Hello friends, I currently a graduate student in a US top50 school studying financial engineering. I have two years previous work experience and a bachelor degree with average GPA.
I am really struggling with my future career options by now, which is whether I should go into the industry for a few years and apply for MBA or directly apply for an PhD program. I know that people always says: choose what you like. But I am in a dilemma: I like the PhD lifestyle (namely the part of independent working environment and the chance of generating original ideas), but my ultimate goal is to go into the industry instead of going into academia(because I like the money, frankly speaking), preferably becoming an portfolio manager or an investment strategist with similar responsibility.
So my question is : what I like vs. what I want which one should I choose?
Based on the experience of the people who has similar profile with me, I think I have a pretty good chance of getting into a S16 MBA program. But if I choose the PhD route, I do not have the confident to go to a target school, because of my undergraduate GPA and other stuffs.
Could anyone give me some insights? It would be greatly appreciated!