MFE 2026 Applicants — Which schools are you applying to?

[Andy Nguyen]

Hi everyone,
It’s that time of year again — MFE application season!
Whether you’re finalizing essays or just starting to explore programs, this thread is for all 2026 applicants to connect, compare notes, and share your journey.
Please jump in and tell us

• Which programs are you applying to? Are you applying to other non-MFE programs?
• Why did those programs make your list (curriculum, location, career goals, reputation, vibes…)?
• How’s the process going so far — GRE, coding prep, recommendations, SOPs?

And just for fun — we’ve added a poll:
Which program do you think will take the #1 spot in the 2026 QuantNet MFE Rankings?

This is one of the most active thread every application cycle: great place to meet your future classmates, sharing advice and journey.
Drop your list below, have fun. Don't lurk

 

[fabiantum]

Hi guys,
I will apply to Baruch MFE only.
I chose Baruch due to my interest in trading competitions, their curriculum (e.g. market microstructure) and my goal of becoming a quant researcher.
So far, I have my SOP, LORs, and CV ready.
I'm currently preparing for the QBA.
Feel free to join our Discord server for everyone applying to Baruch MFE!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Hi guys,
I will apply to Baruch MFE only.
I chose Baruch due to my interest in trading competitions, their curriculum (e.g. market microstructure) and my goal of becoming a quant researcher.
So far, I have my SOP, LORs, and CV ready.
I'm currently preparing for the QBA.
Feel free to join our Discord server for everyone applying to Baruch MFE!

Bold move, just like @MikeLawrence. Hope to hear the good news.
Good initiative with the Discord server for QBA prep and others applying there as well. Baruch has a pretty comprehensive approach to selecting students, for sure. Anyone with the proper preparation have a good chance and hence should apply. Don't be intimidated by their low acceptance rate.

 

[MikeLawrence]

Hi guys,
I will apply to Baruch MFE only.
I chose Baruch due to my interest in trading competitions, their curriculum (e.g. market microstructure) and my goal of becoming a quant researcher.
So far, I have my SOP, LORs, and CV ready.
I'm currently preparing for the QBA.
Feel free to join our Discord server for everyone applying to Baruch MFE!

Best of luck!

 

[fabiantum]

Best of luck!

Thank you!

 

[BoarQing]

I applied for UChicago's online FinMath Winter 2026. Not sure if they can admit me. I am current in JHU's online Applied and Computational Mathematics but I am disappointed by their course quality.

The reason I applied for UChicago's online program is that it fits my situation. I am a SDE and I don't intend to switch career.
I submitted my application last Thursday.

 

[teraBit]

Hi all,

I’m new to this forum but have benefited so far from the insight. Thanks to all who contribute!

Currently I'm considering the following programs:

1. Baruch, MFE
2. University of Chicago, MSFM
3. MIT, MFin
4. Stanford, ICME

I felt they all fit well with the criteria I established when deciding on where to apply:

1. Breadth of curriculum (i.e. what electives can I take, what are the topics, and are topics aligned with industry trends)
2. Strength of alumni network
3. Personal fit (i.e. does the location, and community fit with my personal goals.)

What's particularly important to me, coming from a non-finance background, is utilizing the breadth of electives and alumni network to further discover sub disciplines in algorithmic-trading, emerging markets, and market micro-structure.

To prepare for associated assessments and interviews, I've enrolled in the Baruch PreMFE Probability course and have planned to take the Baruch PreMFE Advanced Calculus course. Additionally, I will be enrolling in QuantNet's C++ course in late December, I've heard great things and I think it will provide as a good refresher. For context, my undergraduate degree is in Engineering Sciences and I've spent the past few years working on the microarchitecture and implementation (Verilog, C, and an abundance of EDA tools) of datacenter CPUs and GPUs.

I'd appreciate if anyone has suggestions or ideas on how I could enhance my preparation for these programs.

Thanks and good luck to all applicants.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

@teraBit Thanks for joining our community.
Are you domestic or international student?

 

[teraBit]

@teraBit Thanks for joining our community.
Are you domestic or international student?

Hey Andy,

Thanks! I'm an international student from Canada.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Hey Andy,

Thanks! I'm an international student from Canada.

Stanford from your list is an odd one there. They are extremely small program (10 students) and many of them go to PhD and roles outside of finance. It's not your typical quant program.

 

[teraBit]

Stanford from your list is an odd one there. They are extremely small program (10 students) and many of them go to PhD and roles outside of finance. It's not your typical quant program.

Yes, that's a good point and it diverges from my other choices! I remember reading somewhere that they are extremely selective and only admit ~ 10 students a year or less depending on the program's resources. The reason for applying is to keep the PhD door open; I am interested in linear programming methods and sparsity in high dimensional vector spaces but I have yet to find a sub field where I'd want to invest 4 years of my life. My goal with the Stanford MS in ICME would be to explore the possibility of a PhD while taking some cross disciplinary coursework in computational finance.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

If any of you applying to master programs outside of MFE/quant finance space, I would be very curious to learn the type of those programs.
Popular options are Data science, Machine Learning, etc.

 

[indexquanty]

for financial and career related reasons i do not plan to apply to any MFEs. I am primarily looking at stats as my first option. 2nd options would range from applied maths, computational stats & ML, mathematical modelling & scientific computing (HPC focus) depending on the school, requirements, modules and my perception of how successful my application would be based on research and speaking to alumni.

 

[RyGuy]

How likely is it for these top MFE and MFin programs, and specifically Stanford's ICME program, to accept applicants directly out of undergrad?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

How likely is it for these top MFE and MFin programs, and specifically Stanford's ICME program, to accept applicants directly out of undergrad?

Many of them do. If you have a really strong undergrad background that prepares you to be able to interview for job right away, they will accept you.