Is my background sufficient to get into an MFE program?

[lrhellman]

Hello,
I am interested in applying to MFE programs for the fall of 2012; however, I am not sure if my background is sufficient to get into an MFE program. Can someone critique my background and suggest areas of improvement?
Bachelor’s in Mathematics from a top 15 U.S. university
3.62/4.00 Overall GPA
3.68/4.00 Math GPA
Courses taken: 3 courses on calculus including multivariate calculus, differential equations, matrix algebra, probability, 3 courses on statistics including mathematical statistics, biostatistics (used R) and statistical computation (used SAS)
Programming skills: taken courses in MATLAB, SAS, R, however my knowledge of these programs is weak since I only took one class in each and have not used these programs since I graduated 2 years ago. Since I started working, I have taught myself VBA and have become proficient. I have no experience with C++.
Currently, I am working at a fixed income asset management firm as a consultant. Some analytical work is involved but I do not use heavy technical skills characteristic of a quant every day. I try to find projects that I can write code for to streamline reports (and I have). Despite the lack of quant skills in my job, I am building my knowledge of the fixed income markets.
I have not taken the GRE yet, but plan on doing so in the next couple of weeks.
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Tsotne]

I am interested in applying to MFE programs for the fall of 2012

Take certifying course of C++ before it and try to get high score in GRE, that should be enough given the rest of your background.

 

[lrhellman]

Thanks, Tsotne! Since I am working I would prefer to take an online C++ certifying course. I heard Berkeley offers one. Do you have any recommendations?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

UCB MFE program offers online C++ course that runs from Jan-March and costs $1,395.

We are offering one as well in partnership with the Baruch MFE program. You can find more about it here
http://www.quantnet.com/forum/threads/c-online-certificate-for-mfe-applicants.6297/

 

[lrhellman]

Thanks Andy!

One concern I have with my resume is a withdraw from a course called "Options Pricing" in my university's math department. I had to withdraw from the class because I was overloaded with work and I was trying to find a job (during the fall of '08). Will the withdraw be a serious problem on my application? Should I take a similar course to override the withdraw?

 

[Carlo]

I don't know if you should take that same course (sounds like a good course to take for an MFE program) but I'd definitely recommend taking 1 or 2 finance courses, since your background is mostly math. Just take a C++ course as already mentioned, find a couple of strong recommendations, and show that you have some formal knowledge of finance.

 

[lrhellman]

Thanks for the recommendation, Carlo. I took a few business courses in undergrad, including Intro to Finance, and did very well (A). I currently work at a fixed income asset management firm, so my knowledge of fixed income finance is pretty strong. Would you have any further recommendations?