My chances?
Hi, I'm new here & I'd like some advice to increase my chances in getting admitted into some of the top MFE/finance programs such as Columbia MSFE or NYU. Below is my profile:
Double Major: Math & Econ; top 25 university (in US, stronger in Math relative to other departments)
GPA: will be ~3.7 by the time of my application (my non-major courses are worse & my freshman year was esp. poor) & I can probably bring it up to 3.8 by graduation (but which is sadly months after the decision period...)
Math courses: for major prep: took all calculus classes, intro linear algebra & diff.eqn. Grades are half A's & half B's (but, like I said, my first & beg. of second year were (very) poor).
for major: probability, linear algebra, stochastic, stats, finance math, analysis. Got A's & A+'s incld. an A+ in an honors class
except a B in honors analysis (I didn't study)
While most grad math programs weighs heavily on analysis, I don't think it matters as much to Finance program. However, I'd like to know to what extent will this affect my chances and how can I make up for it. I have 2 plans in mind:
1. take (& ace) the regular Analysis class that's next in the sequence
2. take (& ace) the honors Analysis class that's next in the sequence. <- plan 2 certainly looks nicer but the problem is that the next honors class won't be offered until by the time of my application, which means I won't get the grade for this class until 2-3 months after my application has been submitted.
Would it be helpful to take a PDE or ODE (or both) class? since I didn't do well in the intro Diff. Eqn. class & I heard that PDE/ODE is important in finance (is this true (or does this only apply to math PhD's who have the ability to solve all the "impossible" equations?) how important?)
Other classes: I think I have a pretty solid prep for finance since I took many Econ classes, some useful stats, & finance-math classes
Programming: I took an intro
C++. I'm wondering if programming skills is an implied prerequisite (since most schools don't list it). If so, should I take more advanced
C++ classes (or trade off some of the most advanced
C++ with intermediate Java) & Numerical Analysis classes?
Others: I have yet to take the GRE or get any rec letters. I'm confident about getting a 800Q (or 790-ish in case I perform badly). For Verbal, is >650 enough or should I devote more time to it & get a better Verbal (since I don't think Verbal is too important for MFE). I can probably get good rec letters but I don't know if I can get the "best" since it's still a bit early. Also, I don't have much internship/work experience.
Alternative: I can also take a MA Econ program
at the expense of substituting all the above-mentioned ODE/PDE,
C++, Analysis, Numerical Analysis for Grad. Econ classes (also math-based) & a MA econ degree. I'm still unsure whether I'll be admitted into this program. However, assuming that I will get admitted, would it be better to take this route or just instead take all the other "more relevant" programming/math courses? I guess this question boils down to: should I move on with Grad Econ (the applied side of math) or should I solidify my math/programming skills as well as proving that I have the ability to do very well in math although I didn't do well in some of my prior math classes.
GRE sub: would it help if I take the Math sub test? I'm sure this would help more if I take the grad Econ alternative. However, if I'm taking all the additional math classes instead, would taking a math sub test be worthwhile?
