<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm a Junior in college and planning to get Master of Finance, and I just took the GMAT. However, I only scored 4.5 out of 6 in AWA. I'm pretty concerned about it. </p>
<p>Will it be a problem for me if I'm looking at top schools like Princeton MSF/ Columbia ? </p>
<p>Or business schools only look at that main score ? Any experiences?</p>
<p>Should I retake GMAT only because of the low AWA score? </p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>I doubt anybody here knows. I got a 5.5 which was only good for 78th percentile so I’m guessing you only beat the foreign crowd. Still, if your verbal section was good I’d hope that’d balance it out. There’s also those that think nobody cares about the AWA. I don’t know if Princeton is in that group or not.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply, jonahrubin! </p>
<p>my verbal is 38, and Quant 51, do you think my application essays will also remedy the low AWA score?</p>
<p>Are you a foreigner?</p>
<p>I don’t know what the deal is with MSF programs. With MBA programs, consensus is that below 700 is bad for the top 10 or so. It’s a real uphill battle if you are below 700. Once you get past that 700 mark, more points don’t matter that much. My guess is a 38 would be pretty poor for an MBA program on verbal, but I think MSF programs are probably more quantitative oriented anyway.</p>
<p>Exactly, I’m a foreigner, currently a junior at Penn State~ As a matter of fact, I’m also interested in applying for Harvard 2+2 program, so would you think that 40 in Verbal will be a must for that ? Thank you!</p>
<p>Why don’t you get some work experience first and then get an MBA with a concentration in finance? It would provide you with better job prospects.</p>
<p>That is not neccesarily true. If he wants to work in pure finance than an MSF or MFE may benefit him more and also is obtainable at the top programs immediatley after undergrad. If he went to a school which didnt get recruited by WS but then enrolled in an MSF or MFE top program he would be recruited. Basically it is totally situational when it comes to Finance. Almost all of the big investment banks recruit pretty heavily from the top MSF and MFE programs.</p>
<p>OP, one very important thing you should consider is - what is your undergrad major? I know from talking to most of the t-10 MSF programs that most want HEAVY math, quant focused degrees with heavy emphasis on calculus.</p>
<p>Hi plscatamacchia, </p>
<p>I’m a Finance and Math double major, with a Econ minor~ So Quant is not a big problem. BTW, what do u think about PhD Finance? Will it still suit for wall st.?</p>
<p>Absolutley NOT. It is ridiculous to study 8 years to become a researcher and then go to wall street. A PhD is not a career advancement tool like so many people who come on here seem to think it is. It is intended to refine your skills on researching your chosen field so one can teach and seek publications and research their field. You can do consulting on the side but to only get a PhD to go to wall street is not a good option.</p>
<p>It depends on the field. The erstwhile CEO’s of Enron and BP were both PhD’s. Pretty sure they made a lot more than the dude that tells me about the four P’s of marketing. I’m sure there are a few PhD CEO’s that are more popular but those are the ones I remember. </p>
<p>I will agree that you shouldn’t get a PhD if you aren’t willing to be a professor and what goes with that. However there’s enough PhD’s on Wall Street to be a significant option for those that follow the right path. I don’t know whether a finance PhD is the right one or if a math or math-oriented computer programming track is your only bet. I don’t know if it’s HYPSM or bust either.</p>