Chance of getting into a top program?

[quanttrader]

I graduated from a top-15 school this past spring, with a 3.7 in Applied Mathematics and Economics, I recently took the GRE and scored a 334 (170Q 164V), and I'm working at a quantitative derivatives trading firm in Chicago for at least the next year.

I know my GRE score is strong, but do I have a good chance of getting into Columbia, CMU, UCB, etc. with my GPA? I know a 3.7 isn't bad by any means, but I know these programs have incredibly high standards and I'm sure it's below average.

Thanks in advance for any advice or opinions!

 

[cl_nyc]

Your GPA and GRE and trading firm experience makes you a shoo-in into any program you want as long as you don't screw up the UCB interview and have decent recommendations. What are you doing for the quant trading firm? If you're front-office, perhaps just stay there and try for Chicago part-time if you're really keen on the degree or the learning.

 

[quanttrader]

Your GPA and GRE and trading firm experience makes you a shoo-in into any program you want as long as you don't screw up the UCB interview and have decent recommendations. What are you doing for the quant trading firm? If you're front-office, perhaps just stay there and try for Chicago part-time if you're really keen on the degree or the learning.

Thanks a lot - appreciate the advice and encouragement. I'll be working as a trader. Do you know if other programs do interviews, or only UCB?

 

[cl_nyc]

From your list, I only know UCB does. I think CMU and Princeton are maybes. Columbia and NYU do not interview.

 

[KevinR]

From your list, I only know UCB does. I think CMU and Princeton are maybes. Columbia and NYU do not interview.

NYU definitely interviews

 

[mhy]

A lot of people go through the trouble of getting an MFEs so they can get the job you have. In fact, you have a job that many MFE students looking for trading jobs would kill for.

Why do you even need the degree? Are you concerned that not having a Masters degree will lower your marketability in the future? If you really want the Masters degree, strongly recommend you stay put and try to go to a school in Chicago and get your employer to pay for it.

 

[quanttrader]

A lot of people go through the trouble of getting an MFEs so they can get the job you have. In fact, you have a job that many MFE students looking for trading jobs would kill for.

Why do you even need the degree? Are you concerned that not having a Masters degree will lower your marketability in the future? If you really want the Masters degree, strongly recommend you stay put and try to go to a school in Chicago and get your employer to pay for it.

The place I'm working is a market making firm rather than one that invests with a long term strategy and I'm more interested in a quant hedge fund type of place. I don't believe I'll actually be working on algorithms or using much higher-level mathematics (I only took one actual comp sci class in college, though I've used R and Matlab extensively) but just trading options.

Additionally, I want to make it back home to the East coast eventually. These options market making firms are great, but not much opportunity outside of Chicago.

 

[liuyanji]

The place I'm working is a market making firm rather than one that invests with a long term strategy and I'm more interested in a quant hedge fund type of place. I don't believe I'll actually be working on algorithms or using much higher-level mathematics (I only took one actual comp sci class in college, though I've used R and Matlab extensively) but just trading options.

Additionally, I want to make it back home to the East coast eventually. These options market making firms are great, but not much opportunity outside of Chicago.

Mate I'm also working in a market making firm as a option trader (but in APAC office), actually thinking the same thing as you do: not much CS bg, dont want to work on algo, and I'm applying this year as well. It makes a lot of sense for us to go for it if we want to do longterm focused stuff