Do I have a chance at non H/S M7 MBAs?
My profile:
-Pakistani
-750 GMAT
-1st class honors degree from a modern UK QS ranked school (don't know about it's equivalence in terms of GPA but WES calculator says 3.7)
-Will have 3 years of experience (2 at Big 4 deals and 1 at an investment bank as IB analyst). Strong deal experience and may transition to a regional PE before I apply next year (so 4 years when I apply & 5 at the time of matriculation)
-ACCA member in good standing
-Founded a non-profit organization or an NGO with my older brother and helped raised funds for internally displaced persons in KP & Punjab provinces of Pakistan during floods. Provided them temporary shelter & formed makeshift clinics
-Launched a country wide government endorsed Dengue awareness initiative during the Dengue epidemic in Northern Pakistan
-Teacher's Assistant in college
Post MBA goals:
IB or PE if I make the PE transition this year
A little more:
I have an endocrine issue (don't want to go into the specifics) and come from a very humble background. I spent my entire childhood in sickness (sick every second day because that issue was also affecting my immune system so I was prone to all kind of infections) and my teenage because the docs here couldn't diagnose anything. I went abroad for treatment then where it was diagnosed and began the hormone therapy. So this affected my education as well.
Secondly, I know I can get IB from lower M7 or even T15 schools as well but if I transition to PE, I believe Wharton will help me the most with PE recruiting but I'm worried whether my profile is good enough for Wharton. I'm also worried if US PE funds will value Pakistani PE experience. I have seen plenty of internationals with a similar profiles on LinkedIn get into Booth and Columbia which gives me some relief.
But my VC (LBS Alumni) tells me that my nationality will play a significant role as well (a positive one for that matter) since Pakistan is not very well represented in b-school apps like Asians and Indians. I'm not sure whether that's true.
Other than that, I have very strong FM and soft skills plus strong deal experience.
So it would be great if you could give your valued opinion(especially those who went to M7( on whether I'm good enough for Wharton/Booth/Columbia although I'm not worried about the later 2.
Thanks for reading.
Your profile looks great, but if you want to do PE, you should try transition BEFORE business school, not after. Getting a job in PE without prior PE experience is challenging and risky. Even if you're at HBS or Wharton, the big names won't give you an interview (without prior PE experience) and lower MM recruiting happens so late that you rule yourself out of consulting or IBD recruiting if you go for it.
Hi. Thanks for your comment. But do you think PE funds in US will value my Pakistani PE experience? Because they are pretty small ($50MM to $70MM target size) but I have a very solid $500+ MM IB deals experience under my belt which is very huge amount in Pakistan. This is whats worries me.
Secondly, can I recruit for both IB and PE in 1st year for summer internship?
Didn't realize you were doing IB in Pakistan. I don't know how Pakistani PE experience will be seen by US PE firms.
You can recruit for either IB or PE for your summer internship. The trouble is that IB recruiting happens first and you will need to accept your offer before the majority of PE recruiting happens. Many smaller PE funds do not give return offers for the summer and full time recruiting is basically nonexistent for IBD.
BreakingOutOfPWM Frank Slaughtery Linda Abraham What do you guy think?
when you say stuff like "I'm good enough for Wharton/Booth/Columbia although I'm not worried about the later 2." it makes me think you will come across as arrogant in your interviews and may have trouble
Frank Slaughtery Hey Frank could you check your inbox? I PM'd you. Needed some advice. Thanks.
Not being arrogant at all. It's just that I've seen a lot of similar profiles who successfully got into Booth/Columbia which is good to see and makes me less worried. I love these core finance schools but I've read tons of threads from by alumni that PE is very hard from these.
Hi askdawj,
Thanks for the ping. You have a competitive profile for Wharton, Columbia, and Booth, Given your goals and qualifications, you are aiming appropriately. If you have strong leadership, and it looks like you do, then also try for HBS.
Additional thoughts:
You might be interested in Tone Up Your Writing: Confidence vs Arrogance
Best, Linda
I'm curious as to why, out of all M7s, Wharton would give you the best chance to be recruited for a PE position? How did you arrive to that conclusion?
Because of the placements and what I've read.
Agree with all of the above thoughts. Remember that Booth, in particular, looks for humble intelligence in the application and especially in interviews. Folks that are inquisitive, data driven, have strong thinking but are good people to be around. The school is much more down to earth.
Guys, will you please stop ganging up on me? I didn't mean to be arrogant in any way. Its just that I've seen people with similar profiles who got into CBS/Booth which makes me less worried.
I won't comment on your personality or your chances of getting into whatever school, but regarding post-MBA recruiting:
Your OP isn't very clear - is your Big4 and IB experience in the UK or in Pakistan? If it's in Pakistan, the experience usually gets significantly discounted when recruiting in the US, even if you were working at a bonafide bank and will work in a decent PE fund. The exception here is if you are in the Pakistani arm of well-known names (say GS for IB, Sequoia for PE). It's unfair and to some extent illogical, but it still happens.
I can also confirm what someone else above said - if you go to business school without at least 2 years of solid PE experience, entering PE as a post-MBA Associate straight out of school is going to be a very, very long shot. Any fund worth working at is very likely to want you to have North American experience at a bank or something before giving you a shot. Obviously this is a generalization and exceptions may exist, but it's a reliable generalization nevertheless.
I'll give you the same suggestion that many, many people gave me - you can keep trying to land a spot in PE directly after school, and you seem qualified enough on paper to be the exception to the rule, but don't make it your one and only option. Might be a good idea to keep your mind open and have some backup options on hand. Good luck.
Thanks
It isn't really "discounted". Recruiters know about the type of experience gained in developing markets (or they wouldn't exist here in the first place) and that its never equivalent to the same gained in a developed country. This is why they don't put you in the same bucket as your counterparts from US/other developed countries. I've actually talked extensively about this with my VC.
I just wasn't sure about PE because the PE is pretty new here with fewer deals happening so most of your time is being spent on scouring the market. This is not to say that most of the investors have been development financial institutions and not private capital.
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