A 2.0 is equivalent to a C average? What do you need to score a C? 75%. You got 75% of everything right, and they want you to feel like this is inferior. 75% on a CFA exam is arguably good enough for CFAI’s standards, so why not for those of B-schools? Argue that your GPA does not reflect your intelligence/ability. You just need to find an original and convincing way to defend yourself, and maybe a good school will want you. Everyone loves underdog stories.
dude don’t even go there comparing cfa 75 to coursework 75, that’s retarded. Most kids scoring 75’s on cfa practice exams were 4.0 students, you’re competing against a much deeper pool. Secondly, top 20’s don’t love underdogs, they like success stories, look at their admission stats. There’s a fine line between optimism and false hope.
I’ve gotten accepted to a top 10 graduate statistics program by performing better at the graduate level before I got in. Of course, there is false hope, but a bad college background long ago can be overcome.
Top ten is out. I would say the work experience is just as big a “ding” as the GPA. Focus on a regional school, which is in an area (geographic) that you like for the long term. You wil be wasting your time (and $$) focusing on top schools. The CFA could only help (especailly since it does show discipline - esp if one is working full-time) - that said it will only make a marginal difference.
Black Swan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > dude don’t even go there comparing cfa 75 to > coursework 75, that’s retarded. Most kids scoring > 75’s on cfa practice exams were 4.0 students, > you’re competing against a much deeper pool. > Secondly, top 20’s don’t love underdogs, they like > success stories, look at their admission stats. > There’s a fine line between optimism and false > hope. Swan, I knew (and still know) 4.0 students who were (and still are) dumb as nails in college. Just because your transcripts say that you’re ‘retarded’ compared to them doesn’t mean that assumption holds any merit. In the words of Winston Churchill, never surrender, and keep us posted on your progress shalabh.
I have a strategy for you … The caveat I’ll give is I’ve not gone down this road, nor do I plan to, but I think it’ll work. Stanford offers many online graduate certificate programs with almost open admission. Apply to one of those. Then, after you perform well (grades of A) there, apply to a Stanford graduate degree program, preferably also online. From there, you should be able to take a couple of classes in the B-school faculty and then perhaps apply to Stanford B-school. The tuition cost for this is serious as Stanford is a private school, but if it’s worth it to you …
yeah in canada 2.0 is a C. or at least in the school i went to. Thats like a 65% though, not 75. 75 is a B here.
Cjones, in the event that a 4.0 doesn’t indicate intelligence, then it indicates severe work ethic, I believe noone cares which it’s chalked up to. While a lot may have changed between being a 2.0 and being a 4.0, understandably admission boards can be forgiven for being dubious. Particularly in top 10 schools where they will be loathe to reject a high gpa well rounded student with 5 years of impressive work experience for someone who passed a CFA exam (which he hasn’t done yet either).
Fair enough, Swan. Shalabh, in all honesty, you’re probably done. Not ‘destined for a career that requires wearing a paper hat 8 hours a day’ done, but ‘maybe you should expand your seed throwing to include 18-month online MBA programs’ done.
cjones65 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Swan, I knew (and still know) 4.0 students who > were (and still are) dumb as nails in college. they werent dumb, they were just not street smart – is that what you mean? there are 3 types of people in the world. book smart, street smart, and people who are a rare breed and have both skills.
I can think of at least one more type…
daj224 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > cjones65 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > > Swan, I knew (and still know) 4.0 students who > > were (and still are) dumb as nails in college. > > > they werent dumb, they were just not street smart > – is that what you mean? there are 3 types of > people in the world. book smart, street smart, and > people who are a rare breed and have both skills. There are those, also, who have both skills but are truly very lazy beasts. I know someone, who I would consider one of the brightest person alive (both academic smart, and street smart), but lacks any motivation in life to propel himself. He’s lazy like *uck. Sadly, I pity those type, those who have the natural talent, but choose to waste away their life. Well, good luck OP. All i can suggest is re-take the GMAT and get an exceptionally great score, and to write a killer essay. Other than that, probably the most important thing now is to develop couple more years of relevant work experience.
