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How can I get Started?

PowerHouse

Joined
2/26/12
Messages
4
Points
11
Hi guys,

I am currently an undergraduate majored in Finance and Accounting from an okayyyy college (top 100 National Ranking). I've had two internships, one as an financial audit intern the other one as a client service intern at BlackRock. I can easily to be on top of my class with just a little effort (GPA 3.9+). I do understand the that having good grades from a 3rd tier school is not as competitive as having okay grades (3.3 ish) from a top school and my qualification is still too weak to apply for a top MFE program (I am thinking Baruch and UCB). I have no programing and hardcore science background, but I am very interested in those areas. I am going to do the online C++ course by Baruch to get started with programing. What else can I do to get prepared for applying MFE? Is there any online courses or even night classes available for Math? I will be working full-time for about two to three years before MFE. I still have a little bit of time, however nothing is too early to get started with. I just want some suggestions from you guys.
 
Most finance and accounting majors don't have the mathematics background. You could try to get as many mathematics courses in while you are still in school as you can.
 
Aaron Wong said:
Most finance and accounting majors don't have the mathematics background. You could try to get as many mathematics courses in while you are still in school as you can.
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I am gonna be graduating soon, so I have to do pretty much everything while working full time. I will be studying math on my own, but I doubt if anyone would recognize that as Math background. I want something that is recognizable by MFE Administrations.
 
It will not be cheap, but you can google for the following:

- Netmath
- Stanford SCPD
- Columbia CVN
- Berkeley MFE pre-program

You can do some research on the sequence of courses you require, and tailor make your own curriculum. Since UCB is your target school, you should look at their pre-requisites course list (which is very specific) and work your way down the list.
 
Have you got any job offers yet or you are still looking for one? If you dont have one now, you should think about spending some more time in school to pick up math and programming or get a second degree in math/cs? You can take some online courses too but in my opinion, it is gonna be hard if you have a full time job, taking online classes and you may have to take exams for CFA or CPA/CMA if you work in finance/accounting industry.
 
Taking the Baruch online C++ course while working full-time and manage to complete it in 16 weeks is no easy task, let me warn you first. You can find easier C++ course elsewhere but if Baruch is your target program, doing well (getting a distinction, for example) would go a long way in improving your profile.
This is speaking from first hand experience.
 
Is the following research topic relevant for MS Mathematical Finance admission ? will it help in building ones profile? I have an option of choosing some other topic as well. Please suggest a topic/ area of research in case if the below one is not a relevant one.

1) Examining the influence of European Union on the dynamic process of stock market integration.
 
Andy Nguyen said:
Taking the Baruch online C++ course while working full-time and manage to complete it in 16 weeks is no easy task, let me warn you first. You can find easier C++ course elsewhere but if Baruch is your target program, doing well (getting a distinction, for example) would go a long way in improving your profile.
This is speaking from first hand experience.
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Thank you for sharing your experience Andy. How about the Pre-MFE program at Baruch? Is that something for people who have solid academic background and are interested in the MFE program but lack of math and programing skills? What is the requirement for enrolling in the Pre-MFE program? I was looking for more info about it online but it seems like they don't really have a list of qualifications like they do the MFE program.
 
Indeed, we select the people who would most benefit from taking the seminars, and have the background to be successful in the seminars.
 
dstefan said:
Indeed, we select the people who would most benefit from taking the seminars, and have the background to be successful in the seminars.
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Hi Dan,

I am very very interested in the MFE program. Would that be possible for me to set up a quick call with you to gain a bit more insight about the program? If that's not feasible, can I please send you my basic information and resume for an evaluation?
 
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