MBA Guidance
First off, need to thank WSO for all the wonderful advice and guidance throughout the years. Definitely would not be where I am without the community.
I am wondering where I stand for admissions in terms of H/S/W + other M7 schools, and what I could do to further strengthen my profile. My stats are as follows:
- Top Canadian undergraduate b-school
- MFin at Oxbridge/LSE
- Incoming Investment Banking Analyst at JPM/CS/Citi in Hong Kong (group unknown, but likely to get placed in M&A and not Capital Markets)
- GMAT: 720
I am possibly considering a move into PE, and would preferably like to continue my career in Asia. I'd like to know if joining a pre-MBA PE program would make me significantly more competitive for the aforementioned MBA programs, or would I have a shot coming straight out of my banking gig?
Any advice is highly appreciated!
I think for you the deciding factors will be how interesting you can come off outside of work / school. While you have a great profile, since you are in IB you will be evaluated in a bucket with others who have equally impressive credentials. Do you have any passions, community service, or hobbies?
Thanks for the quick reply!
I have many volunteering experiences in South America and Asia, and I plan to do more NGO-related work prior to my start date.
I think one of my largest selling points is my international profile. I think I could tell a nice story.
Is my GMAT score a bit low though?
Lower bound of average for HSW
Standard for the rest of the MBA business schools">M7.
The biggest challenge for you will be why an MBA after a great master rigorous program from Oxford. You already all the tools for the career you want eventually which I assume is PE so how will an MBA help you. Explaining this to adcoms will be the biggest challenge.
If @TNA" or anyone else can chime in this, that would be great as I'm also curious lol.
I'd like to connect with a greater network, and I believe the MBA business schools">M7 brings the most talented professionals from all over the world.
Also, according to what I've read on these forums, a top MBA is almost a pre-requisite for getting promotions in PE?
Not really. Lots of people from these prestigious 1 year master's programs end up in PE and stay there. Some go back to BSchool for MBA but they have a very good reason. You just can't tell adcoms that you want MBA just so you can go back to PE again lol.
BreakingOutOfPWM Would love to hear your opinion on this.
The most talented professionals are actually working in business and being creative in the real world, not sitting around with other 20 year olds in a room instead theorizing about said matters instead, and wracking up $100K+ in debt for an 'education' where the main benefit is not an actual education, but to network.
The only reason MBAs are not yet openly lauded as being scams is because the institutions currently running them still have some good name left from when they were actually intellectually and morally guided, or at least tried to be.
Your profile says two things to me:
1) You're a smart person that will be fine with or without a precious MBA business schools">M7 MBA 2) Your profile seems void of the question "What do I want to do with my life?" and instead centered around what you "should" do, and it seems you're finding it increasingly hard to understand what it is you should indeed do.
I see nice brand names, etc. but you have an MFin and you're also thinking of an MBA? Not hating but if you knew you wanted to do an MBA, then an MFin is almost never the prudent case, given that actual work experience always trumps sitting your ass in a classroom. So maybe you realized that an MBA was right after the MFin, but then you're also saying you are "possibly considering a move into PE" which means you actually don't have any set, stable plans associated with that. Do you have anything else you're considering if not PE?
And maybe you'll realize the time you put towards GMAT prep would have been better used answering the above questions first but hey, ain't nobody perfect.
I will say if you're about to drop that amount of money on an education purely to "network", when you're clearly smart enough to do fine without depending on others specifically, then you are absolutely doing it for the wrong reasons. No amount of network will help you figure out your life, only you can do that.
Don't forget there are always schools ranked ~100 that would take you.
Et nisi hic illo pariatur at placeat. Qui et sed optio explicabo deleniti.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...