Advice for fresh college grad

[PurplEze]

I recently graduated from an Ivy League college with a bachelor's degree in mathematics, minor in statistics, with a GPA of 3.8, yet I don't have a job lined up. I had internships in traditional finance roles like IB and PE in local boutique firms, but didn't get any junior year internships. This year, I applied to MIT's MFin and Columbia's MAFN programs without a GRE score (I don't know if this is the main reason) and was rejected from both. Recruiting for front desk finance roles was already over a long time ago; I am completely lost at this point. Should I take the GRE and reapply to the master's program? Should I focus on Quant full-time recruiting through the WallStreetQuant program? Any input is appreciated.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Don't pay for any company that takes your money with a promise of an internship. It's mostly a scam. This is from many feedbacks I have read.
If a program does not require GRE, it's for a good reason. Your lack of GRE is not the reason for the rejection.
Sounds like you don't properly prepare your profile and applications for this type of programs which will show up in your SoP.
You can try again for Fall 2026 or beyond. Look at the many similar preparation threads here.
In the meantime, learn C++ and Python and search for internship or research projects.