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Your recruiter is probably the exception, not the rule and I think you have hit the jackpot. You should definitely keep in touch with her and keep her in mind if you're looking again in the future. Every time I worked with any recruiter and told them I was interviewing somewhere else, they...

Your profile is at least as good as mine (probably even better since you're at a top 20 university), and I managed to get into one of the top programs. I would not worry too much about the subject GRE.

You can probably figure it out if you go through my posts, but one of the top 10 in this site's rankings

You should be well-placed to find a job like that after doing an MFE since you would have taken portfolio optimization, time series, etc. But even though your job title might not be developer, you could still find yourself spending a lot of your time writing code or doing data...

This is more what I expected. You probably had a lot more analytical skills and relevant background (plus the drive) than many others who were coming from much less mathematical / quantitative backgrounds.

Conveniently ignored the fact that he had a math degree to begin with. I highly doubt someone with a degree in social studies would be able to get on the market as a developer and secure a $100,000 offer after just 3 months.

None of the jobs you listed requires an MFE. I am currently working in front office tech and I am doing an MFE at the same time. The knowledge from the MFE isn't *required* for my job, but it is extremely useful because it lets me work on the quant code and actually understand the underlying...

Risk management, front office technology, and risk technology are three vastly different areas - I don't know why you're grouping them together 1. A quant group at a bank may hire someone with a CS degree, but only if they have solid financial knowledge. With a MS CS there is a high chance you...

It can be as much as 4 - 6 months' worth of salary. I agree, be very skeptical and don't believe everything they tell you (especially over the phone). There are some very good recruiters, but the recruiting industry is full of sleazy people trying to get a slice of the pie.

Some MFE graduates go into trading, and they have a considerable (knowledge) advantage over those who went straight from undergrad.

This is a quant forum after all. I would take a strat role over trading.

800Q and 1 year of work exp

I have a BS in CS and got into CMU. So I would not worry too much

Not really. What matters is how well they know you.

Right, I based my estimate off what I know from my team's hiring process and some of the teams immediately surrounding. I'll put a note in my original post. Thanks

Just FYI. You don't need a researcher in the relevant field to write your recommendation to get into a top MFE. I had my undergrad thesis advisor do mine (plus one of my ex-bosses) and had no issues. Sure it might help a bit but choose what you like best.

Thought I might resurrect this thread for all the recent admits.

When my team hires I think there are anywhere from 2 rounds of phone screens per position (40-60 candidates), then 1-2 onsite rounds (10 people left), and then 2 more final rounds with 2-5 people left. There may be less rounds if the position has been taking time to fill. The number of rounds...

Typically a fund (hedge fund, mutual fund) or the asset management division within banks.

Go do an MBA for IBD and consulting. Some people do that after a Master in Finance as well. Your MFE will be wasted and you will be crying your brains out looking at DCF Excel spreadsheets and Powerpoint presentations after going through hardcore math classes. The usual path for PM is something...

If they really like you, they tell you very quickly. Otherwise it takes longer.

I was asked brainteasers and math puzzles and programming/algorithm questions. Don't let your guard down.

MS Finance is worth it if you can get into Princeton or perhaps MIT.

This is very true. If I interviewed every developer at JPM/BoAML/Goldman/MS/Citi who claims to have developed "derivatives pricing systems" and asked them the definition of a bond, how to hedge a swap, or show me what a vol smile looks like and why it exists, I doubt 10% of them would be able to...

I think this is the real problem. Except for the prestigious ones, MFE/MFin/MathFin programs don't really have an incentive to expel these kids. They bring in millions of $$$. People (including Chinese students) have been expelled from top MFE programs for cheating. I guarantee you that. At my...

Well, think about this. You build a derivatives pricing system and wire it up to get LIBOR rates from the bank's market data repository and price interest rate derivatives like swaps and caps/floors. You spend weeks testing it and make sure it won't have issues such as missing market data, edge...

