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Engineering Background but no math

qweretyq

Joined
5/21/10
Messages
9
Points
11
I am in an unusual situation. I graduated as an Engineering major, but my math and programming background is very limited.
I only took Calc III and Dif Eq in college (no lin alg or probability)
All the programming we did was in Matlab or some other language (not C++)

What is the best way of taking the prereq classes to become a good candidate for MFE at Berkeley/CM/Columbia? Will I still be considered a good candidate if I do well in online classes?
I am currently working in Finance and would eventually like to move into algo trading.
 
qweretyq said:
I am in an unusual situation. I graduated as an Engineering major, but my math and programming background is very limited.
I only took Calc III and Dif Eq in college (no lin alg or probability)
All the programming we did was in Matlab or some other language (not C++)

What is the best way of taking the prereq classes to become a good candidate for MFE at Berkeley/CM/Columbia? Will I still be considered a good candidate if I do well in online classes?
I am currently working in Finance and would eventually like to move into algo trading.
Click to expand...

http://netmath.illinois.edu/

Linear Algebra:
http://netmath.illinois.edu/courses#415

Probability:
http://netmath.illinois.edu/courses#461

Tuition:
http://netmath.illinois.edu/tuition
 
The question is, how did you graduate with an engineering degree with limited math background? I graduated with an engineering degree, and part of the degree requirement was bunch of math classes as preparation for the more hardcore engineering classes in junior/senior years.
 
coolharvard said:
The question is, how did you graduate with an engineering degree with limited math background? I graduated with an engineering degree, and part of the degree requirement was bunch of math classes as preparation for the more hardcore engineering classes in junior/senior years.
Click to expand...
I'm an EE major at UIUC, and my degree only requires calc 1-3 and diff eq... You can certainly take more math as electives, but you are not required so to graduate
 
coolharvard said:
The question is, how did you graduate with an engineering degree with limited math background? I graduated with an engineering degree, and part of the degree requirement was bunch of math classes as preparation for the more hardcore engineering classes in junior/senior years.
Click to expand...

Yes, like Li Cai, I only took up to Dif Eq. I had actually already already completed Multivariable, Lin Alg, and Dif Eq in high school, but my college required that I take Calc III (Multivariable) again. So I took that and Dif Eq.

Also, I am aware of the Illinois online courses. However, my question is, when I apply for MFE at Berkeley/CMU etc, will it be perceived the same as if I took it in college? It won't be looked upon negatively in any way right?
 
They'll know the timeline of the courses taken because you have to submit official transcripts from all schools attended after high school. But they would also know that the material you learn (assuming) from UIUC would be the same type of math you'd learn at Cal or CMU campus (they'll check the equivalency), so I don't think this will be looked upon negative in any way.
 
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