Latam to top business school
Hi guys, I was hoping to get some advice. This is my first post, but I've been reading this website a lot. I'm a New York born and raised guy that went to a liberal arts college and played top 20 division I lacrosse (earning a 3.4 GPA). My international family background made me become fascinated by Latam. After graduation, I moved to Chile (without fully speaking Spanish and knowing absolutely no one) to start a position as an intern at a boutique M&A focused investment bank based here in Chile. My company's partners took a risk in giving me an opportunity to intern, but after 2 months they saw my learning curve progression and work ethic and they offered me a full-time position. (I've also interned at smaller hedge funds and a short 2 weeks at a MM IB (REIT group) in NYC)
I've been working here about a year and a half now and have been thinking about my next step. I most definitely want to move back to the states, but I am in no rush to do so. My end goal is to work in private equity at a top shop in NYC (but I know the competition is tough and I might have to do a number of other jobs to earn my way there). I was hoping to get your advice on what steps to take to best position myself moving forward. I have also been studying for the GMAT and plan to take that soon. My recent practice scores (730, 750, 760) seem to be good enough to qualify me for a top school (HBS, Stanford, Wharton - all have a 730 median).
With my end goal in mind, what would you suggest I should be most focused on:
- Staying where I currently am and applying to business school with 3 or 4 years experience (ie this apply September of this year or next year)
- Looking to lateral to a BB bank either in NYC or here in Santiago (seems unlikely/tough to do at most BB banks)
- Looking for small private equity companies that have invested in latam (I have yet to come across companies that exclusively invest in Latam, but would love to hear some names) and applying/cold calling there
- I have a connection at McKinsey consulting that says my background/resume would 100% get me an interview- applying there and ideally working 1/2 yrs then applying to business school.
Any advice is VERY WELCOME.
You seem to have wonderful work experience, initiative, a competitive GPA, international experience, and probably a great story. You also are anticipating a competitive or better GMAT score.
I would encourage you to pursue parrallel tracks for this upcoming cycle. Complete your GMAT prep and take the exam. If you get what you think you'll get, then plan to apply R1 of this year to programs that feed into top PE shops, like HBS, CBS, Wharton, and Stanford. If you get accepted, I'd suggest you go now so that you start earning your post-MBA salary earlier.
At the same time, explore one of the other opportunities you have. Either at McKinsey or in finance. They would all be impressive from an admissions perspective. if you were to start a new job in let's say May or June, you would have more than one year at that position before you start your MBA. The questions, which others here can better answer than I can, is which of them will better prepare you for a NY PE career post-MBA.
If you pursue both a 2020 MBA and a new position, you can't lose. You'll either start your MBA in 2020, or you will be positioned better for a 2021 or 2022 app.
Best, Linda