Profile evaluation for Oxford MFE/Imperial MSc Finance
Hi guys! I'm 21/F from India and I'm planning to apply for the MFE program at Oxford either this November or maybe next. My undergrad was Bsc Statistics (highly quantitative course) from one of the top 10 colleges in India. My GPA is 7.5/10 and GRE 323 (163 quant 160 verbal). I've had two internships - one of them was in investment banking and the other was with the branding team of Ernst and Young. I would also be taking the CFA Level 1 exam this December.
Currently I have two options -
I have an offer from BCG Knowledge for a knowledge analyst role in the private equity practice (it's a back office supporting role)
I have an offer to intern at a VC firm, however it's not a very big fund.
1) which of the above two options will increase my chances of getting into Oxford/Imperial and then IB/VC post masters? I haven't heard of anyone switching from knowledge analyst to IB/VC :|
2) what are my chances of getting into Oxford/Imperial with the given scores and profile in general?
Let me know what you guys think!
Your profile seems strong for both and as for career I would focus on the VC fund as I feel it sells better than BCG Knowledge for IB/VC. You also have to see which you prefer between Oxford and Imperial; both place well in London.
Thanks a lot! However the VC fund isn't very known, I hope that's not a problem? I'm not a UK or EU citizen, so getting placed in London seems a little tough. Any idea on which one is better known outside Europe - Oxford or Imperial?
The fund size shouldn't be too much of an issue as long as you sell it well. Internationally I would say Oxford.
I highly disagree with the above comments.
Strictly in terms of business school admissions, admission committees always favor the company brand name (to a certain extent) over the job function itself.
I'd highly encourage you to accept the well-regarded Tier 1 Consulting Firm BCG offer, even if it's a back office function, over what you describe as a "little known" VC firm.
Business schools really don't care about what your role was at so-and-so internship. They will ask about daily routines & typical day at firm X, yes, for sure, but when it comes to weighing your application, it won't play a huge part.
My 2 cents. Would also welcome any additional - conflicting or not - view on this. Thank you.
I see your point but my hesitation is playing the short game. I did an MSc at a target (Oxbridge/LSE/LBS) and had some friends come in from firms carrying some name weight (both internships and FT) (Accenture, Morgan Stanley and others) who had very basic roles. They found it harder the following recruiting season to get jobs than those who set up their own start-ups or who had more hands-on roles at less known firms because they managed to sell their positions better in the cover letter and generally learnt more from the experience. I may be wrong and I can understand that a uni like Oxford would value the name a lot but even they want someone with an go-getter attitude who has also achieved something in a role.
Another OP who also works at BCG Knowledge posted that most of the work they do is looking through old cases and recycling material for potential new clients. If the VC role offers a more hands on experience then it could be more beneficial. Perhaps Oxford might snob it but Imperial won't. In the end, if the OP's end goal is VC/IB in London, both unis place well and the VC internship will add more value to the subsequent recruiting season and (IMO) the MSc cover letter.
Beware that it will be very challenging to land an IBD/PE role in London with only one application season.
From my experience of having studied at a UK university, only BB provide sponsorship for non-EU visas. Even companies that you might expect be large enough to sponsor, like Deloitte, sometimes don’t. So you’d mostly limit yourself to BBs and MFs. It’d be very challenging to land a FT role at such firms in this coming early autumn (I assume this is for the ‘18/‘19 academic year?) with no proper previous experience in IB/PE. If you instead apply for an SA role, you might run into visa issues because it is significantly easier to gain tier 2 visa while you’re already in the U.K. (ie on a Student visa) as opposed to applying from outside the U.K. the year after you finish your studies and SA.
This is not to say that it can’t work, but approach it with some scepticism. Ever since the new visa regulations in early 2010’s the proportion of international students in the U.K. that stay to work has plummeted.
Realised I skimmed your question too fast. Depending on your IB internship FT recruitment could work — and not sure how VC funds treat visas.
I would be applying either for the '19/'20 academic year or '20/'21 Going to work in my home country for a bit before going ahead with my masters.
I'm more concerned with this - if I take up the BCG Knowledge offer, work for a bit and then go for my masters, is the background going to be a disadvantage when applying to IB roles?
All I can say is that when I applied to IB mentors advised me to omit my back office spring week at an American BB, to avoid being pigeonholed as back office people. In hindsight I’m glad I did.
If you can’t spin the BCG role as anything but a support role, the VC experience makes more sense to me.
Interesting point. Thank you for your input.
But considering OP's target programs (Oxford Said MFE & Imperial M.Sc. Fin.), isn't worrying about tier-2 visa sponsorship, student visa extention (for SA strategy), the job of the career service.
Or at least, should any non-eu international application to UK programs worry this much how to best prepare for visa issues post-graduation?
This sounds pretty tough.
For example, does someone know if EB (Centerview, Evercore, PJT) also sponsor non-EU hires?
Lots of banks outside of BBs sponsor.
I know for sure that all the EBs mentioned above sponsor.
Why not include LBS, LSE in your list of target programs?
I've heard that LBS needs more than a year or two of work ex. LSE prefers GMAT over GRE. I already have a GRE score and I don't think I'll be able to commit enough time to study for GMAT and ace it.
GRE is still accepted. Apply with GRE score to the MFA. It looks like LBS has developed the reputation of being less selective that the remaining of the UK's top M.Sc. Programs (Oxbridge, LSE).
Given the school's global & UK brandname and its reportedly strong alumni base & career outcomes, it'd truly be a disservice to yourself, imho, if you skip applying to it.
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