Baruch MFE Baruch MFE Admission Discussion

[Christopher lee]

Thanks and good luck!

 

[Jae Sang Shim]

Thanks and good luck!

Ok Christopher, sorry about the late update.. I was distracted by personal matters

First of all, this is pretty much a repeated version of what was in the forum in the past. For specific questions, I suggest you search Baruch interview questions on this site, you should find plenty.

Sadly, I was denied, evidently because I did not do a good job on the second interview.. on the probability theories part, I think. I am preparing for other interviews, assuming that they do invite me to interview

The interviews (there are two, as you would probably know) are purely technical, and for me, they covered:
Finance, Models used in FE, Prob. Theory, Programming

But I am certain that for other students, Mathematics / Numerical Methods would also be a topic. (Personally, I focused on ODEs and B-S models while I was preparing, but they were not on my interview.. bad luck, or just the fact that I had ODE and Financial Mathematics in my transcript.) From my experience, the topics covered are the ones not on your resume and transcript. I did not have a C++ and Prob. Theory related materials on them, so the professors would ask me first whether I have any experience in those fields, and ask me simple questions after.

I (and many others on the forum) wrote that the interview is challenging, but I think this is because the interview covers many topics (but this is natural since FE requires many backgrounds). Individual questions are not that hard, but if you only have Bachelor's degree, it is probably the case that you have missed one of the topics so that it would feel hard for you.

The questions are not that hard to solve if they were on paper exam, since probably the interview is not that long, so you would only have 2~4 min. on each questions. But... yeah, interviews are not paper exam and I got too nervous.

My advice is to go through

prob(distribution and expectation stuff)
math(linear algebra (matrix), ODE, calculus - diff, int, Taylor)
programming(theoretical concepts and basic components used in programming)
finance(concepts of financial instruments, like IRS, Futures and Forward, PC parity..)
financial model (binomial, B-S)

before you have the interview, but do not go too deeply into one subject. On math and prob. theories, you need to solve some basic problem sets so you would be prepare to "toy" with the concepts that you know. (For example, you need to be able to solve problems like: calculate the pdf of (X+Y)/X, where X, Y are i.i.d exp. dist.) You need to solve the problems (and they are not that hard, assuming that you have studied them in the past... it may not be trustworthy of a denied candidate to say that they are not that hard, but trust me I could easily solve them the day after I had my interview when I was alone...lol sounds a lot like excuse) based on what you know.

And... don't get nervous. It is going to make you look like you have low communication capabilities Oh, don't be afraid to say "I don't know".. they would ask you another question related to the larger topic

Anyway, good luck and I hope my answers were not that late. Remember, I was denied, so I suggest you find past threads on this subject.

 

[Christopher lee]

hey this was actually really useful. btw where else are u applying

 

[Tianci Xu]

Did anyone receive the interview invite from Baruch MFE for the second round? (deadline: 01/15/2021)

 

[Kurz]

first interview tomorrow for me.

 

[Vickkkkkk]

I heard from some friends that they are conducting the first round of interviews. Good luck everyone!

 

[Kinako]

I was interviewed yesterday.

 

[quant_aa]

I was interviewed yesterday.

How was it? Any pointers?

 

[Kurz]

Know your basic stat, linear algebra, I studied too much of the advanced stuff and didn’t give great answers for the basics. It was a good experience, I had never been verbally grilled on these concepts before so be ready for that!

 

[JINU]

Know your basic stat, linear algebra, I studied too much of the advanced stuff and didn’t give great answers for the basics. It was a good experience, I had never been verbally grilled on these concepts before so be ready for that!

Thank you for sharing. Dis you get a second round??

 

[Kurz]

Thank you for sharing. Dis you get a second round??

I only interviewed this morning so I don't know yet. I am not that hopeful. I was caught a bit off guard almost like getting a shot that is too wide open and then you airball. I would say practice explaining things aloud, I found it much harder than when using pencil and paper.

 

[JINU]

I only interviewed this morning so I don't know yet. I am not that hopeful. I was caught a bit off guard almost like getting a shot that is too wide open and then you airball. I would say practice explaining things aloud, I found it much harder than when using pencil and paper.

Thank you for your reply. When it comes to explaining your answers, did you just hold your notes up to the camera?

 

[Kurz]

Thank you for your reply. When it comes to explaining your answers, did you just hold your notes up to the camera?

it was really more conceptual, so at least I didn't think there was a need for notes. Maybe that would have been a better way to go.

 

[JINU]

it was really more conceptual, so at least I didn't think there was a need for notes. Maybe that would have been a better way to go.

I see. So when professor gives you a problem, how did you get a problem? (Did the professor introduce the problem orally?)

 

[Tianci Xu]

I was interviewed yesterday.

Thank you for the information!

 

[Tianci Xu]

first interview tomorrow for me.

Thank you for the information!

 

[bosbop]

Did the interview on 26th. A math prof., a bunch of math fundamentals questions. It was good.

 

[rillsong]

Did anyone receive the second-round interview invitation?

 

[bosbop]

Did anyone receive the second-round interview invitation?

Just got the round 2 interview date and time.

 

[Vickkkkkk]

From what I heard, round 2 with Dr. Stefanica is on.
Good luck!