why you doing the cfa after completing your mba?
yeah i know.been thinking this through the last month and still no closer.just decided to put it up here and see how it goes.
the market is expanding here though.there aren’t too many specialized people too,at least not yet.every guy working in an analytics company wants to do a masters in financial engineering now.
i would like to aim for finance but if i end up in a entry level management position i wouldn’t mind ,work my way up and see how it goes.
again though do you think the cfa will make up for a shitty gpa?
Well, I finished MBA pretty much when Lehman collapsed, and as you know, things have not gotten any better since then in regards to employment. So in a sense, it’s an ‘old’ MBA, and so I don’t have access to the MBA recruiting positions, since they all want class of '12 or '13. Also, I like most of the stuff covered by the CFA in general for my own knowledge, except Ethics. Anyways, supposedely having both MBA/CFA makes you more marketable. Shit if I know these days though. That’s why I just want to become a pro boxer. It’s the one professional sport that has very low, if any barriers to entry.
The CFA is only good for people who want to enhance an existing career in investment management…since you are so adverse to being pigeonholed you may want to consider the fact that the CFA programme is a specific kind of feed for a specific kind of pigeon.
A bad gpa+little experience = mediocre MBA…so reject this option…like most degrees it is all about brandname.
A master degree in finance/economics from a top school with cfa on the side seems to me a better option than a mediocre MBA. It gives you another opprtunity to apply for internships again and avoid the current industry condition.
Either way…life does not sound bad for you
CFA will help you but it won’t compensate for bad GPA. It’s something that’s a complement to good work experience and not really a great qualification on its own. Keep in mind its also expensive on an Indian budget.
That being said, more than anything, you need to get a job, do you have any offers in engineering?
Tough call. I’d say CFA is better than an MBA that is not in Financial Times Full Time Global 100 Rankings. But it seems like you are smart enough to get into a top school.
I’d just do the CFA because you might like the material, and don’t stress out about it if you fail a couple times at a few levels.
In my mind, actual skills wise, the MSF is better than all but the top 10 MBA programs. Also targeted to new grads. Right now you’d never get into an MBA program that would give you much of any boost at all due to lack of experience, GPA, etc. Look at Princeton and NYU’s Masters in Finance programs. Not sure if you’ll get in though. The more quantitative, the better for job placement.
im adverse to being pidgeonholed because my career hasn’t even started.if i get pidgeonholed now and dont end up somewhere decent im fucked.
my gpa is bad.i don’t plan to have little work ex.maybe 4years.my diversity shit or whatever they look for is decent.speak 4 languges and have stayed in 3 countries.i think if i can cover that bad gpa i might have an outside shot.
investment management is something that interests me.it’s what attracted me to cfa in the first place.problem is like everyone says it isn’t going to get me in the door so is there something else more efficient i can do with my time.im leaning more and more towards doing the cfa level one,at least that will show the admissions office i can complete the program and then re-evaluating.
it’s not expensive.
yeah,fucking last option though.i’ll cry myself to work,im sure of it
Go get your MBA, and try to make sure your internship is at some bank or something. Good GMAT will help mitigate bad GPA too. Also… depends how long ago undergrad was. My undergradd GPA sucked, but was from top school… however, that was back in 1999, and I did MBA many years later.
good stuff.
where’d you do it from?is the course manageable for someone with no background?
finance postgrad programmes usually accept students from all disciplines but the top programmes tend to prefer students with a quantitative background…engineering is helpful for sure.
yeah…let’s see.first choice remains mba.got a cousin who graduated from rutgers which is supposed to be shit but she’s doing pretty well.
how’s the market in england?are you thinking of an mba?iv’e heard warwick is brilliant
Do what you want. I know scores of crappy Rutgers and other MBA grads in this economy that can’t get a job in any respectable field to save their lives. MBA doesn’t give you hard skills, technical masters do. They’re also much more intense and driven and give you a defined skillset, with high placement.
Course is designed for people with no background. Doesn’t matter where I went.
if you are willing to go to the uk just consider the big 5 : Oxford,Cambridge,Imperial,LSE,Warwick…the rest is not bad ofcourse but considered second tier relative to those. Warwick financial math is very reputable and very competitive. I heard half of the candidates were sent home after they failed an entrance exam for that programme. Ofcourse LSE and Imperial are great too, Imperial has a reputation for being very scientific and the fail rate for the finance programme is quite high there.
so yeah…apply the big 5 in the uk and some good programmes in the US…i am sure you will get something good somewhere. A good GMAT may compensate for a poor gpa in amny cases. I think Warwick does not even ask for a GMAT (not sure though).
The market is not particularly good anywhere…perhaps Australia is still good lol
yeah.no harm in taking opinions though.
you liked the msf,i assumed the program you went to was good that’s why i asked.princeton and nyu are a good shout.going through their site now.thanks
cool…will look into it…thanks
What was it like studying in Europe? Everyone is trying to steer me away from that direction because of the economy over there, but I’m giving INSEAD and ESADE a serious look. In all honesty, I’m looking to spend a few years out of NYC after being here for the past 27. Studying abroad is appealing because it forces me to be out of my comfort zone.