I'm almost certain these are available in R: -Missings handling -Matrix/dataframe -Robust regression -Decision Trees -SVM -NN

MIT or bust

I'm gonna shut the hell up until I graduate :whistle:

There's a difference between collaboration and cheating, obviously. People talking about problems and then writing up their own answers = collaboration. Someone does the HW and everyone else shows up 1 hour before it is due and copies it = cheating

I seem to say this to everyone with a lot of work experience but, how is your network and can you use it to find people who work in the types of jobs that you want to move into?

Right, but it seems pointless to hire someone to calculate risk (even using some automated system) if they don't understand how risk is calculated.

So if they don't understand the calculation of risk, what do they do all day in the office?

2 days is nothing. You are probably at the bottom of his priority list, give him a few more days to a week and follow up if he still hasn't come back to you. If you don't get contacted, move on.

It's just ridiculous, this industry is not one where you measure productivity by hours. I get more done in 2 hours in the morning (super concentration) than the 8 other hours in the day. Not all. I know Goldman's Ops offices in Salt Lake are pretty nice and so is their big tower in Jersey City...

It's definitely what some of my friends have experienced too. Once you get used to that kind of life, could you ever go back to working in a corporate job in your tailored shirt, wool trousers, and possibly a suit and tie? You'd have to keep working at those hip, cool, luxurious tech companies...

The rumors are that in tech you can roll into work at 11am and arrive at your designer architect layout, yoga-studio and Zen-meditation-room-relaxation-pod equipped, free-unlimited-food-drinks-everything, brightly lit, hip, 'green' (as in plants) office with a fabulous view of the Manhattan...

You're right. I guess I was only thinking of the 'stereotypical' research/desk quant and 'stereotypical' buy-side analyst.

Asset management/equity research and quantitative finance are very different things. Which is it that you want to do?

You have almost 8 years of work experience. Is there anyone in your network that could help with a job search or at least help you get in the door?

I suggest you try the field for a few years and then do an MS if you think you will remain. Lots of people get burned out in this industry.

Wow, this went downhill fast. But I think this is not language-or nationality-specific, it would happen with any large group of people from similar circumstances stuck together in a foreign and unfamiliar country. It would make sense for them to interact mainly within the group - they share...

http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Guide-Quantitative-Finance-Interviews/dp/1438236662

Yes, if you increase the number of steps (i.e. decrease your estimate of 'dt') you will get closer and closer to the continuous case and will get closer to the B/S price.

Np, PM me if you have any questions

I would choose Yahoo over back office IT any day. It is very dreary, sometimes mind-numbing work and you will be surrounded by people who don't have much motivation except to keep their steady paychecks coming. There is a chance you may not even work on actual projects, but rather have to manage...

No. Even front-office facing technology roles are hard to get. You are not even working yet, don't pigeonhole yourself into back-office while you still have the choice not to go there!

In that case, do not go to BAML. You will not be well-positioned for a quant developer role unless you work closely with the desk, or at least with the quant teams.

I visited the department a few years ago when I was admitted to MAFN. Suffice to say it wasn't the most welcoming of atmospheres. It was basically "Here's our courses, here's our electives. Take these and you will get your degree." Which is fine, because it's Columbia and all.

We just learned that in my Monte Carlo class...I guess at least one person thinks it could work as an interview question!

You won't find much data on Asian options, because they are traded OTC.

All three would be doable, but what technology group at BAML? In a big investment bank there are developers who work closely with trading (usually called 'front office technology' or something like that - these roles can be pretty quantitative and depending on the team might actually have people...

Why? I can guarantee you that people have had their resumes thrown out because they looked shitty.

I'm not sure if this is exactly 'quantitative finance', but one example is data mining done by some financial data firms / vendors. They use machine learning algorithms to parse Twitter feeds, Bloomberg feeds, etc faster than humans can read and understand the news, come up with trade...

I have used LaTeX for 7 years now. The default LaTeX font, Computer Modern, looks quite nice.

CS

For full-time NYC students graduating December 2016, Tuition with no scholarships/discounts would be approximately 80k. Add NYC rent and living expenses to that, and you're pretty close to or above 120k

But that formula is nothing but the underlying asset price S(t) assuming it follows GBM. Plugging that S(t) into the formula I wrote above would give you exactly the futures price. What do you mean "price in the future"?

