HEC PARIS - AM I TOO OLD?
Hey guys, I have a Bachelor's degree in Economics from nontarget University of Zagreb, and currently pursuing 2-year Master's degree in Bank and Finance at non-target University of Ljubljana (Slovenia; the program is pretty challenging which is good cause I will be well prepared for future B-schools). I want to enter high finance (IBD) by applying for HEC MSc International Finance. My goal is to work either at Unicredit in Vienna (they have a good team and pretty strong deals in the region, and analyst salaries are acceptable for me assuming I will take a loan for future BS, around €55k of loan), or in London.
My work experience:
•9 months KPMG Deal Advisory Intern,
•6 months internship Unicredit IBD in Croatia.
I am in the final year of my current Master's in Slovenia. My GPA will be pretty low (around 7.5/10), but I will try to compensate for it with higher GMAT (>700), work experience, and good application overall.
Now, the question is: when I will finish my current Master's next year in June, I will be 25yo. So, when applying for HEC Master in International Finance, I will be 25/26yo. Am I too old for HEC Master in Int. Finance?
Why don’t you try and get a few years of work experience in a boutique or Big 4 firm.
If I see someone who’s 26, with two Masters degrees and a few months intern experience, versus someone who’s 26 with one Masters and 3 years of experience, I know who I’m taking and it wouldn’t be the perpetual student.
How about someone who’s 25 and straight out of undergrad with two summer internships?
So, what are you suggesting? To not apply for HEC Paris?
Of course there is an option to stay at KPMG/PWC Advisory after I finish my current Master's. But what to do then after 2-3 years of experience there, when I will have let's say 28yo? I know that MBA would be an option, but good MBA (INSEAD, LBS) costs too much. And regarding the postexperience MSc in Finance, I only saw LBS Master in Finance (equivalent to MBA, but cheaper; however, I don't know my chances for LBS Msc Finance because of low gpa and if it is possible to compensate it like at HEC)....
Yes, I’m telling you not to get a second Masters at HEC.
Put bluntly, stop wasting tens of thousands of dollars on going to different universities and get a fucking job.
Get 5 years of experience and then consider an MBA, though I guarantee your goals will change so much in those 5 years that you may not even want to do the MBA anyway.
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Okay, thank you for your advice, really appreciate it. I just wanted you to evaluate my plan for HEC. On the other hand, the other plan is to try Unicredit Vienna without target school, work there 3-4 years, earn some money and try for some target post-experience master or mba...
Thank you for clearing up my confusion...
The biggest issue will be explaining why you want to do a 2nd master at the admission interview, especially how you think you will cope with being the oldest guy in whatever job you will pick up afterwards (assuming you want to do HEC Msc to change career vs Big4). They will have a very high bar to this and so will your potential employers. Definitely do not mention UCG Vienna as your target for the MSc or it will be a pretty short interview.
Doing a Masters is not a question of age but of career goals. I've seen some posts above that look down on masters and favour experience. I couldn't agree more but perhaps they're missing the point here because they haven't graduated from non-target schools/universities in Continental Europe. I know first hand that in London people will look down on your education because you don't have a degree from a UK-target so imagine a non-UK/non-target. Studying a masters from a target B-School or University can be a good way to access a specific market (thanks to their alumni network and placements among other things). If your aim is to work in Vienna or London, why don't you consider options there?
Man just apply
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