Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

Hi,


I am using this opportunity to discuss a small point regarding my candidature and I do know that assessing a candidate success in admission application is subjective and depends on the pool as well. However I just require a small feedback.

I am an Engineering graduate from one of the top 20 colleges of India majoring in production engineering.( NITs which come below the prestigious IITs). Currently I work with an American bulge bracket bank in their fixed income division as an analyst.

I have a GMAT of 710 but a GPA of only 6.96 / 10.

My poor GPA is a result of my poor performance during my first year of college due to my extreme health conditions. ( I HAD 6-7 F GRADES IN MY FIRST YEAR). I wasn't able to attend majority of classes apart from being able to deliver good performance due to my extremely poor mindset all because of my health condition as stated above. My college uses our first year performance to put across our final GPA in its heuristics hence the poor Final GPA.( MATHS ARE ONLY C & D GRADES).

My class topper had a GPA of 8.5 hence my class standing will be around 16/45.

I know that I am in a bad position to apply to MFE since they state a minimum of 8.5 ( and F grades are heavily shunned too!!) for Indian students.Actually in my class only the topper received a GA of 8.5/10 and this has been the tradition in my department for quite some years.

Now this is my only demerit as far as academics are concerned.

MY Advantages are :

1. My professors kinda knew my situation( Bad health-->read asthma attacks --> absenteeism) but since they had to follow protocol of the college board they gave me lower grades despite my performance during my 2nd,3rd & 4th year. However they are willing to write a good Recommendation letter of a high level note including citings from the dean and HOD highlighting my special case. My professors include a current IIM ( top B school India) Asst Professor & my faculty advisor who is a NUS post grad ( Australian and Singaporean government scholarship holder)can vehemently state my cause and condition in my LORs apart from giving a stellar recommendation, plus I can give in a medical certificate as well)

2. I have taken EXTENSION COURSES(3 MATH & 3 FIN) from UC Berkeley in maths and finance ( total 6) straight A's.

3. Have a good score in GRE SUBJECT MATHS( different from the General GRE)

4. 2 Thesis on Mathematical modelling of financial models using Linear Programming and Advanced Genetic Algorithm( modeled in R) respectively that is to be immediately published in an international journal. I am further planning to present this in a conference.

5. I am a CFA level 3 candidate and a FRM charter holder

6. Good Extracurricular ( Elected Campus ambassador(Micro Finance), Lead Fundraiser(Green Peace), appreciation certificates etc)

I sincerely request you to look into my case and candidature and give a suggestion from your side regarding this. I would be highly obliged if you could advise me on the probable schools i can target.

Carnegie Mellon University LSE Financial Mathematics
Computational Finance

Columbia University Oxford MFE
New York, NY Financial Engineering

Princeton University Imperial MFE
Princeton, NJ Master in Finance

Baruch College, City University of New York
New York, NY Financial Engineering

University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA Financial Engineering

New York University
New York, NY Mathematics in Finance

Columbia University
New York, NY Mathematics of Finance

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA Master of Finance

Cornell University
Ithaca, NY MEng, FE concentration

Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA Quantitative and Computational Finance

University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA Financial Engineering

Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ Mathematical Finance


University of Toronto
Toronto, Canada Mathematical Finance

Boston University
Boston, MA Mathematical Finance

University of Chicago
Chicago, IL Financial Mathematics

NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering
Brooklyn, NY Financial Engineering

Rutgers University
Newark, NJ Quantitative Finance

Fordham University
New York, NY Quantitative Finance

Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD Financial Mathematics

University of Illinois
Urbana, IL Financial Engineering

University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI Financial Engineering

University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN Financial Mathematics

University of Washington
Seattle, WA Computational Finance & Risk Management

Claremont Graduate University
Claremont, CA Financial Engineering

Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, IL

James

Dear James,

Consider the following points:

1. On a relative basis, I wouldn't really call your undergrad performance as poor. Sure the Fs will haunt you, but the grades are what they are. I see you have already taken several initiatives through MOOCs and the CFA. The good GMAT score is another factor (a bit higher could have been even better though). You will have to ensure to communicate this and your illness (verified potentially through a reco) and then you should have a good chance of recovering on this front to a large extent.
2. It is not clear as to how long have you been working after graduation. That will be a factor to consider while applying to MFE programs. Your profession should make for a good natural fit into the program though. Also think of where you want to be post the program
3. For reasons mentioned here, I will avoid going into the specific schools. But you can do a lot of independently research and have a balanced mix of applications. I am sure you can have a shot at some pretty interesting schools out there.

