MBA Prospects

I recently graduated in may from a 40-50 tier school this past may GPA: 3.2 Finance GPA: 3.8

I am gonna be taking the CFA level II this next June and am planning on passing it. I currently am working in the Puerto Rico Government Employees' pension fund as a financial analyst/special assistant to the fund's administrator(equivalent of CEO) and chief investment officer, (its a fairly prestigious job here in Puerto Rico)

Assuming that I work in this position for one year and get decent or great recommendations from my bosses, pass the CFA Level II, and get a GMAT score of about 700-730

What are my chances into getting into a top B school like Columbia/Wharton/Harvard/NYU? Do you think one year of work experience will suffice, given my non-top tier background?

Thank you all in advance!

3 Comments
 
Best Response

This week I visited Wharton, NYU, and Columbia. What I recognized as the most important characteristics they are looking for in potential students are diversity and unique experience. It looks like the Puerto Rico experience would definately be a top selling point. They say that the amount of experience does not matter as their range of work experience is from zero to 15 years or so, but the average was about 5 years, so your one year might be a weak point.

Finally as long as you can provide unique exciting essays that make you stand out from everybody else, you should be good.

Oh yeah and as long as you have a 3 in your GPA and a 7 in your GMAT, you will be competitive.

 

Illum dolor dolor error voluptatum aut voluptatem. Laboriosam voluptate veritatis error maxime. Laudantium quos modi ullam iure deleniti. Assumenda officia ad commodi.

Natus a ut aut et nostrum et in. Dolorum delectus minima quos vero voluptatem pariatur.

Quod aut quia dolore velit nesciunt sit sint. Perferendis voluptas et alias odio temporibus nam.

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.9%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
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...”