-
Liberal Artist
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2011 6:56 am
Hey BTG'ers,
Before I start, I warn you, its a long post so if you are hard pressed for time, read the next paragraph and the last one. I have tried to make is somewhat interesting
I have spent months, days, and hours searching the web for a profile that might fit mine. As you can probably tell (as the name suggests), I am a liberal arts student with a desire to do an MBA in the future. My current circumstances, future aspirations and everything else considered allude to one word - confused!
Most of my anxieties have stemmed from the fact that me and maths do not get along. I blame the unnerving maths teacher in high school, the abysmal public school, and an insatiable appetite to succeed in the sciences (to fulfil my ambition of getting into med school) which ultimately meant I shunned maths. Now the quantitative section of the GMAT scares me greatly. Even the liberal arts students who have achieved a score above 720 seem to have some evidence of maths either at high school or college.
Here is where the confusion sets in!
Being a UK student, we tend to sit A-levels in two years before embarking on a 3/4 year UG degree. I think the equivalent of the A-levels is the APs in the States. We tend to take 4 in our first year (to obtain AS grades) and then drop one and continue 3 in our second year (to get 3 A-level grades + 1 AS grade). I did my A-levels in Chemistry, Biology, History, and English Language achieving 4A's (scoring 90+ percent in Chemistry and Biology). Upon achieving these grades, I decided to shun medical school (after getting a place) and pursue an academic degree I was passionate about and history seemed like the obvious choice. I took a year out to earn money for college and was accepted onto a history degree at a top 5 university/college in the UK. Our department is very rigorous and ranks in the top 3 for history in the country.
In the build up to college, I took a liking to financial markets and all things entrepreneurial. Curiosity led to the reading of lots of books and wikipedia searches and my aspirations were set - to break into the financial industry (accounting, consulting, investment banking etc). It wasn't until I got to college that I realised my college was a target for the bulge bracket investment banks. I went to the first few campus networking events, making a fool out of my self by trying to compare the likes of PWC to Goldman Sachs. My confusion seemed stark to recruiters who were wondering why this 'liberal arts monkey' was trying to break into a career dominated by quantitative rocket scientists who have studied anything from economics to accounting to theoretical physics and maths. I was doomed! Far from being defeated, I took it as a challenge. I split my routine into three - attend history classes and did all the home work; became finance whizkid (without the maths); had fun at college and got involved. The ultimate goal in my freshman year was to land a coveted Spring Internship (usually a week long in Spring Break). I struck gold and landed three (2 of which I did). It seemed that nothing was impossible, except for maths. This was evident by the sheer number of economics, finance and maths majors at these programmes. I was the humble historian arguing for history and cycles during lunch discussions while my peers were ripping my theory to pieces through the use of equations. Was I in the wrong place? Did I belong here? I certainly felt confused!
Summer before sophomore year. I had a 3 months vacation and felt the best way to spend my summer was travelling or doing charity work. I combined the two and decided to raise an X amount of money for a chosen charity whilst travelling in Africa. The fund raising would be done through an expedition of some sort, climbing one of the highest mountains in the world - Mount Kilimanjaro; and by doing charity work in various countries - hence my backpacking in Tanzania and Kenya after the climb.
Second year at college and the summer internship frenzy was ripe. Everyone and their grandmothers were fixated on landing a summer internship at a bank. Maybe I was lucky to be accepted onto spring programmes in my first year but surely banks would now see the gaping abyss in my CV - lack of maths! Again, the question 'why banking if you study history' was more in my face than ever. If friends wrote of my chances (those that had done summer internships the year before), how would recruiters view me? This was combined with the fact that I wanted to break into the markets (sales and trading) side of investment banking. My first interview with a big investment bank and the interviewer drops a bombshell on me...
Interviewer: Do you think maths is an important subject? Big Hint - you can say no at which point you can leave because you are not going to fit in or you can say yes at which point you need a really good excuse for why you didn't do it at A-level at least.
Me: Errmm, we'll I'll answer this like a Historian and give you a balanced view. Yes its important as the fundamentals in the markets are driven by maths or mathematical theories BUT numbers have a very narrow focus. You can't evaluate an stock without looking at the technicals and fundamentals and this includes both maths and human instinct, experience, a knack for dissecting copious information.
Interview: Oh, so you're saying No. I think you'll struggle.
It seemed that my first year experience wasn't enough for this company to overlook my maths abilities. I was really confused as to whether I made the right career choice or not?