I'm a noob at this, but let me try: Assume asset = S, today = t expiration of the futures contract = T The futures price is the expectation at time t of the asset price at time T given today's asset price S(t) That is, Fut(S, t, T) = E[S(T) | t, S(t)] Now once you reach the delivery...

x2

You can always do Pittsburgh. You will save $1000 per month on rent there.

Finding affordable housing in NYC is going to be your big killer. Tuition is around 80k and if you get a scholarship you might be paying 60k-70k (sometimes less). Most people share apartments or live in cheap areas. I think the figures on the website are a little high, but pretty realistic...

Pittsburgh or NYC?

Is there such a thing as a non-self-taught programmer?

It's terrible, though. You only get one chance at a first impression, and if you fuck it up, good luck. Schools should require a business / networking etiquette class before the program starts. Maybe do it the summer before.

I didn't get my interview invite until May, so don't get worried just yet

I don't think so, we are not even allowed to disclose our grades to recruiters (and the school never discloses to them either). Just reminds me to be humble.

These kids put me to shame. I was top in my high school, top 10% in college, and now I am barely at the average in my MFE class. ;)

This is mostly because 80% of the students are fresh out of school (and international) and have no idea how 'networking' in the US works.

This is no surprise. Banks are shoring up their risk departments and cutting S&T where it is not profitable (ex. UBS fixed income exit)

Cornell MFE should give you more than enough skills to do data analytics. Overkill even, but you can always have plan A: financial job and plan B: tech job.

What do graduates from the Duke program end up in? Based on your experience and interests, which program do you think will point you in the direction you want to go in?

Agreed, but most MFE students aren't looking for consulting/IBD/PE/VC jobs.

Congratulations to all! If you're in NY, maybe I'll see you here :) Those who didn't get in - hope you get in at other great programs!

I'm 26 and I will be 27 when I get my MFE.

Do a PhD in whatever you have the most passion in. Don't do a PhD just because you want to get some job after graduation

Let the dummy GBM dynamics be defined as dSt =dt Easy to integrate from t to T! :) No problemo

I think Stochastic Calculus is important to know because it really lays out the foundation for pricing any derivative payoff, as well as the various risks associated with such payoffs. You can price stock options, futures, forwards, FX, interest rate derivatives, and pretty much anything using...

UIUC is one of the top public schools in the country.

Stochastic Calculus I and Options were both tough classes. Stochastic Calculus was just theoretically hard, and Options was not hard conceptually but our professor brutalized us with endless problem sets and projects (and no one finished the final). I spend the most time on Options, I think...

I don't think all the schools make that kind of distinction between PT/FT. I was offered the opportunity to do FT (presumably since I didn't have much work experience) but I didn't take it. I would have taken someone's place on the FT waitlist if I had accepted.

I'm doing perfectly fine at CMU. Just wanted to make it clear to people that it's not easy.

I've been meaning to write this for a while, but now that I've been a part-time MFE student for a little over 1.5 years (basically a little over the halfway point), I decided this may be a good time to do it. I got home at 1AM last night, a weeknight. Busy as hell at work? No. I left the...

Columbia MAFN is older than MFE. It is respected, it's just not very vocal about recruiting students or publishing statistics.

The problem is many Wall Street recruiters don't give a sh*t about GT QCF. Just having Columbia on your resume will get you in the door at many places where the door will be slammed shut in front of you if you went to GT

Probably used to working like slaves. I feel like a slave at CMU LOL

Most quant dev jobs want masters nowadays...it's crazy!

What a waste of time. Back to my Monte Carlo simulation homework.

The only reason (apparently) that OP cites as not being too excited about Princeton is that it is in the NY region. Both fit the requirements but Princeton far surpasses MIT in quality, reputation on the Street, and alumni network. Personally I would never choose a less reputable program just...

What you want from an MFE/MFin program along with a solid education is access to and reputation among recruiters in the financial industry. Princeton is at the top in both. You are not in a 2 year masters program to do research. If that's your objective, go get a PhD.

NYU if you are sure you want to go into the financial industry, Harvard if you want to keep your options more open (I mean it's not even an MFE/MathFin degree)

Why not work in Asia? Given the environment it seems like a lot of people go work in HK/Singapore and some of the Chinese kids in Shanghai/Beijing. I'd move to HK for a few years given the opportunity.

