CMU MSCF CMU MSCF Interview

Chevis · 2/29/24

kombuchalover said:
Rejected

They released the decision?

Alex Ng · 2/29/24

macchiato · 2/29/24

Rejection for me too

rodeo · 2/29/24

macchiato said:
Rejection for me too

Same. Seems like this year has expectional candidates and high volumes everywhere.

redoctober · 2/29/24

rodeo said:
Same. Seems like this year has expectional candidates and high volumes everywhere.

Same for me and I would tend to agree, some rejects on the tracker seem competitive based on previous years acceptances

ves · 2/29/24

Just got an offer. Good luck to everyone who's still applying! The best is yet to come!

ArnoZeldenrijk · 2/29/24

Got my offer as well. Best of luck to those who are still looking/applying.

For anyone who got in for the Pittsburgh location, feel free to DM me so we can start connecting.

Andy Nguyen · 2/29/24

ves said:
Just got an offer. Good luck to everyone who's still applying! The best is yet to come!

Congrats ves. Can you put the timelines on the Tracker?

Andy Nguyen · 2/29/24

ArnoZeldenrijk said:
Got my offer as well. Best of luck to those who are still looking/applying.

For anyone who got in for the Pittsburgh location, feel free to DM me so we can start connecting.

If you decided to join CMU, make sure to change the Tracker status from Accepted to Enrolled and update the 2024 MFE roll call thread.
Congrats Arno.

OneAsianDuck · 2/29/24

Huh, I got an offer.

Was sure I flunked the interview, so I'm pretty surprised.

Chevis · 2/29/24

I got my offer today, a person I extremly want to thank is marcusaurelius. I'm not sure how to @ him, anyone can help.

Andy Nguyen · 2/29/24

I was thinking of analyzing the results from the Tracker and display them on the CMU program's profile to show:
For those applying for 2024, the average/median GRE Q/V/AWA of those admitted.
The percentage getting scholarship, etc.
Is this something useful for applicants to see?
I think when people applying, it helps to know where your profile lines up against other QuantNet members who got admitted. We have some outliers where the GPA/GRE is lower than the bracket but still get admitted so those data points help a lot.

Andy Nguyen · 2/29/24

Chevis said:
I got my offer today, a person I extremly want to thank is marcusaurelius. I'm not sure how to @ him, anyone can help.

@marcusaurelius

Alex Ng · 2/29/24

Andy Nguyen said:
I was thinking of analyzing the results from the Tracker and display them on the CMU program's profile to show:
For those applying for 2024, the average/median GRE Q/V/AWA of those admitted.
The percentage getting scholarship, etc.
Is this something useful for applicants to see?
I think when people applying, it helps to know where your profile lines up against other QuantNet members who got admitted. We have some outliers where the GPA/GRE is lower than the bracket but still get admitted so those data points help a lot.

I think that would be very helpful. I would suggest some kind of heat map showing GPA and GRE etc.

marcusaurelius · 2/29/24

Andy Nguyen said:
I was thinking of analyzing the results from the Tracker and display them on the CMU program's profile to show:
For those applying for 2024, the average/median GRE Q/V/AWA of those admitted.
The percentage getting scholarship, etc.
Is this something useful for applicants to see?
I think when people applying, it helps to know where your profile lines up against other QuantNet members who got admitted. We have some outliers where the GPA/GRE is lower than the bracket but still get admitted so those data points help a lot.

Exactly what we had talked about, but alas ran out of time to do more work on this!

marcusaurelius · 2/29/24

Chevis said:
I got my offer today, a person I extremly want to thank is marcusaurelius. I'm not sure how to @ him, anyone can help.

More than happy. Should you people choose CMU, I can more than guarantee that you won't regret your choice a second. Although the program is tough, it challenges you in all aspects, and is essential if you want to get your money's worth and get top opportunities! At least on my end, I keep being surprised by how much this program brings value, and want to double down because there is A LOT to do here at CMU. Feel free to DM me @ArnoZeldenrijk @Chevis @ves (and others who have received an offer) should you accept your offer and want to strategize about how to prep for the program + locking in a very solid internship offer!

Andy Nguyen · 2/29/24

Alex Ng said:
I think that would be very helpful. I would suggest some kind of heat map showing GPA and GRE etc.

Heat map is a pretty good idea. Anything similar you came across that you can point me to?

marcusaurelius said:
Exactly what we had talked about, but alas ran out of time to do more work on this!

The potential to make the data we have here more useful on QuantNet is huge. I'm happy to collaborate further, lest life and work get in your way.

Alex Ng · 2/29/24

Andy Nguyen said:
Heat map is a pretty good idea. Anything similar you came across that you can point me to?

The potential to make the data we have here more useful on QuantNet is huge. I'm happy to collaborate further, lest life and work get in your way.

Yes. My high school used SCOIR to collect information about their students' GPA and standardized scores. It calculates the scores that a student need to be admitted in terms of 25%, 50% and 75% statistical probability. Even though this is obviously not the complete picture to evaluate a profile, it does give people some idea of how competitive a program is and where they stand compared with those who were accepted, waisted, and rejected.

anonysolmon · 2/29/24

Got rejection from CMU. Not really sure what went wrong. Can someone please evaluate my profile? Also, one thing I would like to highlight that I had mentioned what other finance program I am applying to, can that be a possible reason for rejection?

Profile: Tier-1 Indian UG, GPA: 8.4, YOE: 4 in Top-3 investment bank as Strategist, GRE: 170(Q), 156(V), Two research paper in International conference in AI

Alex Ng · 3/1/24

anonysolmon said:
Got rejection from CMU. Not really sure what went wrong. Can someone please evaluate my profile? Also, one thing I would like to highlight that I had mentioned what other finance program I am applying to, can that be a possible reason for rejection?

Profile: Tier-1 Indian UG, GPA: 8.4, YOE: 4 in Top-3 investment bank as Strategist, GRE: 170(Q), 156(V), Two research paper in International conference in AI

There may not be anything wrong with your profile. Programs evaluate your profile in terms of your GPA, experience, and quantitative skills trained in your education and internship/full time job. This year in particular, there are more applicants who are equally qualified for a seat in the program. However, they too got rejected. If you go through the tracker, you will find people with very decent profile in the same position as you. QuantNet has a sampling bias. Many people here have worked a lot, spent a lot of time and effort in their preparations. If you see so many rejections here, it must mean that there are even more rejections outside this community.

CMU MSCF, being one of the most competitive MFE programs in the U.S. (or even in the world for that sake), is highly selective. It demands advanced skills in programming, math, and quantitative finance theories. It is completely normal to receive a rejection from programs like CMU MSCF, especially when you are up against applicants with 4.0 from a top 10 university in the U.S and a 335 GRE score (170 quant, of course). Seats are very limited, and you have many qualified applicants who are trying their best to secure a seat. The reasons for a rejection are unpredictable and also subjective. It could very well be that you were only slightly behind those who got in. All I am saying is that for a top 3 program like CMU MSFE, the competition is fierce and regardless of how your profile looks, there is no guarantee of admission.