Second interview at one of the biggest US investment banks in the world (think of the big bank merger in 2008) and what was my first task? A maths test on video. 21 question, 21 minutes. Simple ratios, percentages, fractions, currency conversions, plus an out-dated calculator. This was combined with the fact that out of 12 of us at the assessment centre, 3 were from Cambridge, 2 from Oxford, 2 from London School of Economics, 2 from Imperial College London, 1 from HEC Paris , and me and another guy from from less-prestigious universities. I felt like the most unqualified person there. Any who, I passed the numerical test with considerable success (I think I scored 19/21) but this wasn't a true reflection of the level of maths involved in finance. But I got the break that I needed. Passing the maths test along with very strong interviews with people who were impressed that I knew so much considering I came from a history background, I was confident. A few days later and an offer!
I was well onto my way of becoming an investment banker but the truth was I would struggle. This was clear from the fact that a few weeks ago, we had to choose desks for our rotations and in turn, desks chose us. The best desks went to the quantitative geniuses while I, being the only liberal arts student, had to run around frantically trying to prove I could do the job. I learnt two things from that day: I should have taken a greater interest in maths (but how could I, the teacher was unbearable) all those years ago AND I would need to up my game if I was to be good at my job and get on a good MBA programme.
I think a large part of what I have achieved, in both internships and other extra curriculars, is down to my personality. I come from a humble background; I make the most of what I have (whether its coming from an inner city public school or studying history and trying to break into finance); I am likable (I network well and somehow people feel inclined to help...either that or they feel sorry for me
).
Whether I get a job with this bank or not, I will pursue some sort of career in finance and then aim to apply to US B-schools after 2/3 years of work experience (around 2015/2016 entry). I am really confused as to whether I have the B-school profile firstly and secondly, am I lost cause in terms of quantitative skills? What would be the best way to prepare for this monster that is the GMAT? I feel that I would find it hard to study whilst working and preparing for professional exams. On the other hand, those professional exams would require some sort of maths and hence it would make sense to do it before I graduate. Should I attempt to sit the GMAT before I graduate in 2012 and if so, how much preparation is enough? I know this is a 'how long is a piece of string' style question but I whilst I have found many people who have done very little maths previously and have done tremendously well on the GMAT, the majority of them tend to allocate a considerable amount of time to preparing (2-6 months). I know some B-schools are known to be GPA and GMAT-nazi's and while my GPA isn't spectacular (currently averaging a 2.1) I hope it suffices. If it does, what sort of schools can I aim for?
Obviously the biggest worry here is the GMAT.
Any advice would be great!
Many thanks,
LA
Before I start, I warn you, its a long post so if you are hard pressed for time, read the next paragraph and the last one. I have tried to make is somewhat interesting
I have spent months, days, and hours searching the web for a profile that might fit mine. As you can probably tell (as the name suggests), I am a liberal arts student with a desire to do an MBA in the future. My current circumstances, future aspirations and everything else considered allude to one word - confused!
Most of my anxieties have stemmed from the fact that me and maths do not get along. I blame the unnerving maths teacher in high school, the abysmal public school, and an insatiable appetite to succeed in the sciences (to fulfil my ambition of getting into med school) which ultimately meant I shunned maths. Now the quantitative section of the GMAT scares me greatly. Even the liberal arts students who have achieved a score above 720 seem to have some evidence of maths either at high school or college.
Here is where the confusion sets in!
Being a UK student, we tend to sit A-levels in two years before embarking on a 3/4 year UG degree. I think the equivalent of the A-levels is the APs in the States. We tend to take 4 in our first year (to obtain AS grades) and then drop one and continue 3 in our second year (to get 3 A-level grades + 1 AS grade). I did my A-levels in Chemistry, Biology, History, and English Language achieving 4A's (scoring 90+ percent in Chemistry and Biology). Upon achieving these grades, I decided to shun medical school (after getting a place) and pursue an academic degree I was passionate about and history seemed like the obvious choice. I took a year out to earn money for college and was accepted onto a history degree at a top 5 university/college in the UK. Our department is very rigorous and ranks in the top 3 for history in the country.
In the build up to college, I took a liking to financial markets and all things entrepreneurial. Curiosity led to the reading of lots of books and wikipedia searches and my aspirations were set - to break into the financial industry (accounting, consulting, investment banking etc). It wasn't until I got to college that I realised my college was a target for the bulge bracket investment banks. I went to the first few campus networking events, making a fool out of my self by trying to compare the likes of PWC to Goldman Sachs. My confusion seemed stark to recruiters who were wondering why this 'liberal arts monkey' was trying to break into a career dominated by quantitative rocket scientists who have studied anything from economics to accounting to theoretical physics and maths. I was doomed! Far from being defeated, I took it as a challenge. I split my routine into three - attend history classes and did all the home work; became finance whizkid (without the maths); had fun at college and got involved. The ultimate goal in my freshman year was to land a coveted Spring Internship (usually a week long in Spring Break). I struck gold and landed three (2 of which I did). It seemed that nothing was impossible, except for maths. This was evident by the sheer number of economics, finance and maths majors at these programmes. I was the humble historian arguing for history and cycles during lunch discussions while my peers were ripping my theory to pieces through the use of equations. Was I in the wrong place? Did I belong here? I certainly felt confused!