Princeton isn't only the most established, it's by far the best brand value / reputation / quality of the programs you listed. Stanford/LSE are not at the same level or quality.

I had calculus (single, advanced single, and multivariable), linear algebra, calculus-based probability and statistics, and combinatorics and got into an MFE program. You do not need ODE and PDE at least for my program (but it will help)

Very tough choice. I really think it's up to personal preference here. I would choose MSCF :) (but I'm biased obviously) Threads you might want to read: https://www.quantnet.com/threads/columbia-mfe-vs-cmu-mscf.6606/ https://www.quantnet.com/threads/cmu-mscf-or-columbia-mfe.16439/...

I meant a base of 150k in the financial industry is nothing special. Back-office VPs make 150k

Base 80k + bonus can easily break 100k, and 150k all-in is not unreasonable at certain firms In NYC a base of 150k is nothing

There are plenty of PhDs who have similar jobs to the one you posted. Quant research is a shrinking field.

No black or brown, do dark charcoal suit & white or blue shirt. Keep it classy...

I don't think there is any basis for this

Wear a suit

1) A MFE/MQF may help you get in front of recruiters. It will also help with your knowledge. Examples of questions you will be able to answer (or at least know how to research to find the answer) after an MFE: How do you interpret the treasury curve? How do you price options and derivatives...

If you get a Mac make sure you get a decent sized internal SSD/flash drive. You may need to install Windows to run certain applications and that takes up a lot of space.

You won't get much transferable "real" product knowledge. Support is just that, support. You will never understand the product as well as the developers do and you will basically be a buffer between them and users. As the poster above said, people skills are important anywhere but there are many...

This is not a role that will lead to quantitative/trading jobs in the future. Stay away from it if that is what you want. Seems like more of a customer service / liaison between quants&developers and users. I highlighted what I think are the 'red flags' pointing to this as a support job and not...

If that's what you want, fine. But Princeton >>> Stanford/LSE for jobs, reputation, everything.

UC Berkeley has a pre-MFE course as well http://mfe.berkeley.edu/academics/preprogram.html

Go to Princeton - you won't regret it

Class size is > 80. 135 is no surprise

Agreed on GRE. 145 is like a 350 on the old test and that's like 20th percentile. I have met too many students who are amazing at math but can't speak English properly and that is a turn-off for employers and admission committees. A good GRE Verbal score does not mean you are great at English...

There are plenty of non-Peking/Tsinghua Chinese students. OP's profile is strong but apparently the competition was fierce.

Yes, there are quite a few banks and investment firms in L.A. and SF. At least one of the quants I know at my firm works out of the SF office. Language skills probably won't matter much unless you specifically get hired because of it (i.e. as a coordinator for multiple teams or for in a...

Well, here's a few other options: 1) Find a really fast implementation of the CDF function. 2) Create your own CDF function with memoization / approximation, etc (so if tolerance is within 0.001 for example, do not recalculate) You will need some notion of tolerance either way unless you plan...

You can just use a straight c++ map. (Pseudocode) map<float, float> n_map; min = -10; max = 10; granularity = 0.05; for (int x = min ; x < max; x += granularity) { n_map[x] = normal_cdf(x); } If you want to avoid using a map & memory for it you will probably need something cuter

Which is not necessarily a bad thing especially when the tax rate in NYC is like 40% and HK is 15%

What did you say when they asked you that question?

I was surprised by the prevalence of checks/cheques when I moved to the US. This is the country that sent astronauts to the moon in 1969.

I would put Chicago in a tier below those three.

***These are only opinions*** NYU: Pros: Highly reputed applied math department. Quality instruction from both academics and practitioners (some of the senior quants at banks lecture here). Dual MBA also available. Cons: Expensive. Length(1yr)-not sure if this is flexible though. Also NYU now...

There are very few reputable online programs. CMU MSCF and UW CFRM are the two that come to mind

Derivatives Pricing is very broad. What specifically? At CMU: Fixed Income - Tuckman http://www.amazon.com/Fixed-Income-Securities-Todays-Markets/dp/0470891696. Note that CMU's Fixed Income class is basically purely a math class. Options - None but I think Hull was recommended. Note though...

