Any thoughts RE: MBA

re: the gmat question...

i believe the score is 680, which is somewhere around ~90% on the gmat. that's lower than the 98% score typically required to get into mensa, but mensa justifies the score differential by saying that people taking the gmat are already among the more intelligent people in the population (college grads and all), and, therefore, mensa will accept a lower score (they do still accept the gmat). it's on the mensa website.
 
My advice is to get a seniority position through work (since you are already working on the I-Banking side of things) and then go for an executive MBA in marketing & strategy. That way your experience will cover for your finance skills and the MBA will kick in for the marketing & strategy experience that you need in managerial level positions.
 
they admit you in mensa at 95% instead of 98% ....not 90%
95% score keeps changing in GMAT....it is normally around 720 or higher....all scores from 750 to 800 are 99 percentile///

I am editor of delaware valley mensa monthly journal called "Proteus"....
thats how i know what i am saying

i wud say mensa is a little overrated...but anyways it is what it is....

:)


asdffdsa Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> re: the gmat question...
>
> i believe the score is 680, which is somewhere
> around ~90% on the gmat. that's lower than the 98%
> score typically required to get into mensa, but
> mensa justifies the score differential by saying
> that people taking the gmat are already among the
> more intelligent people in the population (college
> grads and all), and, therefore, mensa will accept
> a lower score (they do still accept the gmat).
> it's on the mensa website.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Tuesday, August 7, 2007 at 12:07PM by me_here.
 
Just for some perspective, when I took the GMAT, 66% of the country got less than a 600, and something like 75% got less than a 650.

So that gives you some idea of what the score means, comprobly.
 
What about an Executive MBA? I was thinking, after my CFA studies are over, it might be the right call to get one...

I, hopefully, will be 34 when I start. I have a good job that pays well and a family that spends a lot...

Too old? Average? Too Young? Not worth it?
 
It worked for the CFO of my company who wanted to move into marketing. I think he was in his mid to upper thirties.
 
My concern with the Exec MBA concept is that it would require the explicit support of my employer, which I don't think I would have b/c no-one at my firm does MBA. Even the standard MBA programme presents an issue b/c I have to tap people I trust for references.
 
getting references is kind of a struggle, even if you are good and deserve to receive good references. do you really want to tip your hand? what if you don't get in? that might screw up your career progression. what if your boss writes an underwhelming recommendation so he can keep you? would you even know? what if you ask someone other than your direct supervisor to write the letter? that looks bad to the school and looks bad if your boss finds out. do we really need THREE non-academic letters of recommendation? etc. etc.

what they really need to do is scrap the letters and admit people based on the other criteria.
 
I couldn't agree more with asdffdsa. One of my friends works for a PE shop where he is expected to bugger off after 2 years. He is applying now to b-schools - hasn't done a great deal in his time there, just looks up companies' details and logs them - and will get stellar references from directors / partners at his firm for the rather arbitrary reason that his position is not permanent in nature. From my current employer, there's no way I can ask my boss. So I'll ask a friend who is 2-3 years more senior, and he'll give me a glowing report which won't carry very much weight. But all this beating around the bush shows how stupid it is.
 
why would firms want people to "bugger off". that is something i don't understand. wouldn't they want to retain their employees?
 
Well, it used to happen in I-Banking, right? An MBA was at one point the natural exit after 3 years as an analyst. As far as this guy is concerned, he works for a mid-market shop that can't really train him on financials / valuation, and I think they are loathe to keep him in his current (stifling) role indefinitely. Also, they need to raise his salary at least once a year, which is expensive given that he isn't adding any more value than he was previously. Admittedly, the latter is not a major factor (a few thousand $ is not going to put these guys out on the street).
 
etienne, is he doing anything that is really that different from what the juniors are doing at the bigger shops? probably not. for example, banking jobs / PE are basically administrative with a small amount of interesting work. yes, you might do some forecasting in your model, but basically you're formatting charts and graphs, scrubbing comps and putting together endless stacks of pitch books. it is not difficult work. i doubt the experience at a BB or top PE shop is that much different then experience at a MM firm on a day to day basis, though the larger firms may offer better training and exit opps (this is somewhat up for debate, but we'll go with it for now).
 
as far as the recs are concerned, they only care about it if its from someone who you work with. if you don't work for your boss, it really doesn't matter much (unless your boss is an alumni or gave lots of $$ to the school). if you just work next (not with or under in some way) to your senior, then that won't matter much either. i think the idea is to have someone write a rec that can speak to the quality of work, role in the firm, leadership qualities, initiative, etc. if your senior can do that, i don't think it'll make any difference.
 
MBA from truly top US school (HBS, Wharton, Columbia, Chicago) is definitely worth the cost at any age. If you can get in definitely go for it! if not then perhaps consider doing MBA in Asia and working there for a while.
 
asdffdsa Wrote:
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> etienne, is he doing anything that is really that
> different from what the juniors are doing at the
> bigger shops? probably not. for example, banking
> jobs / PE are basically administrative with a
> small amount of interesting work. yes, you might
> do some forecasting in your model, but basically
> you're formatting charts and graphs, scrubbing
> comps and putting together endless stacks of pitch
> books. it is not difficult work. i doubt the
> experience at a BB or top PE shop is that much
> different then experience at a MM firm on a day to
> day basis, though the larger firms may offer
> better training and exit opps (this is somewhat up
> for debate, but we'll go with it for now).


There is definitely a big, big difference in terms of what he does vs. people at the bigger shops or in IB. Granted, in I-Banking, most of my work was fairly menial, but I still dealt with financials and, more importantly, I got 8 weeks' intense training on financials / valuation / modelling. My buddy doesn't even look at the financial statements, he just tries to find basic info (products, management background, names / addresses) on companies as a first screen.
 
globetraveler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> MBA from truly top US school (HBS, Wharton,
> Columbia, Chicago) is definitely worth the cost at
> any age. If you can get in definitely go for it!
> if not then perhaps consider doing MBA in Asia and
> working there for a while.


I'm dreading the application process already...

Thanks
 
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