GRE MATH vs CFA Level 1

[gamarouge]

I am a newbie to the world of finance. I am planning to apply to a Masters program in Finance and in Financial Engineering in the month of December. I assume that it would be ideal to have cleared CFA Level 1 exam and written Math GRE subject test to bolster my application form. I wanted to know if I have to choose only one of them (GRE MATH exam / CFA level 1 exam) which one would be a better option. I highly appreciate any insight in this matter. Thank you for your time.

PS: I have got relatively poor grades in Math. (3.0/4.0)
I have no professional experience in finance.

 

[Schaum]

Tough choice and it depends how much math you have currently. Did you take any other higher level math courses to strengthen your quantitative skills at all? If not, it would probably be wise to strengthen your math and try to get a stellar score on the math subject test since your quantitative abilities is the most important aspect of your application. But if you have already taken some extra math courses that are prerequisites for a MFE program and strengthened your abilities, then you may want to pursue the CFA to display a more diversified skill set and show that you have a genuine interest in Finance. In this case I would say since you're already kind of proving your mathematical competency through the GRE general test and any extra higher level math courses you may have taken, I would go for the CFA.

 

[gamarouge]

Thank you for your input. I have graduate level courses which require strong background in calculus and linear algebra (Finite Element Analysis) I was also TA of this course for 2 quarters. My assumption is this; with GRE MATH I can differentiate my self from others, by getting a good score, since that will help in objective comparison of two applicants (percentile) where as CFA will only be a qualitative rather than quantitative comparison. Can you tell me if my assumptions are true.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Take the GRE Math and do well. 80% percentile or something like that.
CFA Level 1 is arguably easier to pass than getting high GRE Math score. Also, most people stop after Level 1 thinking it's sufficient to show their interest/knowledge in finance. Mention CFA only after you obtain the charter i.e pass all three levels.
The number of people who put "CFA Level 1 candidate, pass out" on their resume is increasing so it's not going to impress people any more.
Instead of studying for CFA, you better spend time studying math, C++, going through Stefanica, Shreve, Wilmott, Hull, etc

 

[amit patel]

>> The number of people who put "CFA Level 1 candidate, pass out" on their resume is increasing so it's not going to impress people any more.


here I'm disagree with this view point. I'm candidate of CFA L1 for this june. Having more than 7 yrs exp. in C++ , have Math back ground and working for IB. With my experience, I would suggest CFA L1 is always enhace the finance domain skill which would be pretty much helpful in Quant where finance skill is requred with Programmming and maths.

 

[cw202]

Do well in both so you can stand out.

 

[Yuriy]

If you have 3.0/4.0 in math, then gettting > 80% on Math GRE might be a problem. But if you are sure you can do it, then do Math GRE. Math GRE > 80% would look very good on your application, much better than CFA Level 1.

 

[gamarouge]

I am interested in Masters in Finance programs. I am assuming that GRE subject test Math will be more valuable than CFA Level 1. Is this true............

Thank you for your input.