Baruch MFE Feedback on plan for building profile for Baruch MFE Fall 2026?

[kakimochi]

I believe you can only submit 3 problem sets per week. I remember reading on their site that the course had to be completed in a minimum of 3 months. I roughly followed this, as I think it's a reasonable pace to both finish quickly and also make sure the material sticks. Maybe you could finish it sooner, I would check with the faculty to make sure.

Appreciate the response!

 

[MitchStokes]

Saw this pop up on another thread and thought I'd share my background, plan, and experience so far since it's similar to yours in a lot of ways.

Background
Also graduated in 2021, from UC Berkeley majoring in MechEng and minoring in EECS. I also had a weak GPA (2.5) in undergrad; I got heavily into professional esports and regretfully prioritized that over my studies. Post-graduation, I got into tech as a software engineer and as of today have 3 years of experience (2 at a FAANG, 1 elsewhere). I recently switched roles to a larger startup in the AI space. Accordingly, I'm very experienced with programming in general (Python, Java, JS/TS, misc web dev languages), but would still say I'm a novice at C++.

My Journey (so far)
I didn't start this process with the explicit goal of pursuing a career in finance, an MFE, or similar. Rather, as I started my career surrounded by incredibly talented and bright coworkers at my FAANG role, an aching began to grow inside me to learn more; in a sense, to right the wrongs that my past self had committed by spurning the opportunities to grow and learn that were available to me at Berkeley. My first thought was actually to work towards GT's OMSCS to get an MSCS. For people with poor undergrad grades, lack of CS background, or similar, the standard advice was to brush up on basic college math courses + programming courses. So I enrolled in some classes at Foothill College (a two year college in the Bay Area which offers online classes).

While still working obviously - between Winter 2023, Spring 2023, and Summer 2023 I took Calc 1-3 and CS 2A/B. This worked out to 1-2 classes at a time for each of these quarters and was pretty easily manageable. For Fall 2023 I signed up as a a tutor for a program for URM students in math, and enrolled in Discrete Math, CS 2C (the last course in the programming series), and DiffEqs. Unfortunately, I got a terrible case of COVID in October which knocked me out of work and school for two weeks. I ended up medical-dropping this whole semester because it was going to be unrealistic to get caught up on work projects and three courses at the same time. One important detail is that I really put a ton of effort into these classes. I made sure I understand every nook and cranny of the subject material inside and out. In this environment, I really started to feel the hunger to learn.

It was at this point I realized that I had been quite enjoying the math classes I'd been taking (including the start of Discrete + DiffEqs) and had a bit of an itch to do more. This is also where I started to consider an MFE or similar in the future. I found IU (Indiana University) Online's Mathematics BS program and enrolled for Spring 2024. I'm on my fourth semester of classes here, and I've had a great experience so far. I've loved getting to explore the more theoretical, proof-centric side of math that I didn't get much of as a MechEng major.

Spring 2024:
- Linear Algebra. Unfortunately not very theory-heavy or proof centric; this is a common complaint among the cohort of students

Summer 2024:
- Calc 3. I was very proud of my effort here, I took it twice at Berkeley and found it particularly hard
- Bridge to Abstract Math. Basically a standard discrete course
- ODEs

Fall 2024:
- Analysis I
- Mathematics of Finance. Uses McDonald's Derivatives Markets, interesting subject matter and goes into decent depth but course was very disorganized and generally poorly supported.
- Probability Theory

Spring 2025:
- Took this semester off. I started a new job in November and managing the three classes in Fall 2024 was a bit much with that workload, so wanted a few quiet months to get up to speed.

Summer 2025 (current/pending):
- Graph Theory
- Mathematical Statistics
- Possibly working on the QN C++ course once I'm done with Mathematical Statistics and I'm less busy (first 6/12 weeks)

Up to this point, I've gotten As in everything I've taken at Foothill and IU, save for a B in Mathematics of Finance.

Looking Forward
I will likely apply to some MFEs for Fall 2026 admission. I'm looking at a 3.9ish GPA at IU by the time I apply.

Fall 2025:
- Abstract Algebra I
- Numerical Analysis
- A Baruch Pre-MFE seminar

Spring 2026:
- Mathematical Models I
- Senior Seminar/Research Seminar
- Another Baruch Pre-MFE seminar

Besides the above, I will probably lightly study for and take the GRE over the next few months. I know it's not that important, but I'm a very good standardized test taker and expect it will help my application. I would also like to finish both C++ courses on QN before applying. I bought Dan's NLA and Math Primer books and will begin self-studying those at some point.