Thanks for your suggestions guys. Just to gain more insight from perspectives i give some more details. I am 27yrs of age living in india. While doing my undergrad degree i knew about few entrances exams which never asked for minimum academic performances. The entry was based on entrance test and interview. this gave me an impression that undergrad is just a qualification to be eligible to apply for these entrance exams. I never took undergrad as a performance and only as a qualification. And i devoted my time to dancing, singing, and music. (won prizes but no oscars obviously). I belong to a city with modest resources. I helped poor people getting jobs and their children getting admission in schools. I worked in Rotract club as a volunteer. My work involved arranging for funds to distribute blankets to poor people in winters, planting trees for green ment. I did theatres and was cultural prefect of school. I also did full time marketing jobs while doing BCOM. Also worked as a software trainer after doing computer course along with my BCOM studies. Much to my stupidity did not pay attention to GPAs. When i moved to Delhi the capital of india I came to know about other career choices and realised the importance of GPA in undergrads. But it was too late. I contacted university to confirm if i have chance to improve my grades. Thanks to silly bureaucratic system i could not do so. I was even ready to do BCOM but was not allowed. I was doing job so could not go for full time masters and everyone said that part time or correspondence is not valued in mba applications. I was thinking how about going to new zealand and do full time masters diploma in finance, work for a year and move to USA. New zealand would be cheaper, international experience on resume and chances of permanent resident are higher in New Zealand. And if i apply as a kiwi i may have better chances of admission, because Indian pool if full of bright fishes. Please suggest.
“Thanks to silly bureaucratic system i could not do so. I was even ready to do BCOM but was not allowed.” You wouldn’t be allowed to upgrade your grades in the same course outside of India either. “I was thinking how about going to new zealand and do full time masters diploma in finance, work for a year and move to USA.” Moving to the US is not as easy as just applying. “And if i apply as a kiwi i may have better chances of admission, because Indian pool if full of bright fishes.” But you are not a kiwi. You are Indian. Your application will be lumped into the Indian pile. Try and get an interesting job and work your way from there.
> I was thinking how about going to new zealand and > do full time masters diploma in finance, work for > a year and move to USA. This will never work. You are in a difficult predicament. You made some very poor choices and probably squandered the slim opportunity you had to get into some interesting work in India. Look at the bright side. You have a job with a good company. Unfortunately you live in a developing country. You didn’t distinguish yourself in school or after. It will be a tough road. If I were you I would stay the course and try to rise to management within Fidelity India.
Hi, So If I target anywhere between 20-50 ranked colleges for career in Investment Analyst in USA assuming 700+ score and other things as mentioned above, would it be realistic?
shalabh@fidelity Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi, > > So If I target anywhere between 20-50 ranked > colleges for career in Investment Analyst in USA > assuming 700+ score and other things as mentioned > above, would it be realistic? No. This is probably unrealistic. Why are you so hell bent on emigrating to the USA? Any immigration official will pick up on your desire to stay in the US post MBA and will deny your visa. If you manage to get a visa to study, chances are you won’t find a company that will sponsor you to stay, especially if you fancy yourself an investment analyst with 7 years of totally unrelated experience. If, despite what we are telling you and the considerable costs (which you will probably not be able to pay back), insist on coming to the US to study, I suggest you look at 30-50 ranked schools. If you go this route, you should be fully prepared to return to India with your tail between your legs (and considerable debt) after two years.
I think some of the 30-50 schools might take a chance on you, but I don’t want to raise your hopes. Passing the CFA exams and getting a 700+ score are noteworthy accomplishments, but they aren’t indications of special talent, which is what I think you would need to get into the top schools.
If I published my Uni dissertation (I graduated with Honors) in an academic journal (financial econometrics) and it was recently cited by the research center of a major European National bank, plus I have a couple of years working experience, do you guys think I have a good chance to get into a top 5 MBA (and possibly getting a scholarship)?
You’ll need to lose the victim complex if you are going to get anywhere. You devoted your time to dancing and it’s the system’s fault you got poor marks? sheesh.