<p>I'm new to posting here, but have always found this forum to be immensely helpful when seeking advice regarding school or career. So, I would appreciate it if would help evaluate my chances for an MBA, with emphasis finance.</p>
<p>I'm currently a first year PhD student at a Top 5 engineering school (CalTech), majoring in electrical engineering. It wasn't easy for me to get here - my university accepted only about 5% of applications for the PhD program this year. However, I've become somewhat jaded by the fact that engineers don't make that much money, so I would like to switch to the finance industry. Yes, I apologize, but, it's all about the money (I don't come from a particularly wealthy family).</p>
<p>Some background: I have a BS and MS in electrical engineering, with a 4.0 GPA for my MS and <3.5 for my BS. My GRE scores are Q: 800, V: 700, AW: 6.0 (all >90th percentile). I also have internships at Intel, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and quite a bit of consulting experience. </p>
<p>My question is: given my background and motivation, what are my chances in making into one of top MBA schools, with an emphasis in finance?</p>
<p>You haven’t mentioned your work experience and the level you have held. Nonetheless, I think you have a strong chance. You should get into one or two of the top 10. However, if you really like finance, why won’t you enroll in MS Finance or MFE instead? MFE grads from a top-rated school such Berkeley and Princeton make as much as those from top MBA programs. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, I have been in school the whole time and have zero full time work experience - only consulting and internships! I had strongly considered financial engineering, given my engineering background, but would rather go into trading, money management, etc…where the compensation seems to be higher (I could be wrong, of course).</p>
<p>a MFE or master of finance, will get you into trading, and likely be more suitable for someone with a quantitative background, with the additional benefit that your lack of work exp will not be a major hindrance</p>
<p>an MBA on the other hand is much “softer”, although still wonderful prep for many interesting careers - I-Banking, Consulting, Etc., your lack of real work experience will be a major issue though, even though all the other ducks are in a line for you</p>
<p>Actually, if you’re serious about an MBA you may want to think about getting a job at a bank or asset manager for two years first, I think you will be surprised by just how hard it will be to get into a good program without full time work exp</p>
<p>One final thought - if you’re reasonably well along with your PhD you may want to consider finishing and then going directly to the street. Banks and Hedge Funds love to take quants with PhD’s from the Caltechs of the world. And they won’t start you out on peanuts.</p>
<p>Hey everyone, thanks for your input so far, it is much appreciated.</p>
<p>Great suggestion to finish the PhD and then go into quant. You are certainly correct that my background seems suited for it. There are several reasons why at this point I lean against going that route:
Despite being an EE PhD student, I do not feel that I am that strong in mathematics.
I would want to go more into trading and money management, less into quant modeling/financial engineering.</p>
<p>I also do realize work experience is a major negative on my application. I actually would be interested in worked at a bank or something like that to gain experience, but am not really sure of how to break into that field.</p>
<p>I know several CalTech grads who have successfully transitioned into finance/banking after their undergrads. CalTech is also a target for those firms. Best place to go is your career office and ask questions.</p>
<p>Here’s another thought for you - What about applying to a joint MBA/MEM program like Kellogg’s MMM? It will allow you to take some of your engineering background with you to B-school.</p>