My girl friend is planning to quit her full time job and join full time MBA. She got into one of the top 20 B-Schools in the US and has passed L1 recently. She plans to pursue a career in investment management after graduating in Dec 2011. I am iffy about her decision. What do you guys think? She has no prior finance experience but has been offered an internship abroad this summer before she starts school. So before she graduates in 2011, she will (hopefully) have 2 internships under her belt. Nothing’s set on stone, but what do you guys think? Quit the luxury of a full time job hoping the market to turnaround by 2011.
Need more details. What does “top 20” mean? What is her current job? What kind of internship did she get?
She will probably have more luck than people who opted for that strategy a couple years ago. Not a great time to be a graduating MBA at the moment.
Hello Mister Walrus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Need more details. What does “top 20” mean? What > is her current job? What kind of internship did > she get? “Top 20” usually means schools ranked #16-20. I know that’s not a big revelation, but it excludes schools ranked #1-15. Based on US News, that would be: Cornell University of Texas - Austin Georgetown University of North Carolina University of Southern California
He also mentioned that she would graduate Dec 2011. There can only be a couple of the top 20 that have 1 year MBA’s that end in December.
Hello Mister Walrus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Need more details. What does “top 20” mean? What > is her current job? What kind of internship did > she get? Kennan-Flagler and Tepper is a go. Waiting for Tuck and Stern. She is currently in Health care IT as a analyst (mostly project management and to some extent NPV analysis). Nothing that involved stochastic math, but she is one of the top performers at her current job. (Peer opinions, NOT me). She got into corporate finance dept of a bank overseas.
achilles Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hello Mister Walrus Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Need more details. What does “top 20” mean? > What > > is her current job? What kind of internship did > > she get? > > > Kennan-Flagler and Tepper is a go. Waiting for > Tuck and Stern. She is currently in Health care IT > as a analyst (mostly project management and to > some extent NPV analysis). Nothing that involved > stochastic math, but she is one of the top > performers at her current job. (Peer opinions, NOT > me). > > She got into corporate finance dept of a bank > overseas. I would go if it were Tuck/Stern. I would think more about it for the other two.
If switching to portfolio management or a similar field is the most important thing, I agree with topher. *As a side note, I noticed that this thread is basically asking how to switch from IT to FO. This might be interesting to people who have been reading AF over the past few days.
topher Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > achilles Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > I would go if it were Tuck/Stern. I would think > more about it for the other two. I appreciate you guys. I thought that Tepper was a good school to be in. I also understand that it’s not Tuck/Stern but assuming that she does not make it, Tepper is her next best choice. Tepper has a “quant” based MBA program and the perception on the street is the same as well. Also, she is good at R, S-plus and MATLAB. @ HMW : She wants to switch to FO, however she understands that it’s a long shot and needs to be patient. Regardless of what we decide, one thing is for sure. I need to propose her before she leaves for internship. I don’t want 8 yr old relationship to end for an internship or some guy who can use chucks !!
Given that she’s looking to switch industries, business school is a good way to facilitate that. She’s more likely to be able to make that switch through business school recruiting than in her current field, but she’ll have to get comfortable with the opportunity cost. It’s something I can certainly relate to, given that I’m quitting my job soon and starting business school in the fall myself.
For career changers, an FT MBA is the way to go. I can understand the jitters, especially in this market. Hopefully 2011 will be better but keep in mind it is not a long way out and there will be a lot of competition. In my opinion, IM is harder than IB to break into. She needs to stay focused from day one. Good luck to her…and you.
achilles Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Kennan-Flagler and Tepper is a go. Waiting for > Tuck and Stern. Dartmouth – yes NYU – yes, but only if the economy doesn’t get any worse Tepper – no Kennan-Flagler – is that even a school?
numi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- It’s something I can > certainly relate to, given that I’m quitting my > job soon and starting business school in the fall > myself. If you don’t mind me asking, where are you headed?
numi is heading to a Top 3 or 4
SMIRK Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Tepper – no > Kennan-Flagler – is that even a school? Yeah, I had to look that up too – UNC. Re: Tepper, if she’s looking to do something quantitative afterward it could be productive. Given her R / Matlab etc background, she should be able to come out with a good story.
justin88 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yeah, I had to look that up too – UNC. Might as well go to Fordham if you’re going to aim that low.
SMIRK Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > justin88 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Yeah, I had to look that up too – UNC. > > Might as well go to Fordham if you’re going to aim > that low. Its not #1 and not a particularly strong finance school but better than you think. I’m not affiliated with UNC
I quit my 80K job in IT and went to full time MBA and graduated in 2008. I took a job as an financial analyst for less than that. and am now unemployed. Passed L1. I would have been better off doing PMP instead. If she ever wants to have a family, stay in IT. My 2 cents. Disclaimer: I am bitter…
lrm1234 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I quit my 80K job in IT and went to full time MBA > and graduated in 2008. I took a job as an > financial analyst for less than that. and am now > unemployed. Passed L1. > > I would have been better off doing PMP instead. If > she ever wants to have a family, stay in IT. My 2 > cents. > > Disclaimer: > > I am bitter… what school or what was the school’s ranking?
haha don’t knock fordham too hard, they just won the NYSSA investment research challenge beating out schools like yale, columbia, cornell, nyu. lrm1234 - that’s a pretty rough deal. what ranking mba was this? i’m in the mid 80s, second year with no bonus and waiting on handful of schools in then coming weeks. not sure if i’ll pull the trigger if i get accepted, continue working/hunting or explore prospects abroad.