Help in shortlisting MFE programs

[arohan]

Hi! I had posted here earlier to get pointers on my profile in order to improve my chances for an admit. I’ve pretty much done most of what I could and would like to seek help for shortlisting out schools where I’d have a competitive chance. Here’s my profile:

Nationality: Indian

Work ex: 2 years (will have 4 by the time I plan on joining MFE). 1 year in a data engineering role, 0.5 years in a quant modelling role (risk management) at a fintech start-up, and currently working with an asset manager ($800 billion+ AUM) as a quantitative portfolio analyst reporting directly to PMs managing portfolios of over $8 billion AUM. In my current role I work on analysing alpha generation signals (and some ESG ones), formulating and executing back-tests, rebalancing portfolios and sending out trades, long term projects on automation of processes (collaborating with devs), and some day to day adhoc stuff.

GRE: 331 (168Q 163V) Is it worth giving again to improve the quant score?

Education: Undergrad in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics with a GPA of 8/10 (around 3.5 I believe) from a tier-1 institute (non-IIT). But I have very high grades in relevant coursework (9+ in statistics, stochastic processes, financial mathematics, LinAlg, and Operations Research)

Certifications: Cleared CFA L2, should clear L3 by the time I apply and have the CFA ESG Certificate as well (my company’s making me take it).

Other Info: I also happen to be first author for a conference paper on financial mathematics published in conference proceeds indexed by scopus. I also happen to have a few PORs from my college time including student representative for my academic department as well as the convenor of the college’s cultural fest, if these things count.

Based on this which schools I should apply to? Here’s my preference list:

Dream: Princeton, Stanford, CMU, Baruch

1st Pref: MIT, UCB, Columbia, NYU

2nd Pref: UChicago, Cornell, UCLA

3rd Pref: GeorgiaTech, BU

Anything till 1st pref is amazing and 2nd pref is great. I really wouldn’t want to apply for GaTech and BU though. Can someone help evaluating my chances at these unis? And maybe help filter a few out (places I do not have any chance at or unis where I’d have a pretty strong chance of getting into a better uni). Thanks!

 

[SD_]

You don't need MIT in the list. Having already cleared CFA L2, you must have a decent understanding of Corporate Finance and Accounting. So you don't need these subjects in your core curriculum.

Haven't heard of any MFE program offered by Stanford. Check the rankings and then apply.

You have a good GRE score, no need to re-take.

You have a very good profile, with strong essays and good LORs, you won't even need to apply to the schools listed in 2nd Pref.

 

[arohan]

You don't need MIT in the list. Having already cleared CFA L2, you must have a decent understanding of Corporate Finance and Accounting. So you don't need these subjects in your core curriculum.

Haven't heard of any MFE program offered by Stanford. Check the rankings and then apply.

You have a good GRE score, no need to re-take.

You have a very good profile, with strong essays and good LORs, you won't even need to apply to the schools listed in 2nd Pref.

Thanks for the response. Stanford doesn’t have an ‘MFE’ program but they have Mathematical and Computational Finance program under the ICME (Institute for Computational & Mathematical Engineering). It’s not ranked by quantnet but it’s still a pretty solid program with a long history and a great curriculum. And yeah I’d prefer all the other institutes listed within my 1st pref list over MIT. The curriculum does seem a bit odd for a quant program but it’s still very highly rated everywhere.