I'm currently a senior at majoring in political science at a state university (semi-target). Long story short, I came across many struggles throughout the past 4 years and I know I'll end up with a 2.7 gpa by the time I graduate in May.
My work experience comprises of a sales and marketing internship at a foreign government agency and I'm currently a student IT technician for my school.
Although I'm keeping my career options open, I want to get into a finance related field such as risk management, investment banking, and consulting. However I know that my credentials and my gpa are on the weaker end of the spectrum.
I'm considering on pursuing a masters in finance program either in US and UK. I originally planned to eventually pursue an MBA so I'm planning on taking my GMATs in January but I'm heavily considering on also obtaining a masters degree to sort of offset my weak undergraduate gpa.
Would this be a good move to make?
unless you have a super profile, you won't get any good of an MBA now. Save your money. you wanna do those "financial" fields. What have you done at all?
You don't have a career option until you're competitive. You're just more open to anything that pays money. Does that sound about right? Luckily, you're at least in semi-target.
coffeeclub_09,
All you have to do is look down the forum to see that whattherock clearly believes he is the foremost expert on everything related to everything, guy responds on almost every post. Dude barely has a grasp of the English language and 90% of the time the posts are just negative BS anyways designed to make him feel superior (See "little man syndrome").
Personally I think you would be an ideal candidate for an MSF program. With that GPA, you're really gonna need to kill your GMATs (think 700+) and craft a compelling story about why you want to do finance and how the MSF will help you get there to share with adcoms. Reach out to these programs early, go visit in person when possible - putting a face to a story can help cover up some of the blemishes on your resume.
As far as experience goes, I wouldn't worry too much about that. Plenty of kids go straight into the MSF program with very little experience, maybe one or two internships and it sounds like you have one already. Find a way to spin that experience towards finance when speaking with adcoms as well.
I would recommend limiting your search to US MSF programs right now. You already know you're fighting an uphill battle right now to break in and doing a program in the UK adds the unnecessary hurdle of finding a company that will sponsor when looking for a job (or taking multiple transatlantic flights to network). Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions, always happy to help!
Thanks for your comments. lol.
I don't know if anything OP described is any useful for a MSF application. If all you got is a strong GMAT, plenty of East Asian applicants are waiting in line. Without relevance, applying for MSF is just a waste of application fees. They get hundreds of visits/calls/reach-outs from prospective students. Although they may keep an eye on visits, don't count that as a pivotal part of your application.
Again it depends on the MSF program he's applying to. I'm in a great MSF program and can speak from personal experience that many of the facts you're throwing out there simply are not true. The best programs reject East Asian applicants by the hundreds, almost all of whom have near perfect GPAs and gmat scores. You want to know why? Those kids are unemployable in America. And no matter how "smart" your class looks on paper, employment statistics are the number one driver of success of any MSF program. Period.
As far as relevant experience goes, we have kids in my program with prior internships that have nothing to do with finance who have already received amazing job offers. Visits and interviews can absolutely be a crucial part of the admissions process. The good programs would rather have someone who can sell themselves in an interview and get a great job with lower stats than someone who may be an academic genius but barely speaks English and has zero chance of getting a job here. The more you know...
I suggest it's not a good sign for you. getting an ego boost from Vanderbilt MSF after Auburn? tons of guys are from fine schools around this place. so sit back down and relax.
You're right about abilities to interview, sell yourself, etc. But if you're not strong enough and wanna do those IB/ER roles, you can't even win the few OCR spots.
That's already beside the point. If somebody walks in without any signal to Finance, why should anyone take him seriously? At least you had a finance major to talk about.
Well you're wrong about my background but it's not creepy at all that you went back and took the time to try to find out. Look I'm done trying to fight with you. The only reason I even called you out was I remember what it's like to be on the other side of things and having people shit all over what you're trying to do rather than give actual helpful advice. I gave the kid my two cents, its up to him what he does with it. I'm out.
OP, if you are a domestic student you do not have to worry about foreign applicants. Every school that people want to go to limit how many chinese and indian students gain admittance. It is difficult to gain sponsorship in the US and it is done for placement reasons.
My advice is this.
1) Take your GMAT and do well. I mean like 650-700. 2) Look at MiM programs (Masters in Management). You'll get a business education, have a better shot at a higher GPA and you'll have plenty of career options open to you. 3) Try and figure out what you actually want to do. You range from consulting to risk management and IB. None of which have much in common. IMO, you have little shot at IB right now. Focus on something realistic with experience that can help you get into a bank. Think valuation, credit analyst, MO Risk roles, etc. Maybe even FP&A at a F500 company.
I think you profile is a stretch for most MSF programs, but you'd be good at a Masters in Management. You have internships, some interesting. Semi target is good. GPA is low, but you can explain it with an optional essay. You'll need a good GMAT though. Look at Duke, Wake Forest, stuff like that. ND and Michigan have programs as well.
I'm gonna take a little different viewpoint here. MiMs have nowhere near the clout that MBAs have, and for many employers who are like "ehhh an MBA doesn't teach you anything anyways" and who prefer a candidate with technical finance skills an MSF can be a lot more valuable. Again it all depends on what you want to do. But if you can get the GMAT real high (and as lots of folks have already pointed out, the GMAT is KEY) than an MSF seems to me to be the better option (plus depending on your career development and goals leaves the door open to an MBA later on in your career).
2.7, eh, coffeeclub_09 ? Since you don't seem to quite know what you want to do, I'm going to throw an obligatory "Have you thought about real estate?" out there. Your GPA would no longer matter at 90% of companies and after a few years' experience would not matter at 100% of companies.
Considered it but I don't know much about it at the moment. I would be open to it though. Are you talking about REITs?
REITs are one option. Real Estate Private Equity and big time development are others. Of course, the more "prestigious" you get, the more you approach the 1% of real estate companies that will actually care about your GPA. Still, there are smaller companies and starting roles you could begin at and then network your way up.
Ipsa sed in natus non nihil. Id cupiditate minus harum nostrum ex nostrum totam.
Sint quae perferendis qui dolorum. Ipsam molestiae aut dolores explicabo officia voluptatem qui. Alias adipisci est ab aut.
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...