Hi,
I'd like some honest advice on whether I can get into a top 50 B-School with a somewhat unusual profile:
Coe College, BA Business Administration & Economics
Undergraduate GPA: 3.836, Magna Cum Laude designation
Purdue University, MS in Economics
Graduate GPA: 3.08
Note: Originally started as a PhD Candidate but was given a Masters as my work was sufficient enough to pass classes but not good enough to show dissertation promise. Just being upfront.
GRE scores: Q: 162, V: 162, AW: 4.5
Equivalent to GMAT 700 according to the ETS. Will probably retake GRE later in July 2013, and/or take the GMAT.
Professional Examinations Completed & Technical Certifications
CFA Level I (>70% all sections)
FRM Part I (Quartile rating 1-2-2-1)
CMT Levels I thru III
SOA Exams P and FM
SAS Certified Advanced Programmer
SAS Certified BI Content Developer
5 years of experience in marketing research consulting, statistical modeling (Marketing Mix modeling and logistic regression)
2 years of experience in Big data analytics / product development / writing reporting & optimization algorithms
Currently considering for Jan 2014 (Simon only) or Fall 2014 entry:
NYU, part-time
University of Chicago, part-time
Yale, full time
University of Rochester - Simon school, full time (they found me through the GRE Search Service and stated I could get a very generous scholarship)
Columbia, full-time
I would consider any other top-50 for full time with a decent financial aid package, or even second tier if I get a full-ride, so any suggestions are appreciated. I am trying to keep total loans lower than 60k if I go full-time which limits my school selection and probably would remove Yale and Columbia from consideration if I don't get a good aid package, which I think is unfortunately likely. I am also saving all I can between now and 2014 to make this feasible as the opportunity cost is a harsh dream-killing drawback for me.
Also thinking about:
Columbia M.S. Operations Research
Baruch M. Financial Engineering
Carnegie Mellon M.S. Computational Finance
U of Washington M.S. Computational Finance
Going for CFA Level 2 in June, also taking FRM Part II in November.
Further background:
I was running Q 165 in the diagnostics so I was rather disappointed with Q 162 due to bad time management on geometry questions (been awhile since high school), but was told this along with V 162 converts to a 700 GMAT. I probably will retake later in July and also take the GMAT. I'm also hoping that my successful completion of actuarial examinations would be better evidence of actual quantitative ability.
I originally was thinking of applying to financial engineering programs as an attempt to eventually career switch, so I took the GRE. Upon further thought, I read there's a significant oversupply of quantitative finance professionals, so I started considering an MBA instead to add more breadth to my current skill set and be more adaptable to different job roles as a hedge against being pigeonholed, and to also have a more practical and well-rounded business degree as compared to my MS in Economics which was heavily theoretical and academic.
Any thoughts are appreciated.
I'd like some honest advice on whether I can get into a top 50 B-School with a somewhat unusual profile:
Coe College, BA Business Administration & Economics
Undergraduate GPA: 3.836, Magna Cum Laude designation
Purdue University, MS in Economics
Graduate GPA: 3.08
Note: Originally started as a PhD Candidate but was given a Masters as my work was sufficient enough to pass classes but not good enough to show dissertation promise. Just being upfront.
GRE scores: Q: 162, V: 162, AW: 4.5
Equivalent to GMAT 700 according to the ETS. Will probably retake GRE later in July 2013, and/or take the GMAT.
Professional Examinations Completed & Technical Certifications
CFA Level I (>70% all sections)
FRM Part I (Quartile rating 1-2-2-1)
CMT Levels I thru III
SOA Exams P and FM
SAS Certified Advanced Programmer
SAS Certified BI Content Developer
5 years of experience in marketing research consulting, statistical modeling (Marketing Mix modeling and logistic regression)
2 years of experience in Big data analytics / product development / writing reporting & optimization algorithms
Currently considering for Jan 2014 (Simon only) or Fall 2014 entry:
NYU, part-time
University of Chicago, part-time
Yale, full time
University of Rochester - Simon school, full time (they found me through the GRE Search Service and stated I could get a very generous scholarship)
Columbia, full-time
I would consider any other top-50 for full time with a decent financial aid package, or even second tier if I get a full-ride, so any suggestions are appreciated. I am trying to keep total loans lower than 60k if I go full-time which limits my school selection and probably would remove Yale and Columbia from consideration if I don't get a good aid package, which I think is unfortunately likely. I am also saving all I can between now and 2014 to make this feasible as the opportunity cost is a harsh dream-killing drawback for me.
Also thinking about:
Columbia M.S. Operations Research
Baruch M. Financial Engineering
Carnegie Mellon M.S. Computational Finance
U of Washington M.S. Computational Finance
Going for CFA Level 2 in June, also taking FRM Part II in November.
Further background:
I was running Q 165 in the diagnostics so I was rather disappointed with Q 162 due to bad time management on geometry questions (been awhile since high school), but was told this along with V 162 converts to a 700 GMAT. I probably will retake later in July and also take the GMAT. I'm also hoping that my successful completion of actuarial examinations would be better evidence of actual quantitative ability.
I originally was thinking of applying to financial engineering programs as an attempt to eventually career switch, so I took the GRE. Upon further thought, I read there's a significant oversupply of quantitative finance professionals, so I started considering an MBA instead to add more breadth to my current skill set and be more adaptable to different job roles as a hedge against being pigeonholed, and to also have a more practical and well-rounded business degree as compared to my MS in Economics which was heavily theoretical and academic.
Any thoughts are appreciated.
