Getting into a Top Tier MFE program

[JohnAA]

Could someone give me some perspective on how competitive/difficult it would be to get into one of programs (Columbia, NYU, Chicago, CMU, Princeton) for my unique case, and also some advice on getting into this career path in general?

I've recently decided to take a one year break from medical school to explore other career paths, and this is the one I'm most interested in.

I'm pretty intelligent and pretty quantatively oriented (I'd probably score 800 or close to it on the quant section of GRE if and when i take it), but will need to take some more classes to become eligible as I've only taken one year of calculus. I'll need to learn C++, Diff EQ, Linear Algebra, etc.

Do these schools tend to take people who have worked for awhile, have done big projects, etc.? Is it unreasoanble to have any expectations of admission if I have a very good GPA, smoke the GRE, take the requisite coursework, but am light on "FE" experience as I had been, until now, gearing toward a career in medicine?

Any other general advice with respect to switching careers at this point or thoughts on going into FE instead of medicine or vice versa are also appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Lin]

man!!..everyone wants to be a quant!!

 

[Cjs]

funny how things turn out. i recently came to the realization that i hated all this stuff and that i was doing it just because my parents wanted me to do it. i have over the past 2 weeks quit the math phd program i was in, quit the teaching jobs from the summer onwards and have applied for admission to a few undergrad programs and plan on taking all the pre reqs for the mcat again. i went to med school for a few days and quit for the dumbest reason ever.

the only advice i can give you is, dont do something because it looks/seems lucrative or because someone else thinks its a good idea. i have never had any interest in finance and while i did well in the classes i took, i still couldnt get myself to like it. i see a lot of people on here posting for the first time more interested in how much positions pay and whether they should pick medicine or finance based on how much money you make etc etc. money of course is a powerful motivator but when you are 35 and hate yourself every morning for doing something you dont want to do, all the money in the world isnt going to help. of course the majority of the people here love the discipline which is why they are good at it and continue doing it. a quants life isnt an easy one. just make sure you arent seeing the dollar signs and making the decision based off of that.

other than that, good luck sir.

 

[Tom Maloney]

funny how things turn out. i recently came to the realization that i hated all this stuff and that i was doing it just because my parents wanted me to do it. i have over the past 2 weeks quit the math phd program i was in, quit the teaching jobs from the summer onwards and have applied for admission to a few undergrad programs and plan on taking all the pre reqs for the mcat again. i went to med school for a few days and quit for the dumbest reason ever.

 

[roni]

People from different backgrounds get into top MFE programs. Most of them are from technical backgrounds, though.
Get the prerequisites, get all As, get a good GRE score, work very hard on your statement of purpose (a very important part of the application, IMO). Make sure you know what financial engineering is and which careers it can lead to.

Some schools want to see financial experience (e.g. UCB), others don't really (e.g. Cornell)...
If you have work experience in finance, it will be easier for you to land a job...

Ask yourself, "why do I want to get an MFE?"...

btw, the majority of MFE grads don't get a "real" quant job...

 

[JDawg]

3 of the schools you mentioned (NYU, CMU, Princeton) have student profiles on their websites.

 

[Cjs]

what are you confused about tmaloney?

 

[Tom Maloney]

what are you confused about tmaloney?

It's just such a 180. Going the doctor route is a long road compared with MFE. Do you want to become a doctor, or do clinical research, or... ?

 

[JohnAA]

It's just such a 180. Going the doctor route is a long road compared with MFE. Do you want to become a doctor, or do clinical research, or... ?

Well, I had wanted to either become a clinician or go into public health. Medicine always seemed to be a secondary interest for me, though. Something which sprouted up in college. Before then I always had an extremely high quantative aptitude and had some of the feeling that I was smashing a square peg into a circle hole when starting medical school.

The reason why I never considered FE before is that it was never suggested to me, nor did it ever cross my mind... I had a family member suggest it to me the other day. Before the family member suggested that I look into it I didnt know what a financial engineer was, yet since then I've spent a large amount of time pouring over websites, watching the movies and programs suggested on this website, reading material, reading Hull, checking out program websites, and putting a heck of alot of thought into this.

 

[Cjs]

i feel the same exact way about financial engineering johnaa - hammering a square peg into a circle hole. i could do it. i think. i have a good work ethic and passed my qualifying exams and one prelim so can do the math. i am decent at programming so i could someone drag through the program but i dont know if i want to do it for the rest of my life.

tmaloney, if you noticed, i wrote that i actually attended med school for a few days and then left. med school was the first priority from the very beginning. math just happened to be my only option when i left med school so i stuck with it.

john, i say again - dont do anything because a family member tells you to do it or because you think you are going to be a billionaire. read around the website. you will get a feeling for what a mfe graduate actually does. i came in thinking something and turned out that i was wrong the entire time actually. i wanted to do something that i needed a phd in math/physics or something similar for. know what you are getting into and research it before you start spending $700 dollars in application fees and $800 for a seat at a university you do not plan on attending. the money i can stomach, it is the time that i spent in filling out the applications and writing my personal statement that i cant get back and miss dearly at this stage. read read read before you make a decision. i have been around for a few months now but have barely scratched the surface. trust opinions and posts made by senior members as they have been around for a long time and wont mislead you. inexperienced members however might give you an incomplete picture of what to expect.