Summer before sophomore year. I had a 3 months vacation and felt the best way to spend my summer was travelling or doing charity work. I combined the two and decided to raise an X amount of money for a chosen charity whilst travelling in Africa. The fund raising would be done through an expedition of some sort, climbing one of the highest mountains in the world - Mount Kilimanjaro; and by doing charity work in various countries - hence my backpacking in Tanzania and Kenya after the climb.
Second year at college and the summer internship frenzy was ripe. Everyone and their grandmothers were fixated on landing a summer internship at a bank. Maybe I was lucky to be accepted onto spring programmes in my first year but surely banks would now see the gaping abyss in my CV - lack of maths! Again, the question 'why banking if you study history' was more in my face than ever. If friends wrote of my chances (those that had done summer internships the year before), how would recruiters view me? This was combined with the fact that I wanted to break into the markets (sales and trading) side of investment banking. My first interview with a big investment bank and the interviewer drops a bombshell on me...
Interviewer: Do you think maths is an important subject? Big Hint - you can say no at which point you can leave because you are not going to fit in or you can say yes at which point you need a really good excuse for why you didn't do it at A-level at least.
Me: Errmm, we'll I'll answer this like a Historian and give you a balanced view. Yes its important as the fundamentals in the markets are driven by maths or mathematical theories BUT numbers have a very narrow focus. You can't evaluate an stock without looking at the technicals and fundamentals and this includes both maths and human instinct, experience, a knack for dissecting copious information.
Interview: Oh, so you're saying No. I think you'll struggle.
It seemed that my first year experience wasn't enough for this company to overlook my maths abilities. I was really confused as to whether I made the right career choice or not?
Second interview at one of the biggest US investment banks in the world (think of the big bank merger in 2008) and what was my first task? A maths test on video. 21 question, 21 minutes. Simple ratios, percentages, fractions, currency conversions, plus an out-dated calculator. This was combined with the fact that out of 12 of us at the assessment centre, 3 were from Cambridge, 2 from Oxford, 2 from London School of Economics, 2 from Imperial College London, 1 from HEC Paris , and me and another guy from from less-prestigious universities. I felt like the most unqualified person there. Any who, I passed the numerical test with considerable success (I think I scored 19/21) but this wasn't a true reflection of the level of maths involved in finance. But I got the break that I needed. Passing the maths test along with very strong interviews with people who were impressed that I knew so much considering I came from a history background, I was confident. A few days later and an offer!
I was well onto my way of becoming an investment banker but the truth was I would struggle. This was clear from the fact that a few weeks ago, we had to choose desks for our rotations and in turn, desks chose us. The best desks went to the quantitative geniuses while I, being the only liberal arts student, had to run around frantically trying to prove I could do the job. I learnt two things from that day: I should have taken a greater interest in maths (but how could I, the teacher was unbearable) all those years ago AND I would need to up my game if I was to be good at my job and get on a good MBA programme.
I think a large part of what I have achieved, in both internships and other extra curriculars, is down to my personality. I come from a humble background; I make the most of what I have (whether its coming from an inner city public school or studying history and trying to break into finance); I am likable (I network well and somehow people feel inclined to help...either that or they feel sorry for me
).Whether I get a job with this bank or not, I will pursue some sort of career in finance and then aim to apply to US B-schools after 2/3 years of work experience (around 2015/2016 entry). I am really confused as to whether I have the B-school profile firstly and secondly, am I lost cause in terms of quantitative skills? What would be the best way to prepare for this monster that is the GMAT? I feel that I would find it hard to study whilst working and preparing for professional exams. On the other hand, those professional exams would require some sort of maths and hence it would make sense to do it before I graduate. Should I attempt to sit the GMAT before I graduate in 2012 and if so, how much preparation is enough? I know this is a 'how long is a piece of string' style question but I whilst I have found many people who have done very little maths previously and have done tremendously well on the GMAT, the majority of them tend to allocate a considerable amount of time to preparing (2-6 months). I know some B-schools are known to be GPA and GMAT-nazi's and while my GPA isn't spectacular (currently averaging a 2.1) I hope it suffices. If it does, what sort of schools can I aim for?
Obviously the biggest worry here is the GMAT.
Any advice would be great!
Many thanks,
LA
