The adcoms I’ve talked to told me they are aiming for younger students because “older”, qualified people not applying in the numbers they once were.
I’m a 45 yr. old construction worker with a GED and aspirations of going to Harvard. I’ve also have attended many “Trade like a Wall Street Pro” seminars, and looked over the study materials for the series 7 while at B&N… Could one of the admission counselors on here (since there seems to be at least 5 leading experts on what Harvard will and will not accept) tell me what my chances are of getting in?
os on this forum and other places, Ive heard both that older age and younger age is an advantage…I’mm 22 and I think I want to start 24-25ish, the only problem is how much will I have to forgo because the place where I work and most other HF’s, MBA’s dont hold/add a lot of value…However if at some point I want to switch to IB or PE, MBA prestige would help…so thats something I have to see whether I want to switch/stay…The value added of an MBA is so unclear to me…Anyone have a top 10 school MBA comment on how it helped them? Perhaps that would bring more insight…I would think the biggest thing would be networking…
Networking in B-school is ridiculously overrated, especially if you want to stay in your industry. You are much better off networking with associates and executives in your current industry. I found it incredibly valuable to work for a large firm before moving on. Lot’s of the people I worked with have scattered all over the industry.
I work with a few associates with MBAs from one of Stan/Penn/HBS. I don’t have an MBA, but I can tell you that we all add the same value to the role. The MBA is a door opener, just like the CFA.
Why not go to Wharton or University of Chicago, those are better Finance schools. Or even get an MFE.
preetchawla Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The value added of an MBA is so > unclear to me…Anyone have a top 10 school MBA > comment on how it helped them? Perhaps that would > bring more insight…I would think the biggest > thing would be networking… I’m at a top-10 program now, and the added value from a career standpoint has been huge. I don’t have a IB/PE/Consulting/etc background, and I didn’t go to a super prestigious undergrad, so having the big MBA name on the resume has really been a step up. If you’re smart about it, you can usually get an interview with most firms that come on campus–Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Google, etc. Then it’s up to you. I will say though, investment mgmt is still a tough nut to crack. Even the big mutual funds will only hire a relatively few number of interns a year, and so they can afford to be super-selective. (I had an interview with a sleepy midwest mutual fund, and just got raked over the coals.) And some of the smaller shops can’t waste the resources to train you, so they like to hire people with experience. So it requires some legwork, but getting a good job at a small to med L/S hedge fund or a decent mutual fund or perhaps the asset mgmt arm of a BB bank is def obtainable. For a big HF or a top flight mutual fund, you would probably need either H/S/W or some real good experience. Everyone’s situation is different, though, and sometime it just comes down to luck.
Thats the thing, I am already working at a HF doing arbitrage, so I am trying to figure out value added of an MBA given that. Ofcourse, without experience in Finance, it totally makes sense to get an MBA…I work with a bunch of very intelligent people but I dont get to newtork much as such…One other point is that I dont come from a presigoius undegrad(UC Davis) as well, so an MBA from a top 10 provided I get in, would be great…I took the GMAT(770) while graduating college last year so have that for another 4 years…I think I would think of Fall 09 or Fall 10 if I had to do it, I dont want to start(put in two years full time) after 25 to be honest… That said, depending on my fund performance, my whole stance on considering an MBA could change dratically… Perhaps, things will get more clear as I get more experience and talk to more people as well…Thanks for the info though!
cfaprincess Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > from the link: “And let’s face it. Younger people > are easier to exploit and manipulate. It’s easier > for a manager to ask a 27-year old single person > to go the extra mile, come in on a weekend to do > “non-essential but helpful” work. It’s harder to > do that to a 33 or 35 year old parent with kids - > because he/she won’t fall for that kind of BS, or > the manager will feel too guilty to even ask.” > > all too true. unfortunately i fall into the former > category *gah*. don’t worry, cfaprincess. that used to be me too until my former manager pushed me over the edge one too many times. of course, as a junior employee i really didn’t have much recourse so i ended up just announcing i was quitting as soon as my bonus hit. maybe i’ll see you in b-school though?
sigh, a lot of people seem to have taken things out of context. 27 is NOT too old for an mba, but it is on the high end for HBS. if you have a masters or PhD or did something else, like volunteered for a few years or have military experience, then you will be viewed differently than someone who “only” has 5 years of experience, so this comment may not apply. for “regular” folks, 27 is starting to push the high end (nevermind that he will be 28+ by the time he applies and potentially gets in). this is particularly true for feeder industries like finance. in terms of his specific accomplishments (Joey), how the hell would YOU know? i responded to what appears to be a poorly thought out question from someone on the older end of the range who apparently knows little about how this process works. he is late to the game and it shows. if he is a pulitzer prize winning olympic gold medalist, fine, but i’ll take the odds that he is not. are you long that bet?
CFAdetroit Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 24 years old is the sweet spot? riiiiight It is the sweetspot. I applied this year and was admitted to one from H / S / W and waitlisted at the other two. My comments are based on the profiles of ACTUAL admits this year who attended the welcome weekend at one of those schools. What is your source of information? In terms of HBS, the school just rolled out its 2+2 program whereby college seniors are accepted and deferred for two years to gain some work experience. Clearly, this is not the case for all applicants, but it is not at all uncommon for people (particularly in consulting and finance (by the way, we are TALKING ABOUT FINANCE)), to work for 2-3 years and then apply. If you are older (27+), you need to have something unusual or show some serious career progress, like 3 promotions.
