Blog Archive MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed The CFA Is a Liability

Blog Archive MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed The CFA Is a Liability The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designationâ€"a grueling, three-part financial program that hundreds of thousands of people pursue each yearâ€"covers many of the subjects included in a “typical” first-year MBA curriculum. A CFA aspirant must study basic economics, accounting, finance, and quantitative analysis, areas that echo aspects of many first-year MBA core curricula. So, could working toward the CFA designation  negatively  affect an MBA applicant’s candidacy by suggesting that he/she already has the tools an MBA education would provide and that additional studies would therefore be superfluous?  Definitely not! In fact, pursuing the CFA designation reflects  positively  on an applicant in that the effort emphasizes his/her ability to manage a rigorous MBA curriculum and establishes the candidate as a self-starter and a disciplined individual, given that CFA exam preparation is intense and requires several months of sustained and extensive study for each level. Furthermore, from an admissions perspective, admissions officers want to know that they are admitting individuals who are employable; the CFA charter holder has an advantage in the post-MBA recruiting world, because employers can point to the designation as a differentiator among otherwise comparable applicants. The CFA exam/program can also be a useful marketing tool for candidates to help them during the admissions process. Because the CFA narrowly focuses on financial tools, it does not cover a myriad of other subjects the MBA does address and that are useful to financial professionals, including marketing, operations, international business, human resource management, and entrepreneurship. The CFA is an independent and largely quantitative program and thus cannot provide the elements a business school program offers through discussion, debate, and measuring qualitative information in decision making. Together, the CFA designation and the MBA degree constitute a powerful one-two punch that can be advantageous in landing that coveted post-MBA position. Share ThisTweet Admissions Myths Destroyed Blog Archive MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed The CFA Is a Liability The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designationâ€"a grueling, three-year financial program that hundreds of thousands of people pursue each yearâ€"covers many of the subjects included in a “typical” first-year MBA curriculum. A CFA aspirant must study basic economics, accounting, finance, and quantitative analysisâ€"areas that echo aspects of many first-year MBA core curricula. So, could working toward the CFA designation  negatively affect an MBA applicant’s candidacy by suggesting that he/she already has the tools an MBA education would provide and that additional studies would therefore be superfluous?  Definitely not! In fact, pursuing the CFA designation reflects  positively  on the applicant in that the effort emphasizes his/her ability to manage a rigorous MBA curriculum and establishes the candidate as a self-starter and a disciplined individual, given that CFA preparation is intense and requires several months of sustained study for each level. Furthermore, from an admissions perspective, admissions officers want to know that they are admitting individuals who are employable; the CFA charter holder has an advantage in the post-MBA recruiting world, because employers can point to the designation as a differentiator among otherwise indistinguishable applicants. The CFA can also be a useful marketing tool for candidates to help them during the admissions process. Because the CFA narrowly focuses on financial tools, it does not cover a myriad of other subjects the MBA does address and that are useful to financial professionals, including marketing, operations, international business, human resource management, and entrepreneurship. The CFA is an independent and largely quantitative program and thus cannot provide the elements that the MBA offers through discussion, debate, and measuring qualitative information in decision making. Together, the CFA designation and the MBA degree constitute a powerful one-two punch that can be advantageous in both gaining admission to business school and landing that coveted post-MBA position. Share ThisTweet Admissions Myths Destroyed Blog Archive MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed The CFA Is a Liability The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designationâ€"a grueling, three-year financial program that hundreds of thousands of people pursue each yearâ€"covers many of the subjects included in a “typical” first-year MBA curriculum. A CFA aspirant must study basic economics, accounting, finance, and quantitative analysisâ€"areas that echo aspects of many first-year MBA core curricula. So would working toward a CFA designation actually negatively affect an MBA applicant’s candidacy by suggesting that he/she already has the tools and MBA education would provide and that additional studies