I am Canadian and would like to get into investment banking in Canada, but would be open to the US and the UK. I will be applying in a few years, but I am just wondering, given that I know what my profile will look like in a few years, which schools I have a chance of getting into.
I have a 3.4GPA in my last 3 years of school. I majored in Finance and Minored in Accounting. I have a 3.7 GPA in Finance courses. Two of those last 3 years were at the University of Alberta. The other one is at Grant MacEwan University. The reason I don't simply state a CGPA is because I failed the first 3 years. It took me 6 years to graduate.
I will have 3 years of working experience as a Project Controls Analyst at a small company (250 employees, owned by Quanta Services) in Fort McMurray. I will also have my level 3 CFA exam completed. I have no other extra-curriculars. The job basically consists of me keeping on top of the costs of projects and reporting the costs (or any information needed regarding the project's costs) to our Project Managers and Suncor (the company which contracts our company).
Assume I get ~680 on the GMAT.
What schools should I apply to? Queens, UofT, Ivey, McGill are the only ones in Canada I am told are worth applying to, what about if I was applying to UK/US schools, which would be worth going to that I have a shot of getting into?
You will need to state you CGPA (for IB and MBA programs)
CFA is no good for IB.
No ECs=not a good MBA program (in combination with everything you have done)
Here is what you need to do: 1)Get a good job with a good pedigree 2)Kick ass at whatever you do 3)Think about why you want to get an MBA
Do you still want to get one? Keep reading 4)Add some crazy ECs 5)Own the GMAT 6)Select MBA programs on the basis of your stats 7)Apply to the schools you selected 8)Pray to get in 9)Drop another US$300000 (if you are in the US)
Every Investment Bank's info session I went to said they wanted analysts to get their CFA. Of course, I only went to the big 5s info session in Edmonton which is their Calgary office. Things I'm sure are quite different in US, Europe and Toronto.
My current job pays $100k/yr+room+board and it's a great working environment. I don't really know what you'd consider to be a "good job", because I don't see any job as being better than this in the finance industry except say an investment banking analyst job, in which case I wouldn't need to be going for an MBA anyway. What do you think is a good job with good pedigree? I'll be trying to get an analyst job in the next few years as best I can.
What sort of ECs should I focus on?
What he probably means is a well known company (i.e. big names). Essentially, since you are in a finance role (controlling, right?) he is telling you to move to a well known company (i.e. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_public_companies_in_Canada…).
I don't know if this approach is 100% correct. Since it seems that you enjoy your job, you can also stay there and try to move to the controlling entity (Quanta Services) and then use that name and that experience to get into an MBA program.
The CFA looks good so it won't hurt you, it will help you to crack technical questions during your interviews (if you get to that stage) and it will look OK to the adcom (it can show that you are committed in going through a specific finance path). As stated above, you should try to reach a GMAT which is higher than 680 (i.e. 700) and add some ECs. Since you are in a Finance role I assume you finish your job something between 6 and 8 pm and you don't work during weekends. Therefore, you can put in some volunteering during the weekends. Finally, you may need a convincing story on how it took you 3 more yrs to graduate. This thing, to me, it the biggest warning on your profile.
i am originally from the US but currently working in banking in Toronto. CFA seems to carry slightly more weight in Canadian banking than the USA where it is null. (my 2 cents)
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