Well, this post may sounds a little bit like complaining, but thess are actually suggestions because my undergradute alumini also attended NYU MFE program and they also complains about it too much. In case of misunderstanding, firstly I need to say that I am not accepted by NYU MFE program in 24 fall (and went for another program).
Let’s cut to the chase, in around 150 students in NYU MFE class (who have enrolled in 24 fall), over 90% of them are Chinese and Indian students. Although CMU MSCF Program Class Composition also looks like this (well, because master program is basically designed for Chinese students for seeking a local job, BUT, in these years quant research jobs begin to prefer math/stat/cs PhD), but CMU's program workload is very tensive, their program has 30 year old history (which means, the directors are highly experienced, and can equip them core skills for quant research, like making C++ and stochastic calculus courses compulsory), and their employment outcome seems very cost-effective.
But in NYU MFE, the class background mainly includes U.S. undergraduates(around 40%), Chinese undergraduates(around 40%), and Indian undergraduates(around 20%). Owing to the nice location and good career service in previous years,especially since Peter Carr took over this program in 2016, the program reputation had been increasing, until 2022. But in recent years (2022-2024), something changed, and the admission criteria also become strange.
"For me, I got admitted for 2023 fall in NYU MFE in early round and declined the offer myself because Columbia Data Science Master Program offer arrived later. This year, I am assisting my younger fellow students with their application. And their admission outcome of NYU MFE is really strange: 3 rejected, 1 waitlist, 0 admit." One of the alumini said this.
Generally speaking, since there isn’t recruitment officer for master program (unlike undergraduate program), the admission process overall includes these parts: Set up Admission Team (mainly consists of students)->Admission Team Members (Usually Students) Decide whether to Send Materials to Professors->Professors Rate Applicants Overall-> Make a Decision(Offer/Reject/Waitlist)
Honestly, many applicants finished their personal statement, video essay, and even some of the published paper through study abroad agency. And there isn’t too much meaning watching their 1-minute video carefully and reading personal statement carefully since many of the personal statements are written and polished by professionals from study abroad agencies (let alone NYU MFE required double space and no longer than two pages, which means they don’t have too much time reading it).
Also, they even don’t look at some of their admitted student’s video essay (some students‘ viewed times on YouTube remains 0 but got admission). So, what do they care about? The answer is: applicant’s major, GPA, working experience, grade on mathematical and computer science courses, and GRE score.
But two much emphasize on these things above results a strange phenomenon: Some of the admitted students come from schools that are not famous. And they rejected quite a number of students from high-ranking universities in China or India. Yet this cannot be simply explained by overqualification.
In China (also personal experience, considering nearly half of the class students are from China), universities with “985” title are top 50 universities in China (or top 40, approximately) , universities with “211” title are around top 100 university in China. But look at the following admitted (not 985 school or 211 school) student’s background for NYU MFE 24 fall as an example:
Undergraduate School: Nanjing University of Information Science and Engineering
School Fame: Not 985 title university, Not 211 title university, #129 Ranking in China by local ranking institutions. (School Location: Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China)
Undergraduate Major: Financial Engineering
GPA: 4.18/5.00 BUT 92/100 in hundred-mark system, according to undergraduate school grade system
GRE: 321 (IELTS Score: 7.5/9.0)
Decision: Admitted
The final results seems quite strange. They don’t send admissions to students with financial engineering major from top 20 universities. Surely, students prefer not to be labeled in this university ranking system, but you have to consider student’s employment.
As for their preference, generally, this MFE program is friendly for students with math/cs major and financial engineering major with high gpa (over 3.75/4.00). According to their statements, the overall GPA is 3.88/4.00, but they only calculate the GPA of U.S. Undergraduate Students. Students who get undergraduate degree outside U.S. is not considered. And many people have heard, the overall GPA in U.S. colleges are inflating. So compared to U.S. undergraduates, undergraduates from schools with strict GPA control do not have an advantage at all.
One more confusing matter, according to the class profile, for many years, students in XJTLU (Xi'an Jiaoting Liverpool Univeristy), CUHKSZ (Chinese Univeristy of Hongkong, Shenzhen), UNNC(University of Nottingham Ningbo China), and DKU (Duke Kunshan University), got many offers. But actually they are just ordinary Chinese-foreign Cooperatively-run colleges located in China, simply with English as taught lauguage. If they are going to find a local job, it would be viewed same as 211 students (generally, not including top students). especially for Mathematical Finance at XJTLU, every year there are over 10+ students at the same major, at the same department got admitted into NYU MFE Program. But these years some tier 1 students in China, like a student from Peking University (Beijing Univeristy, one of the best univeristy in China) Undergraduate with 3.7/4.0 GPA, even got rejected. It very difficult to view it not as overqualification.