Other Notes
On a personal note, I've been interested in finance/markets since middle school, when I tore through my dad's stash of trading and market-related books and begged my dad for his Scottrade login so I could try paper trading. I'm obviously not in a situation where I need an MFE to have a good career, so it's really that passion and desire for knowledge that is motivating my plan. Regardless of where I end up, I've been very happy with my decision to take classes at IU. I've absolutely loved getting to learn more about proof-based math, and when all is said and done I will have a BS in Mathematics to my name with only ~13 courses taken. I'd highly recommend it to anyone in a similar situation - the courses are rigorous, reasonably priced, and set up you up with a very nice foundation for self-study. There is also plenty of opportunity to network with professors w.r.t research.

Similar to @grxthy, I've done some projects in the sports data/betting arena over the last few years. Two of my favorites/most promising:
1. Using preseason game lines to price NFL teams' win totals. Draftkings typically posts initial lines for all 252 games in May (next season's are up now). The idea is to use Monte Carlo to simulate full seasons and compare team win totals' prices to the Monte Carlo results, with the assumption that these Draftkings lines are true game odds. Obviously the tricky part here is that the games' outcomes aren't independent (winning week 2 is correlated with winning week 1), so as you traverse a season you need to deviate future games' probabilities from the raw lines based on the outcomes of earlier games. I've seen some promising results from this one, but I need more data to refine it. I've started collecting it in real-time myself the last couple years, so will probably revisit it within a few years once I have more of a dataset
2. Pricing various NFL draft lines. Not going into too much detail on this one because I'm actually running it live.

 

[kakimochi]

Saw this pop up on another thread and thought I'd share my background, plan, and experience so far since it's similar to yours in a lot of ways.



Background
Also graduated in 2021, from UC Berkeley majoring in MechEng and minoring in EECS. I also had a weak GPA (2.5) in undergrad; I got heavily into professional esports and regretfully prioritized that over my studies. Post-graduation, I got into tech as a software engineer and as of today have 3 years of experience (2 at a FAANG, 1 elsewhere). I recently switched roles to a larger startup in the AI space. Accordingly, I'm very experienced with programming in general (Python, Java, JS/TS, misc web dev languages), but would still say I'm a novice at C++.



My Journey (so far)
I didn't start this process with the explicit goal of pursuing a career in finance, an MFE, or similar. Rather, as I started my career surrounded by incredibly talented and bright coworkers at my FAANG role, an aching began to grow inside me to learn more; in a sense, to right the wrongs that my past self had committed by spurning the opportunities to grow and learn that were available to me at Berkeley. My first thought was actually to work towards GT's OMSCS to get an MSCS. For people with poor undergrad grades, lack of CS background, or similar, the standard advice was to brush up on basic college math courses + programming courses. So I enrolled in some classes at Foothill College (a two year college in the Bay Area which offers online classes).

While still working obviously - between Winter 2023, Spring 2023, and Summer 2023 I took Calc 1-3 and CS 2A/B. This worked out to 1-2 classes at a time for each of these quarters and was pretty easily manageable. For Fall 2023 I signed up as a a tutor for a program for URM students in math, and enrolled in Discrete Math, CS 2C (the last course in the programming series), and DiffEqs. Unfortunately, I got a terrible case of COVID in October which knocked me out of work and school for two weeks. I ended up medical-dropping this whole semester because it was going to be unrealistic to get caught up on work projects and three courses at the same time. One important detail is that I really put a ton of effort into these classes. I made sure I understand every nook and cranny of the subject material inside and out. In this environment, I really started to feel the hunger to learn.

It was at this point I realized that I had been quite enjoying the math classes I'd been taking (including the start of Discrete + DiffEqs) and had a bit of an itch to do more. This is also where I started to consider an MFE or similar in the future. I found IU (Indiana University) Online's Mathematics BS program and enrolled for Spring 2024. I'm on my fourth semester of classes here, and I've had a great experience so far. I've loved getting to explore the more theoretical, proof-centric side of math that I didn't get much of as a MechEng major.

Spring 2024:
- Linear Algebra. Unfortunately not very theory-heavy or proof centric; this is a common complaint among the cohort of students

Summer 2024:
- Calc 3. I was very proud of my effort here, I took it twice at Berkeley and found it particularly hard
- Bridge to Abstract Math. Basically a standard discrete course
- ODEs

Fall 2024:
- Analysis I
- Mathematics of Finance. Uses McDonald's Derivatives Markets, interesting subject matter and goes into decent depth but course was very disorganized and generally poorly supported.
- Probability Theory

Spring 2025:
- Took this semester off. I started a new job in November and managing the three classes in Fall 2024 was a bit much with that workload, so wanted a few quiet months to get up to speed.

Summer 2025 (current/pending):
- Graph Theory
- Mathematical Statistics
- Possibly working on the QN C++ course once I'm done with Mathematical Statistics and I'm less busy (first 6/12 weeks)

Up to this point, I've gotten As in everything I've taken at Foothill and IU, save for a B in Mathematics of Finance.



