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Columbia MFE 2012 Columbia MFE admission thread

bullion, you are right (and I am the one hoping for a miracle). I really should let go for now and wait till the decision is out. I just couldn't help panicking...but I guess I have to face it now. Too much time has been wasted just to do the meaningless speculation. Thanks for point this out man. :)
 
If you look at most of so-called "top programs," they generally admit people who are already accomplished in other fields or decent undergrad experience who probably could've gotten a shot at bank analysts programs. The structure of these MFE programs are really aimed to replace what you'll learn on the jobs if you were to get a job straight out of college. Most MFEs are those who missed being recruited as undergrads at the first place, and now they are spending their own money for whatever banks teach their own employees through internal training. That's why these programs are very clear that they are "professional" (as oppose to research) programs, and they have much more business school-like marketing (low admissions rate, "holistic approach to profile review", "high post-graduate salary," etc.) Harvard graduates probably has lower average salary than these MFEs do, but arguably ANY technical grad program from Harvard can land you an intro gig in quant finance if you are willing to.

My point is that your sense of dispair is only temporary created unintentional / intentional by the industry. A lot of people do what MFEs do without a degree in it. I see more job posting for developer roles, but most MFE grads aren't capable of developing full-fledged applications or just hate coding. There also aren't much cutting edge MFE stuff to be done anymore. So MFE is far from the only thing you can / should do, and not being admitted merely means they are missing out on your talent to their student pool. There are many other things you can do with your life and still get into quant finance. So there's really no reason to panick.
 
So..has anyone called this week? Do we just go ahead and call one of the six lines or do we have to wait for the new time slots to be available?
 
GoodLuckBB said:
So..has anyone called this week? Do we just go ahead and call one of the six lines or do we have to wait for the new time slots to be available?
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someone received the email asked her to call on Tuesday or Friday. I did not receive anything yet, still waiting.
 
Hey guys! I just registered. I am a candidate at Tsinghua University, Beijing. I was interviewed face to face. I wonder whether those called Columbia have to recall them for second interview or not? By the way, I remembered that the interviewer said the final decision will be announce at the end of Feb.
 
charlesc said:
I just finished. Same old three questions as last year. Apparently the interviewer is an Indian student.

A funny thing is: I tried 5 times before getting connected a non-busy line. Assuming a rate of line-occupation of 50%, each interview lasting 6 minutes, and given we have a 4-hour session and 6 lines in total, then Columbia is conducting 120 interviews today. Even this conservatively estimated number is problematic: it is hard to believe that all of them are almost guaranteed admission just by virtue of receiving interview request.

I would venture to say at most 60% of those interviewees (70+) in Round 2 will finally get admitted. Otherwise even a relatively low 60% yield rate will make the class crowded.

Those who would say "interview=admission" please enlighten me.
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I already tried 15 times. Still no answer.
 
Clyde_GS said:
Hey guys! I just registered. I am a candidate at Tsinghua University, Beijing. I was interviewed face to face. I wonder whether those called Columbia have to recall them for second interview or not? By the way, I remembered that the interviewer said the final decision will be announce at the end of Feb.
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Did you received the second email to candidate in Beijing saying that the email was sent in error?
 
Clyde_GS said:
Yes, I do. Weird. I think the result will be announced at next Monday... Good Luck!
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Agree!
Now that the second email said it was sent by error and there's no need to call, I don't think we need to be interviewed by phone for a second time. As for the results, will Beijing come out first as well? Good luck to you!
 
daisypupu said:
Agree!
Now that the second email said it was sent by error and there's no need to call, I don't think we need to be interviewed by phone for a second time. As for the results, will Beijing come out first as well? Good luck to you!
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Yep, we do not need a second interview~ I hope the result we be sent out soon. It's terrible waiting...By the way, do you receive any info from Cornell?
 
Clyde_GS said:
Hey guys! I just registered. I am a candidate at Tsinghua University, Beijing. I was interviewed face to face. I wonder whether those called Columbia have to recall them for second interview or not? By the way, I remembered that the interviewer said the final decision will be announce at the end of Feb.
Click to expand...
Who was your interviewer? Are they associated with Columbia MFE program? Alumni? Outsource agency?
 
Clyde_GS said:
Yep, we do not need a second interview~ I hope the result we be sent out soon. It's terrible waiting...By the way, do you receive any info from Cornell?
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Nope. Do you know any one in Beijing receive invitation from Cornell?
 
anyone who received email last Friday have not received anything this week? I am little concerned what is going on.
 
I reached them the first time I called... Was also asked why financial engineering, and following my answer he asked me why not the buy side...
 
I got an interview last Friday...I remembered the interviewer said that final decision will be released on March 1st. Should we expect any decision earlier than that?
 
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