Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

My profile is:
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Work experience: IT support in a fortune 500 company (2 year)

GMAT: 720(Q50,V37).

Master: Acturial science in USA. Current GPA 3.7

Undergraduate degree: Computer Science in a HKUST
(2005 graduated)with GPA 2.3.(class ranking: around 30/60)

extracurricular activities:
Team member in two sport teams anf have taken part in competition for the university.


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Can anyone give me some suggestion to explain or compensate my GPA in undergradue degree?

In fact, GPA in my previous University is low in general, Ususally, we get a 'C+' if our score is average. Moreover, I have put lot of time in sport teams when I am undergraude student. Should I use these reason to explain my low GPA?

Also, Master in Financial Engineering extremely foucs on Math. Should I take a GRE sub Math to compensate the low GPA?

Thank you very much

Hi and thanks for your note --and apologies for the late reply. I just landed in Tanzania for a consulting project a few days ago and it has taken a few days to get up to speed.

To answer your question, I think your master's in actuarial science (esp. with a 3.7 GPA) should remove any doubts that people might have about your mathematics competence. As for your GPA, again, your master's will be very useful as will a rational explanation of your undergrad, the grading system, and your other commitments. Your situation is not ideal but it definitely seems manageable. There is a lot more statistics to applied finance than I think a lot of people outside of finance realize.

On the other hand, what is more confusing (and potentially riskier for you) is why you want to get an MFE. An MFE is a very very technical degree that will put most people into an I-bank, a trading firm, etc., etc. I'm not sure that you're getting an actuarial degree really signals that you have a strong interest in finance. It's not unbelievable but you will need to make a compelling case for why you want a second masters degree and want to make what will be, for all intents and purposes, a very abrupt career switch.

I hope this helps. Good luck, let me know if you have further questions, and keep me in the loop about your decision making.

Paxton

So, what range of university should I apply for?
Is it my profile good enough for those ranked in 20-30?

I'm not trying to be evasive here but you have a mixed profile and, given that there are not a whole lot of MFE programs out there, it would probably be worth your time to evaluate them one by one.

However, even before you do that, I would think very carefully about making the transition from actuarial science to an MFE: think about why you are doing it and how your are going to position that to an admissions committee. You may have a great reason but it is not clear to me right now.

Paxton Helms - Kaplan wrote:I'm not trying to be evasive here but you have a mixed profile and, given that there are not a whole lot of MFE programs out there, it would probably be worth your time to evaluate them one by one.

However, even before you do that, I would think very carefully about making the transition from actuarial science to an MFE: think about why you are doing it and how your are going to position that to an admissions committee. You may have a great reason but it is not clear to me right now.

After discuss with others, I think MBA program is more suitable for me. Is it possible for me to entry in top 15 MBA program?
Thank you very much

Yes, I definitely think that you're a candidate for a top 15 school. Maybe not the top four or five, necessarily, but a very solid candidate for most of the top twenty.