Columbia MFE Columbia MFE Interview

Benjamindana · 2/11/14

@natalia.ochoa.a thank you for your answer, I am preparing it in english so.

fe app · 2/11/14

Quantacct said:
Yeah, a friend of mine did too.

not sure if this is a coincidence, but both people who got accepted to columbia are from international students....

Dataminer · 2/11/14

fe app said:
not sure if this is a coincidence, but both people who got accepted to columbia are from international students....

aren't the majority of applicants international to begin with?

fe app · 2/11/14

Dataminer said:
aren't the majority of applicants international to begin with?

guess thats true. idk trying to look for a trend....

Quantacct · 2/11/14

So is my friend

soheil · 2/12/14

Got my offer for the MSFE. Would be great to network before the start of the program if anyone else on here has gotten admitted.

soheil · 2/12/14

got in the MSFE. Anyone else got offers yet?

fe app · 2/12/14

soheil said:
got in the MSFE. Anyone else got offers yet?

still waiting expectantly. scholarship?

leuoah · 2/12/14

soheil said:
Got my offer for the MSFE. Would be great to network before the start of the program if anyone else on here has gotten admitted.

Hi Soheil, How long did you receive the offer after the interview? And Congradualations!

Piyush Sachdeva · 2/12/14

I just got interview invite yesterday :O Does anyone know what's percentage of people who get selected out of interview list ?

soheil · 2/12/14

Unfortunately, no financial aid. My understanding was that MSFE students don't get financial aid.
I got my offer the day after the interview.

fe app · 2/12/14

soheil said:
Unfortunately, no financial aid. My understanding was that MSFE students don't get financial aid.
I got my offer the day after the interview.

well that may make things a little dif. didnt realize they didnt give out $$. congrats

fe app · 2/13/14

from doing another review of the tracker, looks like people got accepted as early as feb 1 last year, but also as late at feb 22. also looks like feb18-19 were big for all decisions.

Junyong Choi · 2/14/14

I had my interview on Feb 7th, and got accepted on Feb 10th, but I didn't get any scholarship.

I had an interview with MIT two days ago at Shanghai, and I think I did much better than with Columbia.
So I feel like I might have a chance at being accepted to MIT as well.

The problem is: Columbia requires my decision to accept/decline by February 24th, but MIT will give out decisions on March 10th.

So, my questions are:
1. Is there any way that I can somehow hear from MIT about the decision before March 10th?
2. Assuming that I am accepted to MIT as well, which program should I pick? (I am considering quantitative analyst as my first job, NYC preferred, and I am an international student. Tuition does not matter, and I am most concerned about getting employed.)

fe app · 2/14/14

Junyong Choi said:
1. Is there any way that I can somehow hear from MIT about the decision before March 10th?

ive spoken to mit and so have other people. they will almost 100% not give u an early answer

Cornholio · 2/14/14

Junyong Choi said:
I had my interview on Feb 7th, and got accepted on Feb 10th, but I didn't get any scholarship.

I had an interview with MIT two days ago at Shanghai, and I think I did much better than with Columbia.
So I feel like I might have a chance at being accepted to MIT as well.

The problem is: Columbia requires my decision to accept/decline by February 24th, but MIT will give out decisions on March 10th.

So, my questions are:
1. Is there any way that I can somehow hear from MIT about the decision before March 10th?
2. Assuming that I am accepted to MIT as well, which program should I pick? (I am considering quantitative analyst as my first job, NYC preferred, and I am an international student. Tuition does not matter, and I am most concerned about getting employed.)

E-mail the MIT admissions team and inform them about the offer and the acceptance deadline. They may want some form of proof so you could attach the acceptance e-mail or a scan of the letter of acceptance should you have one.

There's no guarantee they will accommodate your request, however it doesn't hurt to ask.

On the face of it, given your preferences, Columbia does sound like a better fit, but don't take my word for it. The best to do in these situations is probably to contact current students and alumni of both programs (should you also be admitted to MIT) and ask them about the curriculum and recruiting.

Junyong Choi · 2/14/14

OK, I should try contacting current students and alumni.

Another question: Say I pay the non-refundable tuition deposit of $2500 by February 24th. If I get accepted by MIT after that, can I decline Columbia's offer and choose to go to MIT instead? Or am I bound to Columbia by paying the $2500?

fe app · 2/14/14

thats a tricky one. i would stay away from doing that. always feels a lil unethical. also there might a clause in the acceptantce of offer that makes it binding

Jedison · 2/14/14

You're not bound legally or anything. Morally...maybe. You'd lose $2500 but they can't force you to go to their school haha

Johnny Mnemonic · 2/15/14

Hi all, I thought I'd offer a non-international experience. I was invited to interview on Feb 7th and had my interview today. As others have mentioned it primarily focused on two questions: 1) have you applied to any other programs besides Columbia and 2) What are your plans following graduation.

I think I may have avoided some of the technical questions because I have a longer work history than many applicants. More specifically, with only 20 minutes to give a full rundown on my history, we just barely were able to go through my resume and answer the standard questions before our time was up.

Hope that's helpful to anyone applying domestically!