Msc finance. Imperial/UCL/Bocconi/Essec
Hello everyone,
I am an economics student and I would like to know what you think about my profile and what you think are my chances of getting into one of the universities mentioned above. My long term goal is to work in IB in London and then move into PE.
GPA: 28.8/30 (economics and business, highly quantitative)
GMAT: 650 (Q45,V34.IR8)
IELTS: 8/9
High school diploma: 100/100 (I don't know if it this may add some value to my application)
I was a professional swimmer until the first year of uni. (I took part in many national competitions)
Work experience.
During my first year of university I started my online business (mainly focused on digital marketing and e-commerce). During my second year I worked for three months in a digital marketing agency, after this experience I got an internship in a financial advisory firm specialized in the resolution of banking and financial issues. Currently I'm working in a not for profit consulting firm and I'm specializing in financial valuation and in the drafting of business plans.
My main doubt concerns the low score on the GMAT. My main target is Imperial, and I know that the GMAT is not mandatory but a score above 600 can add weight to the application. What do you think? Do I have any chance of getting into Imperial? Or should I target UCL, ESSEC and Bocconi? In addition to this, if my goal is to work in IB in UK, should I consider such non uk unis, or should I target other uk universities such as Cass for example?
Thanks in advance!
Hi, I'm a fellow italian, intern at MS IBD London.
I can tell you that Bocconi is way more difficult to get than the others you listed, because you are italian and there are few spots for non-Bocconi italians. At Bocconi you might have a chance to enter the italian-taught class of the MSc in Finance. ESSEC is definitely doable but non-target if you're not French. Imperial is not too difficult to get but your GMAT is on the lower end, would not guarantee it, working experience helps a little. UCL shouldn't be difficult to get but not really a target for you imo.
In my opinion, your best bet to get into London/Milan ibanking is to get into the MSc in Finance (italian or english taught, doesn't really matter since you will write MSc in Finance at Bocconi on your CV either way) at Bocconi, which is a way stronger target than the others if you are an italian-speaker. Since it's a two-year programme you also get double the recruiting seasons to break into IB.
Hi, thanks for the advice about the username :)
I don't get it what do you mean when you say that UCL and Imperial are non target for IB in London, I know that these are two of the universities that provide a high percentage of entry level in BB like Goldman Sachs.
In addition to this the Msc in finance taught in Italian at Bocconi may not be a good idea, my bachelor is entirely taught in English and I may have problems switching to italian
For undergrad/most masters, Imperial and UCL are both full targets.The business schools play second rate to the rest of the universities, however - Imperial is a high semi-target for most of its business school courses and UCL even less targeted (by some distance) from what I've heard. Imperial MSc Finance > Goldman Sachs (per your example) is still pretty conceivable, but I'd actually agree that at the masters level Bocconi might serve you better - but equally, Imperial is in London for networking and only one year. I'd leave the GMAT off the application personally, most people won't apply with one.
I mean that you are italian, and those schools being semi-target in UK mean that the people targeted there are mostly UK people. Bocconi + Italian means that you are a stronger target for London banking and also have the chance to do Milan OC.
The way I think about it is: banks do hiring in national quotas, so you will be benchmarked mostly against other italians. Why would you hire an italian that studies Finance at UCL/Imperial when there are plenty in LSE/LBS? Instead if you study at Bocconi/HEC Paris you will always get at least looked at because they are the only targets in their respective countries and there is no direct comparison with other Italian/French unis.
Obviously this is just my personal experience, but I know plenty of italians in London banking and I've never seen an Italian from Imperial/UCL MSc. I don't doubt that it is possible through luck/referrals, but don't expect it will be easy through organic recruitment.
hey can i pm you? I have a few similar doubts regarding my masters' choice. Great job getting into MS!
Can’t you do imperial without submitting GMAT. I don’t think the 650 will do much for you.
Yes, for the Msc in Finance GMAT is not required but recommended, especially if you come from a non quantitative background. Despite that, I know that my GMAT is not particularly good, but what do you think about my profile in general for Imperial?
Current ESSEC Msc Finance student. I do not speak french. Feel free to PM me if you have questions.
How is the recruiting for non french speakers?
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