grad school application advice

Hi community, I am currently in my 3rd year at a top 3 public school major in econ. I transferred from a state school last year and this is my 2nd semester here. I am planning to apply to top finance/management master's programs and really need some advice.

Due to timezone/personal issues, I have a rough semester. I will probably end up at around 3.1 this semester so I was considering using the pass/fail option to cover up my grades. FYI the courses I enrolled in this semester were mostly not my major requirements (CS, ACC, etc).

Will it be better for me to use the pass/fail option on this semester's grades to have a 3.7+ GPA or have a 3.5 with all courses taken for a grade in terms of grad school application? (Will take calc 3 and probability this summer, applied linear algebra and econometrics before I graduated) My concern is having too many classes without showing a grade and lack of a quant background. In short, I would be happy to know my chances to get into those programs and super grateful for anyone who answers this question. Thanks. 

My profile:

3.6 GPA before transfer (grades before transfer won't count into GPA), 3 finance-related internships, one advisory internship at big 4 consulting, gre 325+, an international student from Asia.

Will apply to MIT MFin (corporate finance track), Yale M2M and Asset Management, Columbia Business School MSAFA, Oxford MFE, Cambridge MPhil in Finance and Economics, LBS MiM or MFA, LSE MSc in Finance on round 1. 

1 Comments
 

In voluptate aut nesciunt quia aliquid voluptatibus. Voluptatem velit ex voluptatem voluptatem. Perspiciatis sint ut exercitationem quos ut officiis odio. Qui error ea a alias dolorem accusantium.

Sapiente voluptatem ut commodi aliquam doloremque itaque velit. Et soluta sint corrupti non. Doloremque quam non autem pariatur. Totam maiores quam error voluptatem fugiat voluptates voluptas. Ea aspernatur accusantium in est cupiditate perspiciatis impedit. Aliquam error omnis molestias sint natus qui velit.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”