A little background: I started off at a semi-target liberal arts school, was there for 2-3 years. I started off strong, but health issues compounded by lack of initiative on my younger self's part eventually completely fucked me and I left the school with some Fs in my last year. I took a few years to figure stuff out, working in a restaurant before deciding to finish my undergrad degree essentially starting from scratch in business administration at a local, regional non-target.
I had a bit of a rocky start, but since then I've managed to get up to a 3.5 with more like a 3.7-3.8 in my finance classes (my concentration). I am also founded the investment club at my school, and am involved in many other ways on campus in leadership roles. Right now I am a junior and this summer I will be interning at a small investment management firm doing mostly equity research. Before that, I've had 3 other significant internships, one finance related, two not (but still very interesting and worthwhile in their own right).
I would really like to go straight from undergrad into a respectable MSF program to really take my technical skills to the next level and gain access to the alumni network/recruiting of a prestiguous university.
My question essentially boils down to this: My GPA at my current institution does not take into account the grades from my previous college, only the credits. In researching the application process, it seems as though they require transcripts (with grades) from all colleges attended. Will the Fs from my final semesters at my old school completely sink me? Should I even bother applying?
How much does the GMAT factor in? If I were to absolutely crush it, would that minimize some of my earlier transcript issues?
The schools I was looking at for an MSF are mostly JHU, Maryland, Georgetown, and I suppose (if a boy can dream) Villanova, Vanderbilt, Virginia.
Thanks for the help, first time poster!
crush GMAT first. Fails will never help but you can only outdo those failures, and have a lot of room to make it happen.
lastly, Georgetown > Villanova in many dimensions. They got NCAA basketball champs but still doesn't make a top tier MSF. The real top tier is MIT.
With your stats, I'd definitely apply everywhere. Even Vandy and UVA would be doable with a strong GMAT.
Thank you for the reply, your story is very encouraging. If you don't mind me asking, which programs did you get into and what was your GMAT score? We can take it to PMs if you like.
PM'd
Just curious, but what program at Virginia are you looking at? Global Commerce? I ask because I'm also looking at applying for Fall 2019 at Virginia.
Not OP, but it would have to be Global Commerce since their M.S. in Commerce is closed to undergrad business majors.
Having done some further research, I am reconsidering Virginia. Is it true that they only admit non-business undergrad majors to their MFin program? If so, I would be immediately disqualified.
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