Any other traders going to b-schools this fall?
I know there already is a big mba thread, but i would like to devote this one to traders or ex-traders. If you guys don't mind, post stats, what type of trading, schools applied to, results, and where you will be heading this fall. There aren't that many of us, so we should stick together!
I will get things started.
HYPSM undergrad, econ major, 3.78 gpa, 780 gmat, BB trading on an exotic rates derivatives desk. Applied to HBS, Wharton, Booth, Columbia. Dinged at HBS after interview, accepted at the others. Starting Wharton this fall.
Congrats on Wharton MBA!
Well... shit. HYPSM UG with a 3.78 and a 780 GMAT, and HBS dinged you?
First, MBA admissions at the top schools is way more than numbers. In my case I had really strong recs, extracurriculars, as well as very strong work performance.
Second, it's extremely difficult for traders to get into top b-schools especially HBS and Stanford. Including myself, I know about 20 traders who applied to HBS this year (all top schools, great stats, work at hedge funds, BB, or top prop shops). NONE of them got in.
The experience you get from trading is not really transferable to other industries. Many of the skills are transferable, but you often have to prove that before people will believe it.
I feel like HBS and Stanford are focused on trying to develop entrepreneurs. They also want to get as far away from anything to do with 2008 - even though many of their grads were part of that mess. Overall, they've done a great job of moving away from finance - specifically sales/trading (they still love PE though). Who can blame them, it's not like sales/trading recruits a ton at bschools anymore.
You did get to the interview stage though, so they clearly thought they had a spot for you. Perhaps they only accepted 1-2 people with trading backgrounds.
Strange. Why is that? Why would anyone look down on traders specifically?
Do you have any plans for post-MBA? Why'd you choose it over an MFin? I'm having this issue at the moment.
Yeah I'm very interested in buyside fixed income research at a major asset management firm such as pimco, fidelity, wellington, t rowe price, capital group, etc. Macro hedge funds would be better, but very few of them hire MBAs with the exception of bridgewater, and I would never work there. I think capula investment, a global fixed income fund headquartered in London and with an office in greenwich, interviews Wharton MBAs but not sure if that is through OCR or the jobs board.
So I applied to the mfin programs, not mfe or mscf. I don't want to be in quant trading, risk management, derivatives pricing, or high-frequency, which are the jobs that grads of programs such as berkeley mfe, columbia mfe, carnegie mellon mscf, etc., tend to usually get. I applied to mfin though because they are rigorous but not overly "quanty," and I felt that I would learn a lot during my time there, certainly moreso than in an mba program. I got dinged at princeton mfin, so between wharton mba and nyu/mit/lse/lbs for finance, the choice was pretty clear to me. I think a top MBA is the most versatile and fungible degree in the world; it offers unprecedented access to a variety of industries and firms, an expansive and influential worldwide network, and virtual protection from career volatility. I know for a fact that with a wharton mba, i could make transitions fairly easily and won't have to worry about not being able to find a good interesting job because of the vicissitudes of the business cycle. And of course, an MBA is exponentially more fun!
Another trader heading to bschool this fall (Tuck). I agree, I don't think there are a lot of traders who go to bschool (it's much more common from securities sales).
my background: Top international school, double engineering degree, 3.83 gpa Ivy League MFin/MFE, 760 GMAT, BB trading on an exotic derivatives desk (2yrs) + MM prop trading (5yrs)
mbavsmfin, did you get the CFA designation?
Very solid stats! We have a similar background.
Tuck will be great! I'm sure both of us will have a lot more fun in b-school than in undergrad.
Yes, I do have my CFA.
how did you guys answer the question why MBA now? given that you already have your CFA, do you really need to go to bschool to get into fixed income research?
The CFA is horribly overrated for career transitions, even within finance. The CFA is littered with middle-office types who hoped that it could allow them to get into front-office buyside research but to no avail. In terms of networking, the CFA society events are ok, but nothing beats a top MBA network. It's simply not a comparison.
I'm not trying to go to the buyside :). For a career switch, nothing beats the MBA.
I also don't think the CFA provides you with a good recruitment network. I would choose a top MBA over a CFA any day. A good network and a chance to practice communication skills are worth way more to me than more "book learning." Maybe that's just because I already have a very quant background.
Not a trader here but all I want to say is that it´s such an honor for me to have the privilege of attending Wharton next year with the omnipresent BradyMVP and that hopefully you let me participate in your pussy-slaying marathons
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