"MFE program profile evaluation" master thread

[Pratik]

I'm an MSc Mathematics and Engineering student (graduating soon), with a considerably low GPA (6/10). My math scores are below average, but I'm still passing out with the degree. I am writing the CFA Level 1 exam in December 2011. Will also be writing GRE soon. I am looking actively at applying for an MFE degree in Singapore/Hong Kong (or other countries in the area). I have no work experience, as I haven't graduated yet (will do so next year). My plan is to join an MFE program as soon as I graduate.

What are my prospects of getting an admit from a good college (in terms of employment, reputation and career prospects. Examples: NTU, NUS) in the regions I've mentioned, considering my obvious setback (GPA)? Can I compensate for this with a great GRE score and the CFA level 1 pass?

Thanks

 

[shivam]

sir,
i just gave my gre and i got 1280. quant 750 and verbal 530.
i am in final year of my civil engg undergrad. i have enrolled for CFA level 1 for which exams are on 3-4th december. my udergrad cgpa is 6.5 out of 10. i have cleared 2 exams of NSE. (national stock exchange-india)..basic financial module and security derivatives. i am doing stocks from past 6months on a smaller scale. I might also get a 4weeks internship in finance in this december. Is there any chances to get admission in any of the good colleges like UC Berkeley, UCLA, NYU stern, Baruch, Rutgers, NYU coirrant, Illinois urbana, U michigan, MIT sloan, princeton etc. after succesfully completing CFA level 1. i would like to mention that i will complete my engg in may 2012 and i want persue MFE straight after it so i won't be having any full time work exp, only 2 internships. Or do i need to re-appear for the GRE for good quant scores?

 

[shivam]

please.anybody...help me!!!!

 

[enthusiast]

GRE Quant scores are too low. Other parts of your application need to be exceptional to get in. I recommend re-taking GRE.

 

[euroazn]

Yeah, you need 800 quant.

 

[vuze]

sir,
i just gave my gre and i got 1280. quant 750 and verbal 530.
i am in final year of my civil engg undergrad. i have enrolled for CFA level 1 for which exams are on 3-4th december. my udergrad cgpa is 6.5 out of 10. i have cleared 2 exams of NSE. (national stock exchange-india)..basic financial module and security derivatives. i am doing stocks from past 6months on a smaller scale. I might also get a 4weeks internship in finance in this december. Is there any chances to get admission in any of the good colleges like UC Berkeley, UCLA, NYU stern, Baruch, Rutgers, NYU coirrant, Illinois urbana, U michigan, MIT sloan, princeton etc. after succesfully completing CFA level 1. i would like to mention that i will complete my engg in may 2012 and i want persue MFE straight after it so i won't be having any full time work exp, only 2 internships. Or do i need to re-appear for the GRE for good quant scores?

800 Q. Also think about some studies in probability theory and statistics.

 

[sazzu]

To @anyone who mentioned my name and ask for profile evaluation, I can't and don't have answer/time for each individual person/program.

I can give general suggestions that will be beneficial to any programs that you may apply.

1) GPA: There isn't much to discuss or do about here. There are too many factors involved to generate a single number. Leave it to the admission people to interpret it.
2) GRE: Just get 800Q, don't ask why. Get 500+ verbal and 4.5 AWA to be mildly competitive. The new GRE will have different scale so do a ballpark comparison.
3) Courses: take as much math/CS course as you can while try to put on some introductory finance derivatives courses. If you are not good student or don't enjoy the subject, it will shown in 1)
4) Programming: take at least one or two C++ course in college and do some project that you can demonstrate or talk about. Better if the project is financial related. This can be something you do at internship or your own initiative.
5) Show genuine interest in the field. This is a very crucial to survive in this field, at the very least, this is something MFE admission and employers look for in a candidate. If you heard about MFE only last month and now decide to become a quant, it's a very hard sell. Join a professional, industry association would be a good indication because it costs money to be a member. Joining and asking question on Quantnet is another strong indication because you can't do research on MFE programs without coming across Quantnet during any of your research. Reading trade journals, websites, go to conference, finance workshops are time consuming but these are the things people will ask you.

If you have done none of this, they will just simply pick someone from the pool of 1000+ applicants applying to the same program/job.

