Guys, I am going to apply for a Msc in finance in Europe. However, the target university requires a good gmat score. I quote: few students have a score below 600, <570 not much chance to be admitted. I intend to mention that I have passed L1 in my application. My questions are two. First, is passing L1 valued by business schools for admission ? Can it make up for a lower gmat score ? And second, how do you recommend mentioning it ? Can I just print them my details from CFAI or do I contact CFAI to request an offical document to certify details. Thnx in advance. Feedback will be highly valued!
I am curious, why do you want to pursue a MSc in Finance when you are already gunning for the CFA? My impression of it is that there is a huge overlap in the material covered, though it is possible that the CFA offers a more in-depth coverage of portfolio management. Anyway,I do not think that clearing L1 puts you at an advantage. Just like how passing L1 does not give you an advantage in seeking that dream job of yours, I think it works the same here, reason being that there are many people out there who have cleared L1. I doubt it can make up for a low GMAT score. I’d say, try to re-take the GMAT if you did not do that well the first time round. What I believe is that an excellent personal statement can make up somewhat for a slightly lower GMAT score (perhaps 630 or so),but my guess is that if your GMAT score is below 600, your chances of getting in are low. I guess you could just casually mention somewhere you cleared L1, just like how you’d probably put in your resume in the “Others” section that you cleared L1.
I just got accepted by a good MSF program in the US. I’ll give the US perspective: Passing the CFA seems to impress MSF admissions people much more than MBA admissions people. MSF is a pure graduate finance program, and passing any level proves that you can handle (somewhat) upper level finance. They were impressed by the fact that I passed LII, and that I will probably be done LIII before I enroll in September. Will passing Level I allow you to get in with a sub-par GMAT? That depends on 1) How bad the score is, 2) How many other prospectives have passed a level, and 3) the rest of your application. The CFA will do nothing for a score 100 points below average, but should help with a score 10-20 points below average – unless, of course, every other applicant has the CFA on his resume. A good (above average) GPA will help as well. I recommend working the CFA into your essay/personal statement, and putting it on your resume. One concern: your quant score. It’s common for an MSF program to have a hard cut-off on the quant score. If this is the case, and you don’t make the cur-off, then you’re SOL. Remember that this is the US scene. I know dogs*** about Europe.