Does the CFA Charter help with getting into top MBA schools?

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projectplatnyc

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I assume it does. Hoping to go to a top 5 school for an MBA - does anyone know of people or have personal experience with applying to top schools and their interest in CFA charters?
Usually they will look to see (through your education) if you have enough academic rigor to get through their program. I think the CFA charter (or passing a few levels) is definitely a solid stat to get past this hurdle.
 
uhhh.. i’m so sick of people like you who are in the program only to burnish their credentials so they can hope to impress loser MBA adcom members
 
Are you joking me - yeah I am only doing the CFA exams to get into an MBA program. Get a life man.
 
the short answer is that progress in the cfa will only help if it works in with your story. they know what it is and how hard it is to pass. they also know a lot of people will do all kinds of things to pad their resumes. if the cfa isn’t needed to get your dream job after school, don’t do it. there are far better ways to improve your chances of getting accepted than the cfa.
 
thanks for the feedback mlh - - I’m committed to getting my CFA charter - definitely not stopping now
 
Hey,
I think its just another positive for the b school application, but not a lot of weight is placed on it.
It was not even mentioned during my interviews.
I’m buying a PS3 today.
 
CFA = 4 years of investment management work experience, that’s gotta be worth something.
 
I’d say it’s not so much passing the 3 levels as having completed the work experience that’s going to carry weight…i.e. I don’t know how much they’d differentiate between 2 guys w/ equivalent work exp, if one passed L3 and one failed it; their focus is likely on the work (and the quality of boot polish you bring to the interview).
 
I’d venture to guess most adcom people don’t even know what it is. Good essays and work experience help you get into business school, professional licenses & certifications do not.
 
“I’d venture to guess most adcom people don’t even know what it is. Good essays and work experience help you get into business school, professional licenses & certifications do not.”
i disagree with the first sentence, agree with the second. i guess i should qualify my disagreement. adcoms from most (if not all) of the schools people on this board are interested in have heard of it. if they haven’t, it’s only b/c they haven’t been on the job long. i would guess that the cfa is one of the things they see the most, either people are who or who have taken an exam. but again, if the cfa doesn’t fit in as a logical piece to your story, it won’t help you.
“i want a job in im so i’ve started in the cfa program, but i also know an mba is ultimately what i need blah blah blah”
instead of
“i want an mba so i can maybe work in consulting.” what about the cfa? “i wanted to round myself out with some finance skills”
it has to make sense.
 
“adcoms from most (if not all) of the schools people on this board are interested in have heard of it”
You’d be suprised. I’m in a top 5 program & most, if not all, of the adcom people in the program I’m in would not be able to draw a distinction between say a series 7 & a cfa for instance.
Have you ever applied for a job & run across an HR person who really didn’t understand what they were looking for beyond some certain set of keywords & a minimum level of presentability? Admissions people are sort of like that - most of them don’t really know as much as you would maybe think they do. Some sort of volunteer leadership position would be infinitely more tangible to them for instance.
 
I think that most of the adcoms are pretty familiar with the various engineering, IT, and finance certifications that applicants have. They see a ton of applications each year, and most have a lot of experience doing this.
All things equal, sure, a CFA helps. But earning the charter takes a ton of time, time which could be spent developing teamwork and leaderships skills, which the adcoms probably value more than any certification.
 
mh7 Wrote:
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> I’d venture to guess most adcom people don’t even
> know what it is.
wrong. they know. it is business school, bro, not a social work program.
 
i guess some do CFA b/c their undergrad GPA sucks??? i had no idea people pursue the CFA to get into B school. for me, i did b school first, then CFA. makes CFA tests “easier” (nothing is easy) since top 20 programs have good overlap with CFA level 1 and some of level 2
 
You definitely shouldn’t do the CFA to get into business school. Work experience and the GMAT are much more important to the adcom. So you should work hard to impress your boss and study for the GMAT. Allocate any spare time to the CFA.
 
hah, obtaining the CFA charter is way more difficult than finishing your MBA. It may not mean much to an admission officer who pays more attention to questionable extracurricular activities (ahh im sick of this), but certainly it pays in the long run.
 
2x2equals4 Wrote:
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> hah, obtaining the CFA charter is way more
> difficult than finishing your MBA.
debateable bro. CFA is 3 tests. you could be a clown who could never sell A CEO on an i bank deal but pass tests. MBA, at least top 20s, put you in situations where you have to lead. no room for pansies. Darden is boot camp, kid. I’ll takea Darden MBA over a CFA anyday, and this comes from someone who is obsessed with the CFA exams!!!!
 
CFA is 3 exams but it is also 4 years of relevant experience.
The exams are hard and the last thing you need is to fail one of them. Its not like you have a resit, agree ? Besides, most probably you’ll be working when you pursue the charter.
MBA, at least top 20s, put you in situations where you have to lead. - this is another questionable benefit of the MBA programs. Everywhere everybody speaks about leadership qualities, where in reality it is extremely debatable as to whether leadership can be taught and learned. You may be a great leader but you still may not precisely know what would be the best portfolio for a client.
Also, I am fully aware of the benefits of a good MBA degree but I think the use of the word leadership next to the MBA has become abusive.
 
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