If they want to improve their program job placement outcome, here just gives some suggestions. Before next application round, some the following questions are worth thinking:
1. Based on these problems above, can they establish a TARGET SCHOOL LIST? (Based on university ranking and/or previous alumini employment outcome)
2. Do they have a blacklist for admitted students who declined the offer?
3. Do they really consider their applicants’ undergraduate school (and, of course, major and GPA&GRE)?
Class Profile? U.S. vs China vs India Undergrad for 24 fall
Let’s cut to the chase, in around 150 students in NYU MFE class (who have enrolled in 24 fall), over 90% of them are Chinese and Indian students. Although CMU MSCF Program Class Composition also looks like this (well, because master program is basically designed for Chinese students for seeking a local job, BUT, in these years quant research jobs begin to prefer math/stat/cs PhD), but CMU's program workload is very tensive, their program has 30 year old history (which means, the directors are highly experienced, and can equip them core skills for quant research, like making C++ and stochastic calculus courses compulsory), and their employment outcome seems very cost-effective.
But in NYU MFE, the class background mainly includes U.S. undergraduates(around 40%), Chinese undergraduates(around 40%), and Indian undergraduates(around 20%). Owing to the nice location and good career service in previous years,especially since Peter Carr took over this program in 2016, the program reputation had been increasing, until 2022. But in recent years (2022-2024), something changed, and the admission criteria also become strange.
Study Abroad Agency and Admission Process
"For me, I got admitted for 2023 fall in NYU MFE in early round and declined the offer myself because Columbia Data Science Master Program offer arrived later. This year, I am assisting my younger fellow students with their application. And their admission outcome of NYU MFE is really strange: 3 rejected, 1 waitlist, 0 admit." One of the alumini said this.
Generally speaking, since there isn’t recruitment officer for master program (unlike undergraduate program), the admission process overall includes these parts: Set up Admission Team (mainly consists of students)->Admission Team Members (Usually Students) Decide whether to Send Materials to Professors->Professors Rate Applicants Overall-> Make a Decision(Offer/Reject/Waitlist)
Honestly, many applicants finished their personal statement, video essay, and even some of the published paper through study abroad agency. And there isn’t too much meaning watching their 1-minute video carefully and reading personal statement carefully since many of the personal statements are written and polished by professionals from study abroad agencies (let alone NYU MFE required double space and no longer than two pages, which means they don’t have too much time reading it).
Also, they even don’t look at some of their admitted student’s video essay (some students‘ viewed times on YouTube remains 0 but got admission). So, what do they care about? The answer is: applicant’s major, GPA, working experience, grade on mathematical and computer science courses, and GRE score.
But two much emphasize on these things above results a strange phenomenon: Some of the admitted students come from schools that are not famous. And they rejected quite a number of students from high-ranking universities in China or India. Yet this cannot be simply explained by overqualification.
No Comparable Transcript Grading System? Strange Admission Criteria
In China (also personal experience, considering nearly half of the class students are from China), universities with “985” title are top 50 universities in China (or top 40, approximately) , universities with “211” title are around top 100 university in China. But look at the following admitted (not 985 school or 211 school) student’s background for NYU MFE 24 fall as an example:
Undergraduate School: Nanjing University of Information Science and Engineering
School Fame: Not 985 title university, Not 211 title university, #129 Ranking in China by local ranking institutions. (School Location: Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China)
Undergraduate Major: Financial Engineering
GPA: 4.18/5.00 BUT 92/100 in hundred-mark system, according to undergraduate school grade system
GRE: 321 (IELTS Score: 7.5/9.0)
Decision: Admitted
The final results seems quite strange. They don’t send admissions to students with financial engineering major from top 20 universities. Surely, students prefer not to be labeled in this university ranking system, but you have to consider student’s employment.
As for their preference, generally, this MFE program is friendly for students with math/cs major and financial engineering major with high gpa (over 3.75/4.00). According to their statements, the overall GPA is 3.88/4.00, but they only calculate the GPA of U.S. Undergraduate Students. Students who get undergraduate degree outside U.S. is not considered. And many people have heard, the overall GPA in U.S. colleges are inflating. So compared to U.S. undergraduates, undergraduates from schools with strict GPA control do not have an advantage at all.
Overqualified
One more confusing matter, according to the class profile, for many years, students in XJTLU (Xi'an Jiaoting Liverpool Univeristy), CUHKSZ (Chinese Univeristy of Hongkong, Shenzhen), UNNC(University of Nottingham Ningbo China), and DKU (Duke Kunshan University), got many offers. But actually they are just ordinary Chinese-foreign Cooperatively-run colleges located in China, simply with English as taught lauguage. If they are going to find a local job, it would be viewed same as 211 students (generally, not including top students). especially for Mathematical Finance at XJTLU, every year there are over 10+ students at the same major, at the same department got admitted into NYU MFE Program. But these years some tier 1 students in China, like a student from Peking University (Beijing Univeristy, one of the best univeristy in China) Undergraduate with 3.7/4.0 GPA, even got rejected. It very difficult to view it not as overqualification.
If they want to improve their program job placement outcome, here just gives some suggestions. Before next application round, some the following questions are worth thinking:
1. Based on these problems above, can they establish a TARGET SCHOOL LIST? (Based on university ranking and/or previous alumini employment outcome)
2. Do they have a blacklist for admitted students who declined the offer?
3. Do they really consider their applicants’ undergraduate school (and, of course, major and GPA&GRE)?