Cheers,

Thank you for your advise and reply.

I am detailing below more information pertaining to my profile.

Work experience: 6 months at Copal Amba ( a Moody's Analytical Company ) a top 10 multinational KPO

- worked as an Analyst( the entry position to this position is actually associate analyst, however I was directly taken into analyst position despite 0 work experience.) for fixed income in the quantitative research division.Worked as an offshore analyst for a bulge bracket firm in U.S. primarily catering to US clients in resolving their queries and issues with respect to the multiassset portfolio analytics tool developed by the bank.

2 months- present - Morgan Stanley

- working as an analyst in the fixed income division. Have just completed my training period, nevertheless in a nut shell it includes developing investment recommendations on fixed income securities through studies of market fundamental and technical research.

Career goal: I am in the process of co founding a financial firm in the middle east ( Dubai) along with a friend. I hope to develop it as quickly as possible as well as obtain a PE funding.

I do feel that my degree ( engineering) hasn't provided a depth knowledge as far as finance is considered. Which is why my primary goal would be first to get necessary industry exposure and together with this I intend to do a full time course in finance preferably MS in Finance or MFE to supplement my working knowledge with a sufficient theoretical knowledge as well. After a couple of years I intend to do an MBA part time to complete my expertise required.

Test Scores:

GMAT: 710(q 48 v 39)

GRE Subject math test: 810

If you don't mind I would also like you to advise me and assess my candidature for some MS in finance course which I am below mentioning. I ask so because recently I had sent a mail to LSE masters in finance admission department and this is the reply I obtained from them after explaining my GPA problem.
"Dear ****

Thank you for your email. While we look not only at the grades on your transcript, but also your personal statement, references, work experience, and any additional test score, if your grades are lower than our general minimum requirement, you are subsequently less likely to be made an offer of a place on the programme. If there are any extenuating circumstances to your grades, please make sure your referee(s) mention them in their references.

We are still accepting applications for two of our programmes for 2015 entry: MSc Risk and Finance (www.lse.ac.uk/study/graduate/taughtProg ... nance.aspx) and MSc Finance and Economics (www.lse.ac.uk/study/graduate/taughtProg ... omics.aspx). You are advised to apply as soon as possible as the last few places will be filled this month.

Kind regards

Jasper

Jasper Heeks | Admissions Assistant
Department of Finance | London School of Economics and Political Science
OLD 2.04 | Old Building | Houghton St | London | WC2A 2AE | t: 020 7955 5048"
The schools that I am targeting for MS in finance is:

1. LSE ( states a min of 8.5 for indian candidates in their website) ---a) MS in finance
b) MS in financial econometrics
c) MS in finance and economics
d) MS in private equity
e) MS in Accounting and finance
2. Oxford---> MS in finance economics
3. Said---> MS in finance
4. Imperial college--> MS in finance
4. HEC Paris--> MS in finance
5. York university---> MS in finance
6. Univ of Toronto---> MS in finance
7. University of Illinois Urbana Champgne--> MS in finance
8. Olin business school--> MS in finance

Kindly advise me on the schools as well what the response from the LSE department implies..
James

James,

You have an interesting start of your career. You will have to however defend why you changed so soon from Copal and why looking for a change again. Doesn't bode too well from a story perspective.

Well the email is pretty obvious isn't it? Like I had mentioned, you have had extenuating circumstances and you are already working to get one of your recommender to defend it.

The list you have seems good enough at a high level so go for it.

Cheers,

That is a wide swath of programs and schools. I see your career goal is to co-found a firm in the middle East (Dubai) along with a friend. So, you might want to target INSEAD's Master in Finance (https://specialised-degrees.insead.edu/m ... n-finance/) given that the school started a campus in Dubai and has contacts in the region.

MBAPrepAdvantage just launched its new website. I created a list of schools which have some the various specialized Finance programs: Masters in Finance, Masters in Financial Engineering, Masters in Financial Mathematics and Masters in Computational Finance. That will be a good starting point. We also have an aggregate rankings page for Masters in Finance rankings and Masters in Financial Engineering rankings that might point you in the right direction winnowing programs.

Good luck,