Ask Stacy Blackman

Hello,

Please bear with me and help me out. I am very worried and looking to meet the Jan 4 deadlines for B-schools. I can't figure out whether to apply to any top-tier school or not. The app fees are so high and I do not want to waste money unless I have a chance.

Salient features of my profile are:

1- Graduated from NUST Business School (NBS - One of the top B-Schools in Pakistan) with a degree of BBA Honors, specializing in Finance and Investment.

2- CGPA 3.64

3- GMAT scores: 1st attempt (Q43, V38) ... total score = 660 and AWA 5.5 ... 2nd attempt (Q48,V33) ... 660. Yes, thats a pretty sad combination. I am too exhausted to take another try and aim to combine the high scores into one. Plus I dont have time anymore.

4- 6 months of internship experience. Currently working as an analyst-in-training (since 2 months) at SNL Financial. By the time I join a class in September, my total work exp should be a little more than a year (Around 14 months).

5- Participated in the prestigious CFA's Global Investment Research Challenge. Member of the team that won the national round in Pakistan. Went on to the regional round at Bali, Indonesia, and was one of the 6 (out of 15 teams) finalist teams. (Beating teams from renowned universities in Asia-Pacific e.g. NUS, HKUST, Peking uni etc.) ... This is basically a security valuation challenge involving financial modelling, research report writing and presentation to a panel of industry experts.

6- Academic scholarship holder for 6 semesters in undergrad.

7- VP sports and hiking society at NBS (and a few other extra-curricular activities)

8- Recommendation letters from the faculty only. One from the HoD finance.

Reason for MS/MBA at this point in time: I want to get into investment banking or join a research house. The problem is, all the I-banks in Pakistan are based in Karachi. The city is kinda unstable due to political unrest with peaking crime rates and it is not advisable for an outside to move there. There basically are no opportunities in the field of my interest here for now. I believe getting an MBA/MS in finance from a good uni will help open global avenues for me and help me have the career I want.

I was looking at these unis:

1- Stern NYU
2- Tuck, Dartmouth
3- Sloan MIT
4- Haas, Berkeley
5- Stanford
6- Ross-Ann Arbor
7- Tepper, Carnegie
8- NUS
9- Nanyang
10- Tulane
11- Simon, Uni of Rochester

Can you help me pick the ones in which I actually have a chance?

If these are too high up then I have been suggested these options as well:

1- Mcdonough, Georgtown
2- Smith, Uni of Maryland

I'd be grateful for a feedback on this. I can provide my updated CV if need be.

Regards,
Samra

Thank you Lisa

I have heard back from Tulane recently and have been accepted with 80% tuition fee waiver. Unexpected!!! @ scholarship. The other universities are still evaluating my profile. I personally feel that I will not get as good an offer from anywhere else since financing is an issue for me as well. Even though I'll wait for the other decisions but realistically I feel I will join Tulane eventually. It IS a well-reputed program when it comes to specialization in Finance so I am happy

Thanks again for your time and feedback.