Really depends on what type of "quant". One of my colleagues used to be a desk strat at Goldman and he probably worked 60-70 hours a week on a regular basis. The quant team I now work with seems to work 40-50 hours.

I would do Columbia. Easier to network and also you can do it in 3 semesters.

Most MFE programs do not provide financial aid and only a few provide loans. If you need to borrow money, your only option is likely a private loan which you will need U.S. credit history to obtain. I do know that some programs (NYU I think?) have relationships with US lenders but again you will...

Yes you can get in but will need to figure out how to get IBD interviews first. For (IBD) -> PE/VC, you will probably want to go into banking and then get an MBA. Try wallstreetoasis.com. For HF a top MFE can get you in the door.

I agree. Stochastic Calculus makes almost every course I took in university look like a piece of cake.

MFE are not really designed to put you in PE or VC. You know that right?

If you go to UCB, you are going to spend over $80-100k in tuition and living costs. $5k per course seems to be a minor investment keeping that in mind.

What is the level of the course? The text we use in CMU MSCF Stochastic Calculus classes is Shreve's Stochastic Calculus for Finance series. The Time Series textbook is Statistics and Data Analysis for Financial Engineering which has a lot of R examples.

Who told you that? The recruiter? You will not know whether this is true until you actually start working. I googled MarketAxess and if I understand it correctly, it seems like it's a financial technology firm rather than a trading firm. It provides a platform for clients to trade with one...

I can assure you that CMU does not 'spoonfeed'.

This is the book that we used / were recommended at CMU. http://www.amazon.com/Statistics-Analysis-Financial-Engineering-Springer/dp/1461427495

These days, even kids straight out of college have taken stochastic calculus... These questions typically involve 'tricks' that you have to realize to solve them. This knowledge can only be gained by practice and seeing similar types of problems over and over again. Usually they don't involve...

MBA or MS in statistics/data science?

Funny how a lot of new programs have 'risk management' in their names - UW CFRM, Rutgers FSRM, now Michigan QFRM.

Yes. But do you have strong feelings toward either? Can you afford to throw away $5000 in case Columbia replies after the Imperial deadline? Imperial is a great school as well and I have high opinions of my acquaintances who went there. If you end up in a US program you'd be paying (less...

I've heard it's harder to get a job as an international student in London than it is in NY. Where do you want to work?

I strongly recommend against this. People have egos, and people in the financial industry usually have big egos.

You'll have enough Tech questions for a LIFETIME once you join the program :D

@evan guggenheim @tauyan Check my post here: https://www.quantnet.com/threads/cmu-mscf-f2015-interview.19130/#post-144954 PM me if you want more advice

Check https://www.quantnet.com/tracker/ (you can filter by programs & results) and see how your GRE compares to that of admitted students. It looks like the average for UCLA/Columbia MAFN/UCB is in the high 150's and the average for NYU Poly is around 150. So a 145 is probably on the lower end.

Your grades are fine, but your GRE is way too low. Admission to any MFE would be a long shot; retake the exam and get as close to 170 as possible.

MFE usually have tailored curricula that are not satisfied by any PhD programs, so no.

You might be able to get a loan in the US (either through the school or other private lender) but it will be difficult because you probably lack credit in the US. If you have any relatives living in the US you may be able to get a loan with them as cosigners.

1) You should take your GRE/GMAT early enough so that your score is received by the schools you're applying to before their relevant deadlines. I suggest having the scores sent so it arrives 1-2 weeks or even earlier in advance, since schools are flooded with information near the deadline and...

My interview (and from what I know most/all interviews are the same) was basically asking about my background and motivations, and career goals. Also a little bit of discussion regarding whether to do the program full time or part time (I chose part time, but was asked if I was thinking of doing...

As long as your major is quantitative it should not matter that much. Do what you enjoy the most and supplement with financial math/finance/accounting courses. Check the admissions websites for MFE programs and make sure your major covers the prerequisite requirements.

Makes me scared for what'll happen after my MFE.

If I understand correctly CVA is not front office pricing, right?

