Pre Experience Masters Europe Profile Eval

Hey there,

I am looking to break into the consulting industry in the US or Europe. Schools that I’m targeting are LBS, LSE, UCL, HEC and Imperial College, but am open to any other suggestions that’ll help me achieve my goal.

Profile:
- Undergrad in Computer Science from a top 10 University in Canada. 3.3 GPA, with upward trajectory and 3.7+ in last two years.
- ECs: Varsity athlete (cheerleading), student counsel counsellor, VP finance of CS student union, VP finance of darts club, fraternity philanthropy chair, Toastmasters student-exec.
- GMAT: expect to score 700-720
- Work exp: Customer service role in bank, charity mall fundraising

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 
Most Helpful

Your extracurricular experience is great. The grade could be better but maybe the upward trajectory and the fact that it is CS (quantitative) would make the adcom look at it in a friendly way. The 700-720 range is a little low for the schools you mentioned. If I remember correctly the average GMAT scores are in the 720-740 range. You can download the class profiles on the respective websites and check the statistics. Given your below-average grade you should aim to be at or above the GMAT average. I don't know the details of your work experience but from what you wrote it doesn't seem impressive. Most other applicants will have at least one BB or MBB internship under their belt. Universities want to have successful alumni at well known firms for marketing reasons. So they tend to take people who were already successful before the master's starts.

I didn't do a master's but I was interested in doing one for some time and talked to lots of schools and also flew over to the UK to visit a handful of them. The admission officers always commented on my grade and my internship experience. The name of a well known company on your CV goes a long way with those people.

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For internships, I forgot to mention that admission officers like big4 a lot more than people on this forum. KPMG was hiring the third highest number of graduates from the Imperial finance programmes. That was a few years ago. You should check the class profiles or go on LinkedIn and look at the profile of current students. This might be another option for an internship before the master's starts.

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Thanks for your response. I will aim for a 740 GMAT.

The issue is that I have weak internship experiences which is limiting my job outlook after I graduate and it is the whole reason I want to do a pre experience masters; to open doors. With that said, what would be my next best steps?

 

I understand. I had the same issue. Two years ago my CV had only two jobs (working one day a week at university and at a small consulting firm) and an internship at a very small investment advisory on it. Then I decided to defer graduation for a year and do three internships (big4, asset management, BB).

The thing is that you are only targeting the top schools and they expect great internship experience. To give more specific advice it would help to know in what year you are and when you plan to enroll in the master's?

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I am in my 4th year at university, but as I switched programs into CS (from psychology), I am in the 3rd year of the program. I am graduating in April 2021, and hope to enroll in the masters program by September 2021. I just turned 21 years old.

I have no internship experience, and have worked a few jobs over the summer (admin assistant for university, server, sales). I recently got a customer service role at a big bank, and I am working it part-time while in school to help bring up my CV. I can further defer graduation (to April 2022) and work a few internships if I need, however I don't like the sound of it since I am already taking a 5th year due to the program switch. Any advice?

 

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