Yeah dude, take the advice of a 22-year old claiming that studying for a respected professional designation related to a field you’re interested in is a “waste of time”.
You know what, don’t listen to us. You are probably ahead of 90% of the people on here. I mean you got into Columbia MBA which tells me you must have a strong work experience plus other things. Additionally, having Columbia on your resume, I can’t really think of how being a level II candidate after your MBA will help you in finding a job unless you are going for an entry level analyst position. Just my opinion.
Captain Windjammer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yeah dude, take the advice of a 22-year old > claiming that studying for a respected > professional designation related to a field you’re > interested in is a “waste of time”. Yea dude, take the advice of a disgruntled Level 2 candidate slaving away at studying, while he has less work experience and fewer accomplishments than you, and would give up the CFA in half a heartbeat to be where you are now. yes I’m sure his opinion is better…
infinitybenzo Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You know what, don’t listen to us. You are > probably ahead of 90% of the people on here. I > mean you got into Columbia MBA which tells me you > must have a strong work experience plus other > things. Additionally, having Columbia on your > resume, I can’t really think of how being a level > II candidate after your MBA will help you in > finding a job unless you are going for an entry > level analyst position. Just my opinion. You haven’t factored in all the variables. He will be competing against H/W/S/ MIT, Booth, Kellogg as well as his peer group Columbia. If all the variables, such as an undergraduate GPA, work experience, etc are the same, CFA could be a tie breaker. Or It could actually have a little weight if competing against a better school. Let me remind you of economic theory, which also was included in CFA Level I curriculum(I don’t know if they still do). Education is not subject to diminishing return. Gaining knowledge cannot be a “waste of time”.
greengrape Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Captain Windjammer Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Yeah dude, take the advice of a 22-year old > > claiming that studying for a respected > > professional designation related to a field > you’re > > interested in is a “waste of time”. > > Yea dude, take the advice of a disgruntled Level 2 > candidate slaving away at studying, while he has > less work experience and fewer accomplishments > than you, and would give up the CFA in half a > heartbeat to be where you are now. > > yes I’m sure his opinion is better… Who are you talking about? You’re also 22, aren’t you?
I think it’s a little exaggerated to say that it would be a “waste of time”. However, there may be some truth to the idea - how much incremental value is it going to add to his resume, given the time commitment needed to do the program? Wouldn’t his time be better spent networking, searching hard for internships etc apart from studying?
Before getting to business school? Networking and job hunting will be most of what the OP is doing while there, no? How much valuable networking is he or she going to be able to do now, unless he or she is set on returning to the same place after business school (which I guess we don’t know)?
As a man from Ireland I’m curious as to the cost of these Ivy League MBA’s. What sort of cost would it be over the duration of the course…and more importantly do you pay for the fees yourselves? What exactly separates the Ivy League from the rest?
EoghanLyons Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > As a man from Ireland I’m curious as to the cost > of these Ivy League MBA’s. What sort of cost would > it be over the duration of the course…and more > importantly do you pay for the fees yourselves? > > What exactly separates the Ivy League from the > rest? If you get a full-time MBA, you have to factor in cost of living expenses. After that, it comes to about $150-170k all in for two years. “Ivy League” MBAs aren’t exactly what they are for undergrad. The top 7 programs are: Harvard, Stanford, Wharton (UPenn), Chicago Booth, Columbia, NW Kellogg, and MIT. Notice that only 3 of the top 7 programs are Ivies. From there, Dartmouth Tuck, Duke Fuqua, UCB Haas, NYU Stern, UofM Ross round out the next group. The other Ivies of Cornell Johnson & Yale SOM are somewhere in the top 15-20 schools. Princeton & Brown do not have MBA programs. As you can see, the Ivies are very strong, but they don’t hold the dominance in MBA programs as they do in undergrad. Many programs are far stronger than Ivy counterparts – even (and perhaps most notably) the mighty Yale SOM. The programs are expensive, but if they’re a way to fame and fortune in the world of finance many feel that they are a worthwhile investment. Danny Boy says his firm rejects about 30% of the top MBA program recruits – I’m sure that the rejected few find positions at some other equally prestigious firm.
I mentioned at least 30%, but my off the cuff estimate was likely wrong by a large degree. For our MBA summer internship program, we brought in approximately 50 candidates. I’d estimate >80% were from HBS, Wharton, Columbia, MIT, NYU and Chicago. Please note that I’m not sure how many candidates were rejected before they were brought in to the office (on campus and phone interview phases). I met approximately 75% of the candidates as I attended most of the meet & greet dinners we hosted the nights before their interviews (interviews occurred over a few weeks). We extended 15 offers to the 45-50 candidates we interviewed for the summer internship. 14 accepted, one rejected. Thirteen of the new interns come from HBS, Wharton, Columbia or MIT. Other top schools, such as NYU and Chicago, did not have any students with offers extended. The school with the highest representation of the incoming interns is actually MIT, which surprised me. A few of these interns are CFA charterholders. For those of you entering a top MBA program - congratulations. However, it isn’t the golden ticket many people think it is. You will still need to stand out among your classmates and other top MBA students. If you want to be in asset management or equity research, then the CFA will help. It’s likely you will be required to pursue it once you graduate anyway, so might as well get a head start if possible. If you’re hoping for PE or trading then I can’t be of much help. The CFA certainly won’t hurt and if you have the time then it’s worthwhile to pursue before you start classes.
Danny Boy – Good stuff man that’s great info. Are those recruiting #s for ER or IB?
Buyside asset management
Are your Columbia recruits primarily out of the Value Investing program or is it a random mix of CBS MBAs?
No clue. I could probably look up their resumes… but I won’t 
lol not asking you to do that, but I wondered if your firm had a policy about recruiting heavily from the Value Investing program or whether that was just “another component” in the recruit’s profile. The fact that you don’t know off hand probably answers my question.
I’m not heavily involved in the recruiting process (too new for that). So, they may care about the Value Investing program or not give a damn… I have no idea.
@ op. You are going to be working your balls off during the program and certainly afterwards. Take this rare time to relax and enjoy yourself and mentally prepare to work hard. My $.02
Thanks again for all the replies. This is a great community! @Dapper425 thanks for the advice; however, as mentioned by @skycfa, some of my classmates are going to have cfa finished when the school starts and I will competing with them! @Palantir: I think I will have to do that! That’s plan B. @Danny Boy great info! Thank you for sharing it! @mossy695: I think I know who you are, I wish I were in your situation!
btw, do you have to apply to get into the Value investing program, or do you just sign up?
Danny Boy, what was the range of age of those candidates? Are MBAs for people past 30-35?