 

[mfegrad]

the one thing you'll need most of all is a good story: why the career switch? otherwise, should you do the prereqs and do well on your gres, you should be fine.

 

[bigbadwolf]

I've recently decided to take a one year break from medical school to explore other career paths, and this is the one I'm most interested in.

I'm pretty intelligent and pretty quantatively oriented (I'd probably score 800 or close to it on the quant section of GRE if and when i take it), but will need to take some more classes to become eligible as I've only taken one year of calculus. I'll need to learn C++, Diff EQ, Linear Algebra, etc.

How do you know (that you are pretty intelligent)?

On general grounds you would be advised not to make the switch. There's more involved than just taking a few courses. You will be competing with people who have lived and breathed math and programming for years, maybe since they were children. At least Cjs knows what he's getting himself in for.

 

[JohnAA]

How do you know (that you are pretty intelligent)?

Well, if the fact that I managed to get into medical school (which I've read people on here say is more difficult to get into than FE programs) dosen't convince you, then I don't think anything else will.

And, of course, you wouldn't advise most people in medicine to make this sort of career switch, however I'm not most people. Everything that you wrote isn't useful for me at all, besides the fact that I'll be competing with people who have breathed math and programming for years (which I already knew).

 

[JieFu]

I'm about to switch from a bio-med field to MFE. I managed to get into a pretty good program; not one of those schools you mentioned but probably better than the U-Chicago MSFM... I think you need to show them that you are serious about finance. So besides taking courses on math/computer science, do some internships, take the CFA-1, and come up with a concrete, convincing career plan.

 

[bigbadwolf]

Well, if the fact that I managed to get into medical school (which I've read people on here say is more difficult to get into than FE programs) dosen't convince you, then I don't think anything else will.

Hmmm, that could be discussed. I don't know comparatively how difficult it is to get into medical school (vis-a-vis ranking FE programs) yet it seems to me that the programs don't test for high intelligence (because it's probably not needed). Or at least, they don't need the kind of intelligence that the FE programs need.

Just about all the serious posters here belong in the top one or two percentiles of intelligence. They would all easily qualify for, say, Mensa membership. In that sense everyone is "pretty intelligent" here. Among this gifted population I certainly don't feel "pretty intelligent." I suppose it all depends on which population you're using to make an individual assessment.

And, of course, you wouldn't advise most people in medicine to make this sort of career switch, however I'm not most people. Everything that you wrote isn't useful for me at all, besides the fact that I'll be competing with people who have breathed math and programming for years (which I already knew.

But how do you know? Just a self-assessment? Have you been measured against the best and brightest? I have -- and it's been a humbling experience.

 

[Cjs]

im not a smart guy but i work harder than anyone else i know in my dept and i am where i am because of it. i think i could probably get through the mfe program without much sleep and probably be able to fake enough interest in it to be able to maybe get an ok job as well but at my age i am starting to realize that there is more to life than just school and getting a job. dont get me wrong - if you dont have a job the probability of having a satisfying personal life goes down as well. not too many girls i would like to go out with would want to go out with a homeless guy who is just chasing his dream. pragmatism, i think, is not nearly as thought about anymore these days when it really ought to be. sure people live perfectly good lives flipping burgers but probably because they are satisfied with that. my grandfather was a farmer in india and he instilled in my dad the importance of education. 2 phd's (by 27 years of age) and 30 years of experience later he is now one of the most respected engineers in the oil shipping industry. he wanted a better life than that of a farmer for himself and his family. while i know my own limitations and i know i will probably not have 2 phds by the time im 27 (im 24 already and just quit the phd program), i realize that i dont have his unrelenting work ethic which allows him to excel at whatever he does, be it engineering or finance (he is now in charge of managing an ownership company of oil tankers in nyc which is the highest you can go without actually owning the oil tanker).

given all this, im not my dad. i dont want to do something i dont like even if the financial remuneration is exceptional. i liked medicine. i still like it. i am not doing it for the money. even if i make 100k, i think i could live comfortably but i say all this with the fact that i am single and dont have a family to look after. once dependents come into the picture, a lot of times you get forced into doing things you dont want but thats a matter for another day further down the road.

 

[mcgruber]

@JohnAA, as Pres Obama's recently mentioned (irrespective of your political leaning), don't worry about what some "sideshows and carnival barkers" say here.

You are a mature and adult person and you know what you are capable of. I agree Medical School is very tough to get in (especially good ones). But as you are aware, MFE requires different set of skills.

If you attended some classes at Med School, you will be required to submit transcripts with your MFE application. So you should have a very good reason in your admission essay why you switched. To have no room for doubt from MFE admissions point of view, it would be good if you can spend a year (and $$) taking advance undergraduate Math classes (hopefully from a well-known Univ/College) to show your current Mathematics knowledge and interest.

Good luck !!