MiM vs MIF? Where?

Hello everyone,

I am looking for help to build my strategy and chose which school and program to apply to.

I am 22 years old and I hold a BSc in international business from a non-target french school. My CGPA is about 3.5/5.

I am currently in a GPA year and I am trying to leverage my current internship to get into a better bank for my 2nd ''off-cycle'' internship before to enroll a Master in Finance (I already had a internship with Société Générale for a M&A off cycle in Germany)

Work-Experience and extra-curriculum:
- Internship in a M&A boutique in Paris
- Internship in a M&A boutique in Asia (2016)
- 3 years in the french military reserve
- Started my own (micro) business at 18 to finance my studies (sales: 20k/year)
- UNICEF project manager for one year (managed a team to raise fonds)

I have 2 great letters of recommendation.

My academics are not good. I did not know I wanted to do IB before and no ones cares about your GPA in France, but since I want to study and work abroad I need to deal with that. I also had to skip a lot of classes when I was in the reserve (I did an exchange program abroad for 1 semester where my GPA were >3.5). But schools does not care about that I guess. I can't change my GPA but I can change the others parts of my application.

Yesterday, I went to the QS Master programs event in Paris. I had the opportunity to talk to people from top-europeans schools. It was really interesting:

• ESCP - Master in Finance: They are looking for people with at least one experience in IB. The guy who was next to me went to a top-school for his BSc with good grades, but he does not have any relevant WE/ECs so they told him to really get a good internship in banking before to apply. However, you need to have at least a 4-year BSc to apply.

• Imperial, UCL, Warwick MSc in Finance: They are mostly looking at your GPA and the school you are coming from. The girl next to me went to Science Po Rennes with a great GPA (15/20), they told her she was a strong candidate. However, I talked to her after that and she does not even know what was the GMAT and she does not have any experience in finance. You also need to have a strong quant background.

• RSM MSc in Finance: The admission staff told me the GMAT matters more than the GPA. The school is very cheap for europeans, it's only 2,000 euros a year. They are not looking for people with quant background. Actually, you can not apply to a Master in the same area of expertise of your Bachelor (like for me, I hold a BSc in Internal Business, I can't apply to the MiM)

• IE: The are looking for everything

I asked them about my GPA, but it was difficult for them to answer. Most of french schools are using a scale out of 20. They told me either they are going to do x4 to my current GPA so around 14/20 which is 2:1 or they are going to look at my ranking. I am scared I am going to be rejected everywhere for my GPA...

I am studying hard for my GMAT. I know I need a good score. I am trying to get over 720. I really want to go to RSM because it's very cheap and I can do 2 masters (so a summer between the year 1 and 2. And maybe, if I get good grades on my first year, I will apply to a more prestigious program.

1) What do you think of my profile
2) Which schools and programs (MiM vs MSc Finance) do you think I should apply to?
3) School name > Msc major? It seems that MiM programs are less competitive than a MSc in Finance but I don't know about exit opportunities.
3) Do you think I should wait to have a better internship before to apply? My internship in Paris is going to be over in February.

Thank you guys.