How can I get into a good MFE program as a student athlete?

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7/11/24
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I am currently a junior completing a MSE degree at OSU, and I commit 25+ hours per week to my sport. Though it is a pretty good extracurricular, I feel like I am just at a disadvantage because of it. The time constraints make it hard for me to do good in school, and it is hard for me to pursue other extracurriculars such as internships or a double major because I risk spreading myself too thin and performing poorly.

My gpa is a 3.7 and I've taken calc 3 (B+), linear algebra (B+), introduction to mathematical statistics (A-), and a math class for engineers that had a little bit of differential equations in it (A-). I am also doing research right now with computer vision ML models, but it isn't very math heavy. What do you think I should do to have a very strong application? Would I be able to get into a top school even with my poor math grades?

My current plan was to try and pick up a few math courses and get a math minor, if I get A's in some of these classes I may be able to redeem some of my past grades. I was also going to try to switch into a research role in computational material science, where I could use mathematical models to model a materials behavior. I am also considering taking a 5th year or an extra semester to focus on academics without my sport, but this would be expensive. Aside from this, I am not really sure what else to do in order to strengthen my application so that it is very competitive.

Some questions I have are: How important are math and statistics for MFE programs? If I just have the bare minimum would that take me out of the running? Do I need to come from a more prestigious school to have a shot at prestigious masters programs like Princeton's?

Thank you so much!
 
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