Some do, some don't. If you are unsure you can always email their admissions and ask. For example CMU MSCF: http://tepper.cmu.edu/prospective-students/masters/masters-in-computational-finance/admissions The page clearly indicates what coursework a prospective student should have had in undergrad.

Most programs make their requirements pretty clear. Take a look at their admission pages and you will find your answer. I'd say a large majority of entering students have math/economics/stats/computer science/engineering backgrounds.

I think a lot of people are pursuing PhDs for the wrong reason. If you are going to do a PhD simply so that you can get a job afterward, you may not have the required passion & motivation for the PhD life that is 5-6 years of grueling research, TA obligations, etc. You might be better off if you...

Verbal is a bit low but I don't think it is a problem. You can check the tracker and see the GRE V scores of people who got admitted to MFE programs.

Yes to HF, probably no to sales&PE (especially PE, it's almost completely dominated by MBAs)

I think people with Bachelors tend not to get the heavy quantitative jobs. You see structurers & sales / traders straight out of undergrad but I believe it is much rarer to see a quant analyst/quant trader/strat with only a BS.

Your low GPA will hurt you for Baruch and the Ivies.

I vote for a major in mathematics + minor in CS, or the other way around.

That's right, you can send in your application for any round. There is no difference between FT/PT except the length of time it takes to complete the program; FT takes 3 semesters (6 minis) and PT takes 6 semesters (12 minis). Everyone (FT/PT/Online) takes the same classes together and have...

You do have a chance, yes. Since you did engineering in undergrad you probably have most of the necessary coursework. Check the program websites and make sure you satisfy all of the prerequisites - some of them can be pretty specific.

I watched it three times in 70mm IMAX-completely worth it. I think it's probably my new favorite movie as well. I understood most of it because I had read (casually) about wormholes and black holes and galaxies and relativity etc. but I can't imagine the average moviegoer had any clue what was...

With that much experience, I would network rather than spend 100k on a degree.

CMU and NYU also offer part-time programs. You should check them out.

Actually the internship pay is the best predictor of your starting salary.

The thing is, tech on Wall Street isn't where the 'action' is. It is still a cost center in most cases. This may or may not continue to be the case in the future. Salaries are actually pretty high (my VP boss at my old job probably made 300k and he was only managing 4-5 people), but the traders...

Treat fintech like software houses but with better salaries. Ex. at Bloomberg some of the best paid employees (other than senior executives) are developers.

I only have a Bachelors so my salary wasn't that high. In the first IB I worked for, I was in the neighborhood of USD 70-80k. My friends who went to software companies were getting 80k-100k. I then moved to a software company and then came back to my current IB. GBP 60-70k is 90k-110k USD...

I don't know about London because I live in NY but an entry-level developer in NYC will probably be getting 80k-100k. An entry level salary at an IB is 70k-90k (depends on what degree you have). I have heard that developers in London don't get paid much though. A quick search on Glassdoor...

A lot more laid back (I wore jeans & t-shirt to work at the last fintech company I worked for), but less money.

There is usually a support team but they are not developers and they don't have deep understanding of the systems, just enough to put out fires and keep things going. Often times when they face an issue that isn't in their checklist or manual, they just escalate it to developers. Depending on...

Better than Princeton MFin?

Learn Python. Dev & quant teams are using it in BoA/JPM now.

Is it GS Strats? For a PhD graduate a salary of 9k a month doesn't seem unnatural. That translates to $100-110k a year and if you live in NYC you will quickly realize that it isn't as much money as you think (speaking from experience here) Not sure how comp works at Jump. For GS/Two...

Look at the rankings on this site.

PM me with a precise job description (you can delete out parts for privacy) and I'll tell you what it is

Look at it this way: An MFE is designed for someone who intends to stay in the financial industry in one form or another. In other words, people doing MFEs are expected to be devoted to the industry, at least for the short-medium term. What does having an internship at a financial firm say about...

It's extremely challenging. I basically have no social life - Saturday&Sunday are spent doing schoolwork. Vacation time is limited because I have to use paid time off for exams. Living expenses are NYC high which is why I have a full time job. I have negative savings after accounting for tuition...