Looking Forward
I will likely apply to some MFEs for Fall 2026 admission. I'm looking at a 3.9ish GPA at IU by the time I apply.

Fall 2025:
- Abstract Algebra I
- Numerical Analysis
- A Baruch Pre-MFE seminar

Spring 2026:
- Mathematical Models I
- Senior Seminar/Research Seminar
- Another Baruch Pre-MFE seminar

Besides the above, I will probably lightly study for and take the GRE over the next few months. I know it's not that important, but I'm a very good standardized test taker and expect it will help my application. I would also like to finish both C++ courses on QN before applying. I bought Dan's NLA and Math Primer books and will begin self-studying those at some point.



Other Notes
On a personal note, I've been interested in finance/markets since middle school, when I tore through my dad's stash of trading and market-related books and begged my dad for his Scottrade login so I could try paper trading. I'm obviously not in a situation where I need an MFE to have a good career, so it's really that passion and desire for knowledge that is motivating my plan. Regardless of where I end up, I've been very happy with my decision to take classes at IU. I've absolutely loved getting to learn more about proof-based math, and when all is said and done I will have a BS in Mathematics to my name with only ~13 courses taken. I'd highly recommend it to anyone in a similar situation - the courses are rigorous, reasonably priced, and set up you up with a very nice foundation for self-study. There is also plenty of opportunity to network with professors w.r.t research.

Similar to @grxthy, I've done some projects in the sports data/betting arena over the last few years. Two of my favorites/most promising:
1. Using preseason game lines to price NFL teams' win totals. Draftkings typically posts initial lines for all 252 games in May (next season's are up now). The idea is to use Monte Carlo to simulate full seasons and compare team win totals' prices to the Monte Carlo results, with the assumption that these Draftkings lines are true game odds. Obviously the tricky part here is that the games' outcomes aren't independent (winning week 2 is correlated with winning week 1), so as you traverse a season you need to deviate future games' probabilities from the raw lines based on the outcomes of earlier games. I've seen some promising results from this one, but I need more data to refine it. I've started collecting it in real-time myself the last couple years, so will probably revisit it within a few years once I have more of a dataset
2. Pricing various NFL draft lines. Not going into too much detail on this one because I'm actually running it live.

So cool to see another brother on QuantNET putting work. I respect it!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Likewise. I'm encouraged by the new group of members who are showing that they are genuinely serious about building up a strong foundation for success in this industry. This often takes several years of preparation to take the right math, programming courses, and researching. The sooner you prepare and put in the work, the better.
Nice work @MitchStokes

 

[kakimochi]

Likewise. I'm encouraged by the new group of members who are showing that they are genuinely serious about building up a strong foundation for success in this industry. This often takes several years of preparation to take the right math, programming courses, and researching. The sooner you prepare and put in the work, the better.
Nice work @MitchStokes

Andy while you are at it I want to ask, what would you say is the average age for an MFE program? I’m currently 21 and I think I sometimes get disheartened by the fact that I’d be around 23 or 24 by the time I enroll for an MFE because I need to sacrifice several years to build a strong foundation. It seems like that’s completely normal though, is this true?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Majority got into MFE out of undergrad so around 22-23. Many work for a couple of years (popular route with Indian applicants) or switch from another graduate degree.
In all you are at the lower band of age range. No reason to rush into this and miss out on building up a strong foundation.

 

[Kevin Griffin]

Andy while you are at it I want to ask, what would you say is the average age for an MFE program? I’m currently 21 and I think I sometimes get disheartened by the fact that I’d be around 23 or 24 by the time I enroll for an MFE because I need to sacrifice several years to build a strong foundation. It seems like that’s completely normal though, is this true?

Wouldn't worry too much about it. I attended Baruch MFE as a 29 year old and had an entirely normal experience.

 

[kakimochi]

Hey @grxthy! how is the UND calculus 3 course going? I'm currently testing out of Calculus 1 and 2 classes and looking to take calculus 3, so I'm curious about your thoughts. I hope everything is going well man!

 

[brijesh.hota]

will be enrolling in 2026 pre-MFE courses from Jan-Mar. I also did my ugrad in CS+Stats with 3.4/4.3 cgpa but 4 co-ops. I’m currently working a Data Scientist at an Asset Manager’s Quant team, would sum up an experience up to 3 years by the time I apply to Baruch and CMU.

But thanks @grxthy this post gave me hope again! Started prepping and been interviewing at HFs (like DRW, CCL and SqrePt) but in my country the growth seems very slow and not enough positions as QR/QT. Will be applying to Baruch and CMU in 2027, hope I can come back to this post again!