Help needed! Law convert

[RQayy]

Hey guys,

I am in dire need of some help. I am a law graduate, educated to a masters level. My LLM was from a top 3 school in the UK and my undergraduate degree was from a top 25 school in the UK. I am British and am seeking a change from Law. I am interested in pursuing a MSF, MSFE or QMSS from an Ivy League School. I had a few questions:

1) What is the likelihood of me being accepted to one of those schools with a solid background in Mathematics?

2) How long does it take to prepare for the GRE?

3) Would law be considered a odd background to come in from? I should mention my GPA was 3.7

4) I want to secure a job as an investment banker/ analyst. If not an Ivy League school, what other programs should I consider?

5) Overall, am I wasting my time considering this with my background?

Thanks a ton

 

[alain]

why do you want to change? Why are you so bent on going to an "Ivy League School"?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

You probably should look into MBA programs, not MFE. Investment banker (associate or analyst level) isn't the typical job profile of MFE graduates.
And you can study in UK, no need to worry about that Ivy stuff.

 

[RQayy]

why do you want to change? Why are you so bent on going to an "Ivy League School"?

I want to change because having worked for 6 months at this law firm, its not for me. A little late to realise this, but the law is not for me.

I'm not bent on going to an Ivy League School. Although, it clearly holds more value with employers, that is why I asked alternative programs I should consider when applying that are not Ivy League Schools.

---------- Post added at 12:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:31 PM ----------

You probably should look into MBA programs, not MFE. Investment banker (associate or analyst level) isn't the typical job profile of MFE graduates.
And you can study in UK, no need to worry about that Ivy stuff.

I've looked at MBA, and the competition is fierce as well as it costs a hell of lot more. That is not even considering that the top schools require work experience of sometimes upto 3 years.

I know I can study in the UK but having done so for 4 years already, the schools in the USA are as good, if not better. But I will be applying to the top programs in the UK as well like LSE, Imperial and Warwick.

Judging from my original post, what would you suggest?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Do you know that competition to top MFE are even fiercer than the top MBA programs, judging from the acceptance rate alone.

Princeton has 5% acceptance rate for its MFin program, compared to 11% at Harvard MBA.

see Collection of Admission Numbers from MFE Programs | Quant Network

I've seen lawyer made the transition but I still believe your effort is misguided. And you still haven't convinced me that you know anything about this line of work yet.

And that's one of the most common reasons people get dinged for top MFE programs

see 15 Reasons Your MFE Application Was Denied | Quant Network

You gotta do more research than that
Quant Network Program Selector | Quant Network
Master reading list for quants, MFE students | Quant Network
2009 QuantNetwork Ranking of Financial Engineering Programs | Quant Network

 

[RQayy]

So, any suggestions as to what I can do to make the jump?

I have studied programs for the past 2 months and am just about to begin studying for the GRE

 

[zen]

I know I can study in the UK but having done so for 4 years already, the schools in the USA are as good, if not better. But I will be applying to the top programs in the UK as well like LSE, Imperial and Warwick.

In your list of the top <st1:country-region w:st="on">UK</st1:country-region> Mathematical Finance programs I don’t see <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oxford</st1:place></st1:city>. My impression is that <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oxford</st1:place></st1:city> has a great Mathematical Finance group. I was wondering if there is a reason you omitted <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oxford</st1:place></st1:city> or you just gave a partial list of the top UK programs in your message.

 

[Connor]

I think with your law background doing an MBA or MFin would be better for you because it would open up finance jobs where you could use your law degree. MFE is mostly math and programming.