MSc Finance Profile Evaluation (LSE Finance, LBS Financial Analysis, Oxford Financial Economics)
Hello everyone,
Im planning to do an MSc in Finance next year (straight after i finish my undergrad) and will be applying after this summer.
Basic profile:
Semi-target uni in the UK. Think Bristol, Bath, Durham, Warwick, studying Economics & Mathematics. After two years my average is 72% First Class Honours which converts to GPA 4.
Currently finishing up my work placement year in AM in one of the largest private banks in Europe, but i have sort of Middle Office job. I have also done a summer internship in AM in one of the eastern european countries after my first year in uni
CFA level 1 passed
One remarkable thing is that I have spent like 10 years playing chess internationally and earned FIDE Master title at the age of 15
My placement ends in July 2019 and i will be attending LSE Summer school Advanced Corporate finance course and i believe this is useful given that i will be applying for LSE Masters
I haven't done my GMAT yet and do be honest not sure if it is worth it given that i don't need it for LSE and LBS and it is only required for the Oxford course. Although i understand that it may strengthen my application for all masters anyway. What do you think guys? If i do it, i am sure that i will get 700+ but this may mean applying later for masters because i need at least two months to prepare,
My top three choices are LSE Master in Finance, LBS Financial Analysis and Oxford Financial Economics.
I know that LBS values work experience a lot and i think this is my weak point because i haven't done any BB or EB internships and there are guys out there with a much better work history. With regards to Oxford, i have a good quantitative background and solid grades, so i guess it will depends on my GMAT. I personally think that i have the highest chance at LSE, especially given that i will be doing a summer course there this summer. I will obviously apply for other unis as well such as Imperial and probably HEC (but don't really think that i would love to be in Paris).
What do you guys think about my chances? Do you think doing GMAT is worth it? Is my profile strong enough for these programs or should i aim for a lower tier courses? My final goal would be to get a job in IB in London.
I will appreciate any advice! Thanks in advance!
well if you want oxford, take the master. That said you should have no issue getting into LSE. Jeez FIDE Master is insane. Was rated at 1850 elo at my peak - that said I was a bit younger before dropping chess
Thank you! Did you mean to take gmat if i want oxford? My max elo was 2340, not sure if i even need to mention it somewhere because most of the people don't know what it means
Mention it, either people will google it or they will know and be very impressed. And yes take the GMAT as it will give you an other option.
Hi Pan European Monkey. I sent you a PM yesterday, hope you don't mind it and will appreciate if you can give me some advice.
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Thanks for your advice! Actually i will have to work on my recommendations a lot because i literally attended 0 lectures during my second year and don't even know names of my lecturers.. But at least i know for sure that i can get a very good recommendation from my work placement
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I think you also applied to MIT and LSE and got rejected. What do you think the reason was?
If I were you I would take the GMAT, especially if you are confident you will get a high score. This will be needed for Oxford (you want to get 730+) LBS (700+), HEC and Bocconi (probably 670+). If you can get these scores, I think you would be competitive for the above programmes as you come from a semi-target, have a 1:1 and a year’s worth of work experience.
I also believe you’d have a decent shot at LSE, meaning you wouldn’t have to waste time doing the GMAT, but applying exclusively to LSE is risky as their admissions process is quite random...
Thanks for your advice! I will definitely do gmat.
Does anyone else have any thoughts? I have strated thinking to apply to MIT as well, but it is probably even harder to get than any other uni mentioned above.
I don't think the programme at MIT will give you significantly better opportunities than the ones you have listed above, unless you want to be a quant.
I was thinking MIT because my final goal is to end up in New York. So if i get top european masters, the plan is to work in london and then move to NY internally. But if i get to MIT, i might have a chance to get a job in New York straight away, but not sure about that because visa issues are worse in US
With that profile you shouldn’t have a problem being accepted at LSE and LBS. If you really want the MFE at Oxford go for the GMAT. Otherwise, I don’t believe it is necessary in your case, even though it will probably improve your chances and give you access to other MSc.
PS: you still have plenty of time to prepare and apply to any of these masters, so you have time to take and even retake the GMAT if it goes wrong in the first place.
LBS requires GMAT...
It doesn’t if you have CFA level I
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