Advice for Baruch MFE

[templeofthedog]

Hi all,

I was hoping to get some advice on increasing my abilities of getting into an MFE program, specifically Baruch.

A little background on me:

• I have a degree in mechanical engineering and I am currently an aerospace engineer. I am working as a Structural Analysis engineer for a large commercial aviation company. I do a lot of FEM and stress work mostly at my job with a blend of Python/MATLAB for some data analysis.
• The coursework I have taken:
  • Calc I, II, III
  • Differential Equations
  • Linear Algebra
  • Statistics
  • Two course on Java (basic and Object oriented programming)
  • Other misc engineering courses: Heat Transfer, Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Aerospace Propulsion, etc
• GPA: 3.96/4
• CFA Level 1 Candidate

Over the past year, I've gained a growing appreciation for the finance field in and am currently interested in the blend of mathematic and finance. This led me to pursue my CFA and possibly break into the field of quantitative finance. Based on my background, I was wondering if it made sense applying to the Baruch MFE program. I had some questions before I applied.

1. I looked at Baruch's prerequisites and noticed I am missing a finance course which may affect my abilities. I have not taken any at college. Will this affect my ability to apply? Also, would it make sense to take an intro to finance course at a local community college?
2. Should I take any of the Pre-MFE courses? I have a feeling I would probably need a C++ cert but I was also wondering about taking the Advanced Calculus with Financial Engineering Applications Seminar as well as the probability one. I want to know which course/materials set me up the best for success.
3. What is the best way of tackling the QBA? Which books should I read and what should I focus on?

In terms of a road-map, I thought this may be a great way to get prepared:

• Take an intro to finance course at a local community college
• Brush up on calc/probability/linear algebra topics. I have also purchased Professor Stefenica's books (the Primers) so I'll use those as a foundation as well as other probability textbooks (DeGroot & Schervish, Meester)
• Get more involved in python related projects. Over the past year I've done a quite few amount of finance related python projects and I have an ML one in mind. Hoping to get a project running this year
• Enroll in a few Pre-MFE courses this October.

I hope to follow this road map for the 2026 enrollment season.

I know there are a lot of folks from the Baruch MFE program on QuantNet so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read this!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Sounds similar to this.

Baruch MFE Thread 'Feedback on plan for building profile for Baruch MFE Fall 2026?'

9/2/24

Hi everyone,

I posted here around a month ago, and have since put together a plan for the next year in order to bolster my application, as well as fill most of the quantitative holes from my undergrad degree. Any feedback/suggestions would be much appreciated!

A little background:
I graduated in 2021 with a BBA in Economics/Finance from Baruch College. My GPA was not good (~3.00), but I’ve since gained 3.5 years of experience in industry. My career so far has been in data engineering, software project management, and data science. I consider myself very proficient in Python, SQL...

• grxthy
• Replies: 8
• Forum: US Quant Programs

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