for people with subpar undergrad GPAs, common advice is often to take additional courses and get good grades in them to show admissions that you can achieve academic success.
would earning a CFA charter work for the same purpose?
From everything I’ve seen. Generally no.
Yea that’s disappointing I agree.
No. When they ask for your grades, they mean specifically grades from undergrad and then your GMAT. CFA also doesn’t check the teamwork, leadership or vision aspects of the application. I wish I could say differently but the CFA is probably one of the worst returns on investment from the standpoint of getting into business school. Few people without CFA understand how difficult and time consuming it is, and once you’re at school you will probably find that in almost none of your classes or recruiting, except for asset management or maybe hedge funds, will leverage the CFA.
well ok then
back to the drawing board. Most likely have some additional math courses in my future I suppose.
Agree with the above. The folks that staff MBA admissions offices are not finance professionals, and may not even know what CFA is.
That is inexcuseable ignorance, especially considering that many people going to these schools end up working in financial services in one capacity or another.
Nothing ignorant about it. Business schools look for almost totally different qualities, or qualities demonstrated via other means. Have a look at an MBA application from a top 10 school and you’ll see.
Vandelay? Is that you?
Numi is there a thread whereyou have gone into the MBA application process in further detail? Would be interested in hearing your take.
lol
Good question – actually, I may be doing another interview with MergersAndInquisitions.com on this very topic in the foreseeable future. We still have some details to work out but it’s a frequent enough question for finance people to ask about business school, and one where I feel there are still plenty of myths and misconceptions out there.
I have posted about various MBA-related topics over the years; I don’t know what your exact questions are but generally if you search “numi business school analystforum” you may find some helpful stuff (not trying to be master of the obvious here, but Google did flag some top threads on their front page).
Two threads stand out in my mind:
Here’s one where I talk very generally about some books I read and essay approach tactics: http://www.analystforum.com/forums/water-cooler/91316253
Another on my GMAT test experience:
http://www.analystforum.com/forums/cfa-forums/cfa-general-discussion/91050393
^ Thanks.
CFA doesn’t do much for you in MBA land. Not even with recruiters (they care much more about who you worked for before B-school). There are tons of people at B-school with the designation and I have seen absolutely nothing that would demonstrate anyone cares about it. Sorry but that’s the truth.
The good news is that b-schools don’t care nearly as much about your grades as you may think. Especially if you went to school more than five years ago and have a good track record with companies that can help you get hired by their recruiting partners.
I’m at Wharton with average grades and less than stellar GMAT.
Bottom line, skip the CFA and just apply and hope for the best.
^ what were your grades and GMAT?
what about a seperate masters from a non-target school>?
If i perform well int hat couyld that partially offset/partially offset poor undergrad grades?
My advice is to just get a job with a company that they know and respect. That means a lot more than any designation or masters degree to MBA recruiters and the companies who recruit on campus.
May not help with GPA GMAT but surely will strenghten your application if all the other qualities sought in the applicant are also met.
i.e. CFA may help you land a better job at a more reputable cie which would improve your application overall etc…
What’s the oldest could one be for the MBA program to start being less attractive and valuable. I’m thinking over 30 will be generally useless. Would look awkward in class as well. Top-10 schools of course.