though so you can just knock out essays and hit submit. Plenty of msf programs still accepting applications throughout the winter and early Jan.
Here's my 2 cents as somebody that went through your exact situation. Evaluate realistically your odds are at landing some superdays for full-time recruiting. Do you have your resume flagged at all the BBs/EBs? Are you at a target? Are you currently interning in investment banking while taking some time each week to network? I can tell you right now that a lot of people check all those boxes, so if you're not, maybe you should be spending more time on the GMAT and building your network for summer analyst recruiting as opposed to full-time.
If you're interested in NYC BBs, here's a pretty solid plan of attack.
1) Take the GMAT ASAP. Hopefully you have a pretty solid background, UG GPA, internships and can get into some top programs like Vandy/CMC/MIT
2) (Using Vandy as example because I know they have an early deadline) Apply early to Vanderbilt. You can get in by November if you apply first deadline. As soon as you're accepted and deposited, Vandy admissions will begin to work with you and send you an alumni database.
3) Network your ass off for summer analyst recruiting with the help of a huge IB network you probably don't have right now if you're considering the MSF route.
4) Hopefully you can get into some superdays and kill it with the help of some mock interviews with Vandy, and now you won't need to go through full-time recruiting if you don't suck next summer.
5) Profit. Go into an incredible master's program in a great city, resting easy because you've already got your job lined up.
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