MSF to make up for poor undergraduate grades?
Hi all,
I graduated with a B.S. in December of 2011 with a painfully sub-par 2.6 GPA. I want to utilize my firm's tuition reimbursement program in order to get a graduate degree, but I fear that I won't be able to get into any respectable programs with such poor UG grades.
Would it be worth it to go for a MS in Finance to attain a better GPA to use when applying to more advanced graduate programs? If I went and got a MSF from someplace like Hofstra or Pace would it help when it comes to ultimately applying for an MBA or JD? If I nail a 3.5+ in an MSF and get a solid GMAT or LSAT score, would T20 law schools or 1st tier b-schools be attainable even with shitty UG grades?
And before somebody mentions the fact that law school and b-school are very different animals: I'm in Compliance, so I feel like I would be able to professionally utilize either degree.
Thanks for whatever advice you have!
Forget about law school. Your GPA is far below what is necessary. Shoot for MBA. What do you do for a living? If you have good work experience (not sure of this considering your GPA), amazing GMAT (assuming you can attain it), great extracurriculurs, etc., you can still make it into a good MBA program.
Without top tier work experience and bad ugrad gpa, MSF will help for sure. I would really focus on getting good work experience though.
I'd say my work experience is okay. I have 3 years of non-related FT experience doing software engineering at a broadcast origination company, a 9 month internship with the SEC, and almost 7 months so far as a Compliance Analyst at a $6b mutual fund. Not grade-A work experience, but I've managed to secure interviews at places like GS and PIMCO. Even with my crappy ass ugpa.
I'd say my work experience is okay. I have 3 years of non-related FT experience doing software engineering at a broadcast origination company, a 9 month internship with the SEC, and almost 7 months so far as a Compliance Analyst at a $6b mutual fund. Not grade-A work experience, but I've managed to secure interviews at places like GS and PIMCO. Even with my crappy ass ugpa.
As GURU noted above. Work experience is great, however when applying to top MBA programs, you need to fit the profile they're looking for. If you get a MSF from a sub-par school, it's as useless as not getting one at all.
I think you should gauge how far you are from applying for your MBA. If it isn't far off, you should consider focusing on building an alternate transcript by taking grad courses as a visiting student at a well-ranked school (it sounds like you're in NYC, so NYU is a good bet). As a visiting student, you may not be subject to all the hoops that degree students have to jump through for admission.
Keep in mind that this strategy works for both MSF and MBA admissions, however since you're already working, I think it would be far more productive for you to focus on a MBA admit.
Search through the interview threads on WSO; one user had a 2.7 and made it into a top-10 program. I forget who it was, but it's one of the more prominent users here, and if anyone remembers this thread, please point it out.
And check out the ass-kicking valuationGURU and other WSO users handed me on the topic of MSF programs here:
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/all-or-nothing-ibd
[quote=FSC]
And check out the ass-kicking valuationGURU and other WSO users handed me on the topic of MSF programs here:
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/all-or-nothing-ibd[/quote]
I really hope you took the offer btw..
Would having a CFA, or at least candidacy for L3 have any beneficial impact? Just out of curiosity if anyone knows.
Can a masters degree compensate for my low undergrad GPA? (Originally Posted: 03/15/2015)
I finished my undergrad degree in econ this past December at a top 10 USNWR school (right below the HYPSM level--think Columbia, Penn, Chicago, etc.), but had a 3.2 GPA. I'm going to be starting a masters degree this autumn with great job placement from a top southern school (though not a traditional BB finance or consulting target). This southern school has notable MBB consulting and finance recruiting. If I ace grad school, will my lower GPA not matter anymore?
I have a few internships over the last few years that add up to about 12 months, but not really any brand name companies.
I'll ultimately still apply for consulting jobs regardless, but I guess what I'm trying to ask if it's worth my time networking at MBB and even consulting firms half a step below (say Deloitte, Accenture, AT Kearney level) given that I did kinda mediocre in undergrad. Is my low GPA a scar that I can't really recover from, and should i just look for other opportunities?
So obvious that it's duke lol
bump any other anecdotes/stories?
bump any anecdotes/recruiting experiences would be greatly appreciated?
what will the master's degree be in?
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