<p>I havn't posted for about a year and a half now...and I need your help. I actually have a bunch of questions.</p>
<p>Basically, I am an IOE (industrial and operations) in the college of engineering. I am thinking about pursuing finance or consulting (management/strategic consulting that is) for my career. I know those are really competitive fields.
Right now, I am sitting at a 3.6 GPA right now (junior standing, I kinda slacked off freshman year) and I was talking to a couple LSA kids at a career fair and they are all like 3.8 3.9s.. Engineering classes are supposed to be harder and the average gpas and stuff in engineering are much lower than LSA (I am pretty sure most of you know that) ..so my question is, will my lower gpa due to major negatively affect me?
Also, how does IOE from michigan place in consulting and finance?</p>
<p>I also have questions about grad school.. if consulting and finance are my career goals, what should I do?
There's a 5 year Master of IOE program (SGUS) which saves us a lot of trouble applying if our GPA is above 3.5 (it's almost an automatic in) ..but should I apply for master of financial engineering program instead? Or should i not even worry about grad school for now and just apply for an MBA program down the road? Is it possible to get into a top MBA program straight out of undergrad?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>A 3.5+ GPA will get your foot in the door for an interview with most companies. Once you get your foot in the door, the company interviewing you will not really care about your GPA, they will focus more on you as a person. I know a girl who majored in IOE atMichigan and joined BCG in DC when she graduated. She worked for BCG for 3 years and she then enrolled in HBS for her MBA. So you definitely have a lot of options with your IOE degree from Michigan.</p>
<p>thanks, how about the grad school part? I know that school's like stanford's MSand E(management, science and engineering) need like a 3.8 right? and what of the listed options should i pursue?</p>
<p>and is michigan engineering generally considered a target school for consulting and ibanks?</p>
<p>engineering is very heavily recruited for consulting and trading positions (before that field basically stopped existing). </p>
<p>Banking recruiting isnt quite as good and its not a target for that, though since Ross is on campus and IS a target you can just go to all the ross presentations and network with the companies when they come by and try to get an interview that way.</p>
<p>Your GPA isnt highly competitive but it isnt bad either, though I'm not really sure what constitutes a "good" ioe gpa. One of my friends in IOE just got a mckinsey internship offer, though he has a 3.9+.</p>
<p>some insights on the grad school part would help please :)</p>
<p>A 3.6+ GPA from Michigan will open all sorts of doors. Maybe not Stanford specifically, but Kellogg or Wharton or Columbia or Ross etc...</p>
<p>but should i do the 5 year M IOE? or should i do an extra 2 years and get a MFE..then get an MBA? or do i screw master of engineering for now and just get an MBA? based on my career goals</p>
<p>I would probably keep all my options on the table. Apply to one of the two graduate program options at Michigan's CoE and look for a job. If you get a good job before September, take it. If you do not get a job before September, go for the graduate degree. By the time you are done with it, the economy will have picked up and you will be in a great position.</p>