How likely I am to get into a decent MSF program?

I graduated in 2012 at a top 10 public school with a degree in Economics in the US. I had a 3.4 GPA at a Junior College before I transfer to my alma-mater, then I screwed up very bad and got a 2.58 GPA (I know I should have been more aware especially when I attend a public school with a negative GPA inflation).

However, I was lucky to know this senior manager who's working at a big 4 audit firm in Hong Kong through some networking. He really liked me and helped landing me an internship at his firm, and I was given a return offer in September, but I hated auditing so much I rejected the offer. I landed a temporary job at Bloomberg with a satisfactory pay and very decent environment doing some call-center related task calling equity analyst to source forecast data and was also involved in some industry research, statistics, and projects related to finance and transaction.

Ever since working at Bloomberg, I begin to feel the need of getting a higher qualification in finance in order to pursue some other careers as my current work experience is not exactly transferable to other jobs.

I really want to gain related experience from some banking institute or other companies by taking advantage of the MSF degree then break into corporate finance or Asset Management in the future.

I'm planning to start studying for the GMAT while working at my current job for about a year more (3 months now). Do you guys think it is possible to get into a decent MSF program with a high GMAT (700+ range) to overcome my quite shamefully low GPA? I have some family obligation so I'm mainly targeting the Hong Kong program (not exactly a must) at HKUST and HKU at the moment.

Alternatively, do you guys also prefer an online MSF from IU Kelley or Penn State as well?

I know it's a long post, but thank you very much!

7 Comments
 

If you crush the GMAT you might have a chance. Not many HK MSF programs so your options are limited. Indiana is more for people with experience so I might focus on Penn State.

 
Best Response
somebodynobody

Thanks for your input TNA (Tina?!)
Do you happen to know how forgiving these schools are when it comes to GPA? I think it is the biggest obstacle for me to get into a good MSF program. How relevant of an experience do you think an MSF program is looking for? Can my current job be considered as actual "experience"?

MSfs in general will forgive a low GPA with good reason as long as you compensate it in other ways. I think your work experience will help offset the gpa, but you are going to need a higher GMAT to offset it.

Im not too sure about the limited schools you are looking at and their admissions policy. Hong Kong schools might be tighter with their standards.

 

That gives me a huge relief thank you so much...! For the programs I'm applying to, it never stated actual GPA requirement. They are looking for at least a year or two of experience. For Penn State, I didn't even see any experience requirement, so I guess the US program tends to be more forgiving.

 

It's not about just getting into the MSF program, you should also think about how competitive you'll be out of the program and what you need to do if you think that you might not be. MSFs are not hard to get into... but getting what you want out of them is.

'Before you enter... be willing to pay the price'
 

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