would therefore be superfluous? Definitely not! Pursuing a CFA designation is not at all a negative, and in fact reflects positively on the applicant in that the effort emphasizes his/her abilities to manage a rigorous MBA curriculum and establishes the candidate as a self-starter and a disciplined individual (given that CFA study is intense and requires several months of sustained study for each level). Furthermore, from an admissions perspective, admissions officers want to know that they are admitting individuals who are employable; the CFA charter holder has an advantage in the post-MBA recruiting world, because employers can point to the designation as a differentiator among otherwise indistinguishable applicants. The CFA can also be a useful marketing tool for candidates to help them during the admissions process. Because the CFA narrowly focuses on financial tools, it does not cover a myriad of other subjects the MBA does address and that are useful to financial professionals, including marketing, operations, international business, human resource management, and entrepreneurship. The CFA is an independent and largely quantitative program and thus cannot provide the elements that the MBA offers through discussion, debate, and measuring qualitative information in decision making. Together, the CFA designation and the MBA degree are a powerful one-two punch that can be advantageous in both gaining admission to business school and to landing that coveted post-MBA position. Share ThisTweet Admissions Myths Destroyed Blog Archive MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed The CFA Is a Liability The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designationâ€"a grueling, three-part financial program that hundreds of thousands of people pursue each yearâ€"covers many of the subjects included in a “typical” first-year MBA curriculum. A CFA aspirant must study basic economics, accounting, finance, and quantitative analysis, areas that echo aspects of many first-year MBA core curricula. So, could working toward the CFA designation  negatively  affect an MBA applicant’s candidacy by suggesting that they already have the tools an MBA education would provide and that additional studies would therefore be superfluous?  Definitely not! In fact, pursuing the CFA designation reflects  positively  on an applicant in that the effort emphasizes his/her ability to manage a rigorous MBA curriculum and establishes the candidate as a self-starter and a disciplined individual, given that CFA exam preparation is intense and requires several months of sustained and extensive study for each level. Furthermore, from an admissions perspective, admissions officers want to know that they are admitting individuals who are employable; the CFA charter holder has an advantage in the post-MBA recruiting world, because employers can point to the designation as a differentiator among otherwise comparable applicants. The CFA exam/program can also be a useful marketing tool for candidates to help them during the admissions process. Because the CFA narrowly focuses on financial tools, it does not cover a myriad of other subjects the MBA  does  address and that are useful to financial professionals, including marketing, operations, international business, human resource management, and entrepreneurship. The CFA is an independent and largely quantitative program and thus cannot provide the elements a business school program offers through discussion, debate, and measuring qualitative information in decision making. Together, the CFA designation and the MBA degree constitute a powerful one-two punch that can be advantageous in landing that coveted post-MBA position. Share ThisTweet Admissions Myths Destroyed Blog Archive MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed The CFA is a Liability The Chartered Financial Analyst designation â€" a grueling three year, financial self-study program that 200,000 study for each year â€" covers many of the subjects contained in a “typical” first year MBA curriculum. During a CFA aspirant’s first year, he/she will study basic economics, accounting, finance and quantitative analysis, echoing aspects of many first year core curricula. So, does the CFA program actually harm the MBA applicant by suggesting that he/she already has MBA tools and that additional studies may be superfluous? Instead of our typical response, “In short, no,” we will be even more emphatic: definitely not! Completion of the CFA is not a negative, but is in fact a positive in that the CFA candidate emphasizes his/her abilities to manage a rigorous MBA curriculum and establishes him/herself as a self-starter and disciplined individual (as CFA study is intense and usually completed over several months). Furthermore, from an admissions perspective, especially amid a tough economy, admissions officers want to know that they are admitting those who are employable; the CFA charter holder has an advantage in the post-MBA recruiting world, as employers can point to the designation as a differentiator among indistinguishable applicants. Beyond the fact that the CFA can be a useful marketing tool for candidates to help them during the admissions process , it is also important to note that the CFA does not, in fact, usurp the MBA from a practical/educational point of view.   