Getting a masters to compensate for my non-target school
Hey WSO!
I graduated about 2 years ago from a non-target school (Florida State) with a decent (3.55) GPA. I am currently working in corporate finance for a F500 and have been in this role for almost a year; I had a software sales position before this role. I am thinking of getting a MBA from a top 20 b-school (My GRE scores are 93Q and 96V, which translates to a 740 GMAT). So.. here goes:
1) Would pursuing a masters from a target (UC Berkeley) school bolster my chances of getting into better B-Schools? I am thinking of pursuing a MS in Financial Engineering from UC Berkeley (my undergrad school is way lower in reputation than Berkeley, just FYI)
2) How is an MBA + MS in financial Engineering viewed in Wall St. and in high finance in general? I feel that I will have a very technical background by the time I decide to apply to b-schools. How does this span out in opportunities in finance? Will having the technical background and the broader business education make me look better than just having one of them? Or would it look like I have spend too much time in school? (The Berkeley MFE is only a year long program, though)
Thanks!
With the rest of your profile, the fact you went to a non-target shouldn't matter. Focus on your career and getting promoted before you apply for bschool. I don't think the MS is worth the money for you.
FSU is a known school. Yeah, it's a non target, but you'll have plenty of people who will talk football with you. I can think of tons of other schools that are non target that have zero national recognition.
Good stats, F500 is solid. I'd just bust ass at work and layer on some ECs. You can do a T10 MBA without the MS.
In your case, I'd only do one. If you want to be a quant, trader, analytics, or related professional, do the MFE. If you want to be a banker, consultant, or some businessy type professional, do the MBA.
I don't know if getting an MFE will hurt your chances of getting into a good MBA. I am confident in saying, though, that getting both would be a massive waste of time, effort and money. There's no complimentarity between the two degrees. MFE's are paid to think and MBA's are paid to talk.
FSU isn't non-target enough to warrant this.
if it was a more non-target (think people from Montana have never heard of it) then it'd be a good option but then again you wouldn't probably be in F500 corp finance.
i agree you should work your ass off for 2-3 more years, maybe try to jump when you promote to a better finance job, and then you could easily get into a better MBA.
you're in a great spot; just work your ass off for the next couple years and you could get into a top 10 MBA.
Thanks for all the encouraging comments!
I got some follow up questions:
1) Will having more than 2 companies on my resume post-UG before applying for B-School hurt my chances? I feel like sticking with this company for 2 years and then jumping to another company, hopefully to a better finance role with greater responsibilities. I would apply during my first year in the next company so I will have a total of 2 year of finance experience by the time I enter B-School. Sadly, I had a non-prestigious sales type job before landing in this position (had to pay bills), a position I only held for 5 months. So yeah, how will having 3 different jobs in 4-5 years affect my B-school application?
2) Should I take the GMAT? MY GRE score is pretty high up there, but I have heard that banks and consulting shops regularly ask for your GMAT. Is this true? Can I just tell them my GRE score?
Thanks for the feedback!
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