Hi all,
I recently gave my GRE
GRE:1320 quant:800 + verbal:520 AWA :awaiting
Undergrad CGPA:80% from National Institute of Technology Rourkela (Regional Engineering College) ranked 13th in India one of the most respected technological university of India .
TOEFL: Yet to give
B.Tech (Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering):80%
I secured top grade around 3.9(97% marks ) in Digital Signal Processing which is similar to financial modelling and got more than 90% marks in C & C++ .
12th:78%
10th:82%
I have taken prerequisite mathematics courses for Financial Engineering program.
Finance Knowledge:
I cleared NCFM (National certification in Financial Market) modules with 85% marks on average .
I have applied for CFA Level I test this December 2011.
Work Experience :
I have been working with ORACLE's Financial Software Services division in Mumbai for last seven months so when i'll enter mfe course 2012 August my total work experience would be 1.5 years .
I have worked on C++,Java Technologies ,Oracle database .
I have certifications on Java technologies and Oracle sql .
I have worked on Flexcube for CITIBank .
Worked on Different softwares for Banks of USA and NAB of Australia .
Computer Language :
Had taken 1semester courses each on C and C++ during my B.Tech .
I were Microsoft Campus Club member during my B.tech career .
I want to know my chances of admit to Baruch .

 

[darth]

Hi all,
I recently gave my GRE
GRE:1320 quant:800 + verbal:520 AWA :awaiting
Undergrad CGPA:80% from National Institute of Technology Rourkela (Regional Engineering College) ranked 13th in India one of the most respected technological university of India .

There are atleast 50 engineering colleges and Universities which are ranked in Top 10 in India. So graduating from a college ranked 13 isn't much of an advantage. GRE quant satisfies the minimum score requirement.

Finance Knowledge:
I cleared NCFM (National certification in Financial Market) modules with 85% marks on average .
I have applied for CFA Level I test this December 2011.

It's a crime( something like day light murder) to get less than 95% on NCFM modules and state them as a part of your financial expertise.And Since when has applying for CFA exam become a part of one's financial knowledge.

I were Microsoft Campus Club member during my B.tech career .
I want to know my chances of admit to Baruch .

I "were" is used in hypothetical instances ( for example: If I were you , I wouldn't post the same message three times on a single page).... Please prepare nicely for TOEFL...... You haven't mentioned a scale on which to rate your chances... I have a software to calculate chances on 1-10 scale... will that work for you..

 

[menovive]

Rourkee is a g8 college and one of the toughest to get in. It is not IIT-6 but I donno on what scale he has ranked it 13 and it is certainly better than "13". I am sure his presentation needs lottsa fine tunings. But what I am worried about is.. As the whole Baruch community is here who already happen(may) to see his profile / what he has posted, will it creates a pre-determined mindset about the guy while evaluating his SOP / Resume and the like.

Like say.. a kid happens to post some blunders - Will it any way affect his profile evaluation while applying to a college ?

Note: I apologize in advance as I don't mean to offend any process but only to shed some light in a different perspective.

 

[darth]

Rourkee is a g8 college and one of the toughest to get in. It is not IIT-6 but I donno on what scale he has ranked it 13 and it is certainly better than "13". I am sure his presentation needs lottsa fine tunings. But what I am worried about is.. As the whole Baruch community is here who already happen(may) to see his profile / what he has posted, will it creates a pre-determined mindset about the guy while evaluating his SOP / Resume and the like.

Like say.. a kid happens to post some blunders - Will it any way affect his profile evaluation while applying to a college ?

Note: I apologize in advance as I don't mean to offend any process but only to shed some light in a different perspective.

You have a valid point to which I don't have answers... but would just like to correct you that its NIT rourkela and not IIT Rourkee...
NIT rourkela is not one of the toughest to get into and I doubt it deserves a 13 ranking.

 

[menovive]

oops my bad..!! I remember it had separate entrance exam(REC??) before it became IIT

 

[Andy Nguyen]

But what I am worried about is.. As the whole Baruch community is here who already happen(may) to see his profile / what he has posted, will it creates a pre-determined mindset about the guy while evaluating his SOP / Resume and the like.

Like say.. a kid happens to post some blunders - Will it any way affect his profile evaluation while applying to a college ?

It's very unlikely that people involved with admission at MFE programs will look at this specific thread. Maybe I'm the only one. This thread is one monster, bottomless of evaluation requests so it's one drop in the ocean.

That said, it's wise to take the time to portray yourself professionally, grammar mistakes and all. First impression is the lasting one.
My post #1090 does give some useful pointers on self-calibration.

 

[darth]

oops my bad..!! I remember it had separate entrance exam(REC??) before it became IIT

Right but that REC was Rourkee Engineering college and these REC's are Regional Engineering colleges... Are you from India? If not, I am really amazed by the amount of information you have on Indian Colleges

 

[menovive]

Right but that REC was Rourkee Engineering college and these REC's are Regional Engineering colleges... Are you from India? If not, I am really amazed by the amount of information you have on Indian Colleges

Ofcourse I am from India.. but in last couple of years lottsa changes has happened.. they convereted many into IITs.. for some they tried... and they grouped all the RECs and formed NITs... they formed new ones...and the like...

