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Enhancing my MFE profile by taking online courses

Joined
11/2/16
Messages
1
Points
11
Hi everyone,
I am new to this forum and I would like to know what online course (through extension or pre-course...etc) can I take to enhance my MFE profile? My goal is to get into one of the top ones (I am an international student so placement is really the top concern).

I graduated from UC-Irvine with 3.5 GPA majoring in Economics. I am planning on applying to MFE a year from now. When I was researching prerequisites for the top ones, I realized that many of them require certain level in 1)math i.e. calculus, linear algebra 2)programming i.e. C++, matlab, R 3)statistics. While I was in college, I didn't take any programming at all but I did take some basic math and stats.
I took:
Math:
Single-Variable Calculus(two courses both got A): Introduction to derivatives, calculation of derivatives of algebraic and trigonometric functions; applications including curve sketching, related rates, and optimization. Exponential and logarithm functions; Definite integrals; the fundamental theorem of calculus. Applications of integration including finding areas and volumes. Techniques of integration. Infinite sequences and series. Parametric and polar equations.
Math for Economists: Topics in linear algebra and multivariable differential calculus suitable for economic applications.

Stats:
Two basic courses with topics in:
Graphs, Central Tendency, Standard Deviation, z-scores, Categorical Variables, Simpson’s Paradox, Cramer’s V, Quantitative Variables, Correlation, Regression Line, Probability, Distributions, Expected Values, The Normal Probability Model, percentiles, skew, kurtosis, Type I and Type II Error, Confidence Intervals, Hypothesis Tests, Testing Proportions, Testing Means, the t-distribution, Chi-Squared Tests, Simple Regression

As you can tell, comparing with other applicants, I need to take more courses. So far I found out only 1.)Baruch (onsite except c++) 2.)UCB (online) offer pre-mfe courses. Are there any other options that I can consider? Any kind of certificate in programming or any math/stats courses?
I can also self-study/do online open course but would it be fine to just do that? Since it won't show on my applications if I just say, oh I studied all these on my own.

Any advice will be appreciated=)
 
Hey Johnny,
I think taking online courses is a great idea. I know that Georgia Tech offers online courses in computational investing and another course in machine learning for trading.
I'm still in university and I plan on also taking online courses to hopefully help my admissions application.
 
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