The CFA curriculum is totally different from what is covered in an MFE. There is no hardcore math (depending on your definition) in CFA. No calculus, no linear algebra that I know of, no differential equations, no time series, no calc-based probability/statistics, no stochastic calculus. So it's...

Did you do prep? Even if the questions are easy it is as much about practicing for the test as it is about knowing how to do math.

The 'blue sky' quantitative research groups at banks create and test new pricing and trading models for the firm's trading desks or automated trading systems. They may also write prototype code in R/Matlab/Python that is then optimized and put into production by developers (either in technology...

Tell me again once you've lived in NYC for a year on an entry-level salary.

Yes, that was one other thing I wanted to point out. Most international students are ineligible for loans because they lack credit history or a co-signer. I had about 10k in student loans (My college gave me a $40,000 per year grant but it wasn't enough). Paying back $200 a month, it takes...

RA/TA is unrealistic. Why have a Masters student be a TA when you have all the PhD students to choose from (and they need the experience more than the MS students)? 28K for a 4 month internship? Never heard of it. When will you have 4 full months to work? Most summer internships are 10 weeks...

Time Series Analysis & Machine Learning C++ Simulations / Backtesting Numerical Computing

Wouldn't this be a portfolio long a GBP Libor FRN and short a CHF Libor FRN of equal face values? I believe the time-0 price of a FRN issued now is equal to the face value. (The price obviously would change as time passes), so I think the PV of this deal should be 0 since the face value cash...

My observation is that the GRE is preferred. However, I do know of people who got into top programs (CMU MSCF) with only GMAT.

1. I don't know whether anyone ended up in a real estate-related job, but there are several people I know who are in the 28-32 year old range. 2. The GRE Math would be a good thing to have given your background. How much math have you taken other than calculus? Do you have the requisite math...

Doubtful at least where I was admitted. You can ask but it is unlikely you will ever find out the answer. I don't think you have to address it unless it's REALLY low. Admissions committees know that engineering programs are typically a lot harder to get perfect grades in, and will be able to...

You might want to be more specific about career goals. 'becoming the head of risk department and climbing the ladder' sounds too generic and boring. This is an opportunity for you to show the admissions committee that you have done your research and have realistic expectations about the job...

-Stress management: MSCF is extremely stressful, can you handle the workload + job searching at the same time? -Networking skills (If you only use on-campus recruitment, you're missing out): Are you able to form professional connections with alumni of the program and fellow students...

You'll be compared with others who often have financial work experience and a higher GRE, so your chances are lower. It doesn't mean you will get rejected everywhere because of your GRE score, but if the GRE ends up being the tiebreaker between you and another applicant with an equivalent...

You need a higher GRE Q. Keep in mind that many of the applicants to top programs will have close to a perfect score (170).

What coursework did you take in the areas of mathematics/statistics/finance/computer science?

I was in London for about two months a few years back and really enjoyed it. Would live there if I had the chance, though not sure if permanently. Of course, it helped that my company was paying for a luxury apartment literally across the street from St. Paul's Cathedral :) I don't even know...

I don't think ethnicity matters. East Asians and Indians are over-represented simply because there are more of them applying (and many of them are highly qualified) Degree is important but only as far as coursework is concerned -- you need all the prerequisites. GPA the higher the better but...

Typically stock returns are symmetrically distributed but with fatter tails on both ends than a normal distribution. You can try a t-distribution which would have fatter tails. There are tools in R / Matlab that allow you to try various models, and even some libraries that will do the...

No job is glamorous day-to-day. Some jobs have 'glamorous' days more often than others. Most of the quants I work with (I work in the development group for fixed-income trading, and we work with the quant team pretty often) are not sitting in a room and thinking up new complicated pricing models...

Good luck finding advice here with that attitude.

As I noted previously, the point of Essay B is to convey to the admissions committee that your background is adequate to be admitted to MSCF. Your arguments need to be well-grounded in terms of the coursework you have undertaken and it is expected that you provide a summary of your academic...

I believe the question asks specifically about your background in computer science, finance, math, and statistics and asks you to go into detail about your probability coursework. You need to explain what kind of background in those four areas you have (what classes you took, how you applied...