 

[Viktri]

Hi Andy
I am seriously interested in applying for MFE,

I am an Electrical Engineer from NIT Kurukshetra (top 20 colleges in India), then I have done my MBA in Finance from SIBM. Pune ( Top 10 B school in India), I am CFA level 2 and will be appearing for CFA level 3 next year, I have a strong acads ( Enginerring 9.5/10, MBA 2.6/4, 10th std & 12th std 86.8%).

I have done lot of financial data modelling in my Bschool.

Currently I am working in deutsche bank for last 2 years in London in credit risk managment.

My biggest strength is that I have a strong finance knowledge and I am very good with maths and statistics. All in all I am in love with numbers

But my biggest weakness is that I never enjoyed programming, so i have a week programming background, although i have a basic knowledge of C and C++.

Do you think my profile is suitable for admission in top colleges offering MFE course?

Thanks a lot

 

[efarng]

I have a slightly unusual application. How does it look? Will my current 4.0 GPA overshadow my low undergrad GPA?

Undergrad 3.11 GPA (computer science at CMU many moons ago)
Master 3.75 GPA (computer science at Cornell some moons ago)
GRE: 780, 620, 3.5

currently taking all math courses at Columbia: 4.0 GPA
calc sequence
linear algebra
ODE, PDE
probability, statistics both with calc
analysis and optimization (lagrange multipliers, calc of variations, control theory)
will take intro to math finance, analysis 1 & 2, stochastic calc, maybe linear regression during next school year. anything else?

i have been working as an Java IT professional. I have lots of experience with algorithmic bidding for internet advertising. Worked at one finance related IT company.

I'm not sure how to best improve it from here. I'll be taking some finance courses this next school year. Should I retake the GRE with less-than-800 math and not-so-good 3.5 AWA? Should I take different courses next school year?

Also, recruiters have already been calling me for quant positions given my masters in AI/machine learning at Cornell and work experience with algorithmic bidding. I was wondering if I took few finance classes/stochastic calc and was somehow able to get a job in the field, is a master's degree still worth the time?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Why not explore the leads that those recruiters tell you? You may be able to bypass the whole MFE ordeal.

 

[efarng]

well, I don't feel qualified for a quant position until I've taken at least those few finance classes next school year. So I plan on trying out those leads, but starting next summer. In the mean time, I thought I'd also apply to some programs in case those leads don't pan out.

So are you saying that the MFE is just a means to an end? The degree is not necessary for the work?

Or are you saying that my application wouldn't be very strong and not worth the time to apply?

 

[iniesta]

I have a slightly unusual application. How does it look? Will my current 4.0 GPA overshadow my low undergrad GPA?

Undergrad 3.11 GPA (computer science at CMU many moons ago)
Master 3.75 GPA (computer science at Cornell some moons ago)
GRE: 780, 620, 3.5

currently taking all math courses at Columbia: 4.0 GPA
calc sequence
linear algebra
ODE, PDE
probability, statistics both with calc
analysis and optimization (lagrange multipliers, calc of variations, control theory)
will take intro to math finance, analysis 1 & 2, stochastic calc, maybe linear regression during next school year. anything else?

i have been working as an Java IT professional. I have lots of experience with algorithmic bidding for internet advertising. Worked at one finance related IT company.

I'm not sure how to best improve it from here. I'll be taking some finance courses this next school year. Should I retake the GRE with less-than-800 math and not-so-good 3.5 AWA? Should I take different courses next school year?

Also, recruiters have already been calling me for quant positions given my masters in AI/machine learning at Cornell and work experience with algorithmic bidding. I was wondering if I took few finance classes/stochastic calc and was somehow able to get a job in the field, is a master's degree still worth the time?

IMO, MFE would be overkill

 

[qweretyq]

Hi,

I just graduated undergrad and will be working in trading next year. Long term, I am considering an MFE to improve my programming skills and perhaps move to a quant role. I just wanted to know my chances given my profile:

-B.S. in Engineering
-Semi Target (top 25 university)
-Low GPA (3.48/4)
-GMAT (710 - 50Q)
Math background is limited as I had taken multivariable calc and lin algebra in HS, so took dif eq in college (and only got B)
I am thinking of doing the UCB or UChicago prep course to improve that part of my app

Given the low GPA and bad math grade, are my chances at NYU/Columbia/CMU really bad?