Finding the right school - Profile evaluation

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Trytryagain: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 3; Joined: Tue May 12, 2015 8:34 am

by Trytryagain » Fri Jul 10, 2015 12:03 pm

Since these forums were so helpful in helping me while taking the GMAT, I thought I'd seek out some advice with regard to school selection...

I currently work in a mid-office role at a bulge bracket bank (5+ years experience across BO/MO roles). My hope is that I can utilize the right MBA program to break into a front office role within investment banking.
GMAT: 670 (46Q)
Undergrad GPA: 3.6

Some of the schools that I've targeted so far are:
Columbia (Early Action)
NYU
Duke
UVA
Cornell
UNC
Georgetown
Notre Dame

Are there any other schools that I should be looking into for placement into Finance/Investment Banking?
The 1 year programs that Cornell and Kellogg offer have also interested me a bit - and would love to hear if anyone has experience with those programs.
I'm also curious to hear how much, if at all, applying early action to CBS may help? (appreciating that my GMAT score and background are subpar for a program of that caliber)

Thanks in advance for the insight and advice.

Source: Beat The GMAT — Research MBA Programs | Fri Jul 10, 2015 12:03 pm

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Alexbr@ClearAdmit: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 309; Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2015 6:19 amFollowed by: 11 members; Thanked: 39 times

by Alexbr@ClearAdmit » Sat Jul 11, 2015 3:14 pm

you need to also factor in your extra curriculars and volunteer experiences in terms of putting together a strong application. cheers, alex

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GMAT/MBA Expert

CriticalSquareMBA: Legendary Member; Posts: 1088; Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2013 3:29 pmFollowed by: 52 members; Thanked: 171 times

by CriticalSquareMBA » Sun Jul 12, 2015 5:36 pm

Hi there,

While your GPA is in a good spot (granted we don't know where you went to school so if you went to Harvard, great GPA, if you went to a no-name state school, eh), your GMAT comes in well below the median at more than half the schools on your list. Columbia is the farthest stretch for sure (if you're going to apply, you should do EA), but even Stern Fuqua, and Darden are beyond aligned too. Of course, this is purely on looking at the stats you posted alone, so as mentioned above, the other parts of your application such as your involvement and professional achievements will be essential to your candidacy.

Be sure to consider whether the 1-year MBA programs will get you what you want. If you're looking to leverage on campus recruiting to interview with investment banks, the internship between years 1 and 2 is vital. Also, cramming all your classes into 1 year might make recruiting much more difficult than it needs to be.

Hope this helps! Best of luck!

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