The CFA narrowly focuses on financial tools and does not address a myriad of other subjects that the MBA does address and that are still useful to financial professionals: marketing, operations, international business, human resource management, entrepreneurship and more. The CFA is an independent and largely quantitative program and thus cannot provide the elements that the MBA offers through discussion, debate and measuring qualitative information in decision making. So, the CFA is hardly a liability and certainly does not render an MBA moot. Together, the designation and degree are a powerful one-two punch that can be advantageous in gaining admissions and finding that coveted post-MBA position. Share ThisTweet Admissions Myths Destroyed Blog Archive MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed The CFA Is a Liability The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designationâ€"a grueling, three-year financial program that hundreds of thousands of people pursue each yearâ€"covers many of the subjects included in a “typical” first-year MBA curriculum. A CFA aspirant must study basic economics, accounting, finance, and quantitative analysisâ€"areas that echo aspects of many first-year MBA core curricula. So, could working toward the CFA designation  negatively  affect an MBA applicant’s candidacy by suggesting that he/she already has the tools an MBA education would provide and that additional studies would therefore be superfluous?  Definitely not! In fact, pursuing the CFA designation reflects  positively  on the applicant in that the effort emphasizes his/her ability to manage a rigorous MBA curriculum and establishes the candidate as a self-starter and a disciplined individual, given that CFA preparation is intense and requires several months of sustained study for each level. Furthermore, from an admissions perspective, admissions officers want to know that they are admitting individuals who are employable; the CFA charter holder has an advantage in the post-MBA recruiting world, because employers can point to the designation as a differentiator among otherwise indistinguishable applicants. The CFA can also be a useful marketing tool for candidates to help them during the admissions process. Because the CFA narrowly focuses on financial tools, it does not cover a myriad of other subjects the MBA does address and that are useful to financial professionals, including marketing, operations, international business, human resource management, and entrepreneurship. The CFA is an independent and largely quantitative program and thus cannot provide the elements that the MBA offers through discussion, debate, and measuring qualitative information in decision making. Together, the CFA designation and the MBA degree constitute a powerful one-two punch that can be advantageous in landing that coveted post-MBA position. Share ThisTweet Admissions Myths Destroyed Blog Archive MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed The CFA Is a Liability The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designationâ€"a grueling, three-year financial program that hundreds of thousands of people pursue each yearâ€"covers many of the subjects included in a “typical” first-year MBA curriculum. A CFA aspirant must study basic economics, accounting, finance, and quantitative analysisâ€"areas that echo aspects of many first-year MBA core curricula. So, could working toward the CFA designation  negatively  affect an MBA applicant’s candidacy by suggesting that he/she already has the tools an MBA education would provide and that additional studies would therefore be superfluous?  Definitely not! In fact, pursuing the CFA designation reflects  positively  on the applicant in that the effort emphasizes his/her ability to manage a rigorous MBA curriculum and establishes the candidate as a self-starter and a disciplined individual, given that CFA preparation is intense and requires several months of sustained study for each level. Furthermore, from an admissions perspective, admissions officers want to know that they are admitting individuals who are employable; the CFA charter holder has an advantage in the post-MBA recruiting world, because employers can point to the designation as a differentiator among otherwise indistinguishable applicants. The CFA can also be a useful marketing tool for candidates to help them during the admissions process. Because the CFA narrowly focuses on financial tools, it does not cover a myriad of other subjects the MBA does address and that are useful to financial professionals, including marketing, operations, international business, human resource management, and entrepreneurship. The CFA is an independent and largely quantitative program and thus cannot provide the elements that the MBA offers through discussion, debate, and measuring qualitative information in decision making. Together, the CFA designation and the MBA degree constitute a powerful one-two punch that can be advantageous in landing that coveted post-MBA position. Share ThisTweet Admissions Myths Destroyed