HBS’s 2+2 program was not implemented in order to attract younger students. It was implemented to capture students from non-business background/majors and infuse a different type of leader into the mix.
hueion Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > HBS’s 2+2 program was not implemented in order to > attract younger students. It was implemented to > capture students from non-business > background/majors and infuse a different type of > leader into the mix. Says who? This makes no sense. HBS admits many nontraditional applicants every year. If you look, the majority of recent class is composed of humanities majors. Additionally, there are numerous non-profit, media, entertainment, engineers, scientists and other non-business folks who apply and are accepted each year. No, 2+2 was implemented because HBS realized its arbitrary work experience requirements were causing the school to lose a significant number of qualified candidates who entered fast money careers like banking and PE and later declined to return to school due to the associated opportunity cost (not to mention the fact that they are already working in their intended career). 2+2 applies more to these types than it does to “non-traditionals” who have lower financial opportunity costs and are looking to transition to some sort of business career.
asdffdsa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Says who? This makes no sense. Says Harvard… specifically paragraph 3 http://www.hbs.edu/news/releases/091307_2plus2.html
asdffdsa - congratulations on your b-school acceptances! hope you don’t mind if i ask you for some advice when i get around to applying myself.
It’s marketing crap. There are very few Teach for America admits. Like all other top schools, they offer the glimer of hope so that you throw your application into the mix and 1) contribute to the school’s endowment and 2) do your part to lower the acceptance rate (increase the selectivity and prestige). The other options listed were all business related careers (perhaps not for Google engineers). Don’t believe everything you read. 2+2 is to get highly competitive candidates who do not want to wait long to get an MBA and could be poached by other schools or skip the MBA altogether. hueion Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > asdffdsa Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > Says who? This makes no sense. > > > Says Harvard… specifically paragraph 3 > > http://www.hbs.edu/news/releases/091307_2plus2.htm > l
numi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > asdffdsa - congratulations on your b-school > acceptances! hope you don’t mind if i ask you for > some advice when i get around to applying myself. feel free numi. i am not really an expert by any stretch but i would say you are well on your way with top UG + GPA and top work ex. you are in PE now, correct? that will be huge. if you are planning apply to S (which i suspect you are), remember that who you are is at least as important as what you have done. you need an angle to stand out from the rest of the finance crowd. i mention this because it takes time to really develop an angle, so you may want to start thinking about it if you haven’t already.
asdffdsa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It’s marketing crap. It is not. Maybe you’ll see next year.
Hmm, thanks for the overwhelming responses guys!! Didn’t expect this forum to exceed more than two pages!! Come to think of it, I’m not particularly keen on studying MANAGEMENT, as that can be gained through working experience. I’m more interested in learning something more technical and specialized…such as petroleum economics, since my sector coverage is on energy. At the moment, I find equity research very challenging and interesting. A wealth of knowledge can be gained in research, however, still lacking exposure in terms of managerial skills though as my current work is pretty much self navigated and independent. I previously worked for a large European bank for 2.5 years, managing a team of 15 people in a sales division and find the job very frustrating at times, especially when uve put so much effort in motivating people to expand the bank’s businesses, running around here and there kissing people’s asses. So i decided to call it quits as I feel that it doesn’t give me any added value in terms of knowledge, which is why I am in equity research publishing reports instead. And no, I am not a noble prize winner, and have not been involved in any form of humanitarian or voluntary work due to my current commitment in pursuing my CFA. I think LSE (London School of Economics) would be a nice spot to land into compared to Harvard given my personal preference on the shorter duration (10 months) and the specific courses offered.
asdffdsa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > numi Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > asdffdsa - congratulations on your b-school > > acceptances! hope you don’t mind if i ask you > for > > some advice when i get around to applying > myself. > > feel free numi. i am not really an expert by any > stretch but i would say you are well on your way > with top UG + GPA and top work ex. you are in PE > now, correct? that will be huge. if you are > planning apply to S (which i suspect you are), > remember that who you are is at least as important > as what you have done. you need an angle to stand > out from the rest of the finance crowd. i mention > this because it takes time to really develop an > angle, so you may want to start thinking about it > if you haven’t already. hi asdffdsa - thanks for your reply. i started working in private equity last month, so assuming i start business school in fall of 2010, i will have had 3 years of BB equity research experience and 2.5 years in private equity doing leveraged buyouts. i can drop you an e-mail in the next few days as i would like to hear your advice. i’ll be applying to business school for fall of 2010 admissions and would like to start preparing now to make sure i’m on the right track. the biggest issue with my application right now is lack of community service, but i’m not sure how big of a deal that is. i know it’s important for the standard applicant, but many of my friends who came from banking or consulting backgrounds never had time outside of work to do other things, and they too got into H/S/W without any real meaningful extracurricular activities. i’m also trying to figure out how i can demonstrate leadership abilities either in the community or in my workplace. i’ll write you within the next few days describing my context in more detail. are you at the same email address?