MFE Profile 2026 Advice/Areas of Improvement

[hrandhawa]

Hi Everyone!

I was wondering if I could get some feedback or an assessment on my background for MFE applications coming next year. Any help would be very much appreciated!

Target Programs (ranked by Preference):
1) Baruch MFE
2) Princeton MFin
3) CMU MS Comp. Finance
4) Imperial College MSc Math and Finance

Employment Background:

Completed internships as an:
- Equity research associate for a boutique remote firm, covering small-cap biotechs (4 mo.)
- Low MM Private Equity analyst for a boutique firm in Toronto (4 mo.)
- Investment Analyst for an institutional investment consulting firm in Toronto (4 mo.)

Full time employment history:
- Rotational Associate in the Market Risk division of a Big 5 Canadian bank. (1 yr.)
- Junior Trader for broker arm of Asset Mgmt. firm - Current

Education Background:

Graduated from a Canadian University in 2022 with an Honors in Financial Modelling, cGPA: ~76%, major GPA ~80%. Lower cGPA due to being enrolled in a Interdisciplinary Sciences program with Biology for my first two years.

Currently enrolled in a Canadian University, completing a BSc in Computer Science with a graduation date of August 2026. Completing courses in the evenings, allowing me to perform at my current role. cGPA 4.03/4.33 (All A's except B+'s in Unix and Data Structures - was feeling ill near the end of the summer)

Points of Weaknesses:
- My grades in Calculus, Probability, and Statistics hover around the mid/low 70s, I had taken a Probability and Stats course through my part time Comp Sci degree and earned an A+
- Withdrew from Real Analysis, due to health issues during COVID, took Discrete Math through my current part time Comp Sci degree and earned an A+

Points of Strength:
- Capital markets experience, in both a quantitative, qualitative/traditional, and execution capacity
- Strong academics across all financial modelling coursework, mid 80s/high 90s
- Personal projects in Python and C++, developing derivatives pricing engines and quantitate analysis libraries

Plan for Profile Improvement:
- Accepted and enrolled the Pre-MFE Stats and Probability seminar (planning to take all seminars if given the opportunity, prior to the application)
- Retake applied math and math courses from my previous Bachelors to show improvement in my quantitative abilities
- Started to volunteer at a scientific organization, will look into ways to further my engagement with org.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

When I see Fall 2026 in 2024, I automatically like it
This shows OP does the research earlier and gives himself enough much time to really strengthen the profile and address any weakness.
Here is another of our members who are planning for the same set of programs.

Baruch MFE Thread 'Feedback on plan for building profile for Baruch MFE Fall 2026?'

9/2/24

Hi everyone,

I posted here around a month ago, and have since put together a plan for the next year in order to bolster my application, as well as fill most of the quantitative holes from my undergrad degree. Any feedback/suggestions would be much appreciated!

A little background:
I graduated in 2021 with a BBA in Economics/Finance from Baruch College. My GPA was not good (~3.00), but I’ve since gained 3.5 years of experience in industry. My career so far has been in data engineering, software project management, and data science. I consider myself very proficient in Python, SQL...

• grxthy
• Replies: 8
• Forum: US Quant Programs

• 

 

[hrandhawa]

Haha thanks @Andy Nguyen , I just want to make sure I cover all my bases and go into the application process with my best food forward, I'm all too familiar with the amount of foresight, careful planning, and work required to achieve one's goals. Just want to make sure I know where best to focus my attention

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Haha thanks @Andy Nguyen , I just want to make sure I cover all my bases and go into the application process with my best food forward, I'm all too familiar with the amount of foresight, careful planning, and work required to achieve one's goals. Just want to make sure I know where best to focus my attention

I like your attitude and approach.
You are benefiting from years of mistakes and hindsights made by thousands of people that came before you. Many of us were in your shoes 5, 10 or more years ago. There is no excuse not to take advantage of these data.
I see you have a good plan to address some of missing courses. The Pre-MFE courses are quite rigorous but extremely helpful. I took them years ago and they only grew harder over years.
Look at the Tracker for inspiration. You will see some members with 9 admits and hundreds of thousands of scholarships.

You are going to take GRE right?