"MFE program profile evaluation" master thread

[Sam Harris]

Wow, your story sounds just like mine. Replace "Astrophysics" with "Electrical Engineering" and "Medical Field" with "Military" and you're there.

I am just a student (at Columbia online), so I can't answer your questions based on experience. I just interviewed for a prop quant trading firm last night and they never asked me my GPA (from either of my three degrees). They asked me why I wanted to get into the field, and then they hit me with some tough logic problems and prodded me to solve them faster than I was solving them. It was my first "stress interview" and I didn't do terrible, but I'm not expecting they'll be calling me back.

Bottom line from what I can see is this: Unlike in most industries where recruiters get all giddy about your past accomplishments, they really seem to only care about what you're capable of. They can test that, and they do. It seems like the interview is everything... but again I don't know this for sure (no experience from the other side of the fence).

Good luck!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

What attracts you about prop trading ? what asset class you want to trade ? Are you open to any trading job in general ? Such as trading from a small shop earning commission ?

My advice to you is to be open to all opportunity. It's good to have a specific "dream job" in mind but be ready to jump on a passing train since it's most likely that your first job won't be your dream job. After a few years, your definition of "dream job" will likely change.

As this point of your career, MFE seems like a good choice. It will provide you with more skills that are required for trading. It will equip you with finance knowledge, networking opportunities. After MFE, you definitely will have better chances of landing dream jobs than now.

There are people on Quantnet with many years of experience on Wall Street so you should look for their advice as well. I just pass my finding as one newbie to another.

 

[mattown]

Thanks for your the comments guys.

To answer your question Andy, what I love about trading is the excitement, risk and the rewards, but most importantly, the reward one receives for being original and creative.

I've always considered myself an entrepreneur because.. well.. I am. I've ran a few businesses in the past. I've always been a highly creative person, but I also have a talent for math. Believe it or not but before I did astrophysics I had won a scholarship to study music. With trading, I feel I combine all my talents, if I would have known about it earlier I'd be in it right now.

So at the moment I would say I'm open to any trading position with shop, so long as it's a respected employer. I've decided to take the GRE this Febuary and apply for a MFE if the score is high.

So far I'm not worried about the quant part of the test, I took a practice test and missed one problem due to an careless arithmetic error. Verbal however needs improvement.


In the meantime, I'm going to keep plugging away on the job search. I'm applying to trading shops and to equity research firms as well, as I'm somewhat qualified for the latter due to my work experience.

Any employers you guys would recommend I check out?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

You seem to have a very rosy picture of a trading job. Or watched too much Wall Street movies
In either case, the reality is a bit different. It's a lot of stress. There are lot of due diligence work to be done before a trade is booked. And then, there are the daily tracking of your P&L book. I would say 90% of the time is doing the grunt work and 10% is related to the trading itself. 90% of traders lose money on their trades. Losing a few millions and you are gone. Maybe well before that

There are plenty of online places you can look for jobs. Most gear towards experienced folks. Entry level jobs in this industry are hard to come by. That's why an MFE is really a sought after ticket to Wall Street. And that's why admission to top MFE programs is so competitive.

If you are as smart as you say, you shouldn't have any problem getting 800Q and 600V on the GRE. Those are basic requirements before you apply to a top MFE program.

Best of luck.

 

[mattown]

Heh.

Well I don't have a rosy picture of it per se. I've never seen wall street, but I want to.

Perhaps it came off that way so let me rephrase my main point. Basically I'm actually passionate about this stuff and I want to go into it knowing I might have a chance of being able to start something of my own (i.e. a small business, prop trading, lead traders, etc). I know I have a lot of grueling work ahead of me and I don't expect those traits to land me the job. But I do expect creativity and a leadership mentality will really pay off in the end, but only once I'm experienced, have credibility, and most importantly successful in trading. I'm just going into it with these thoughts in mind.

Thanks for your input though Andy. I'll let you guys know how I'm doing job wise and how the GRE turns out.

My guess is if it is very high then I at least have a shot at one of the top schools despite the lower GPA (I think?).

 

[Andy Nguyen]

In the meantime, I'm going to keep plugging away on the job search. I'm applying to trading shops and to equity research firms as well, as I'm somewhat qualified for the latter due to my work experience.

Any employers you guys would recommend I check out?

I have no affiliation with this shop and don't know if they are good or bad. Just come across from another thread.
Lynx Capital Partners? (http://www.lynxtrading.com)
Someone found the ads on MonsterTrak and posted that it was a 100% commission + contribution was required. Its a prop Trader position. They are asking for $4,000.

 

[nirvana]

evaluate my profile

Can someone please provide some feedback about my chances

Undergrad - univ of mumbai ( electrical engi) GPA 3.1 - 5 match courses including 2 advanced classes
Grad - univ of southern california ( MS in computer networks) - GPA 3.1 - 2 advanced math courses
Work Ex - 1 yr - Research assistant at center of investment studies at USC Business school - Quantitaive
research ( while finishing masters)
- 3 months - Ameriquest mortgage company. worked on loan pricing engine
- 2 yrs - Analyst at a mortgage prepayment and default modelling firm. quantitaitve work in
mortages

GRE - 800 quant / 620 verbal
Schools applying to : CMU / NYU / columbia / cornell / pricenton / chicago

I can get good recos from a renowned prof and ppl at work. but my GPA scares me.

 

[Uncle Max]

Can someone please provide some feedback about my chances

[...]

Schools applying to : CMU / NYU / columbia / cornell / pricenton / chicago

So, you want Baruch students to evaluate your chances of being admitted to these six schools?
OK, approximately your chances are as follows:

CMU - 85%
NYU - 20%
columbia - 95%
cornell - 90%
pricenton - 30%
chicago - 65%

 

[pardasani]

CMU - 85%
NYU - 20%
columbia - 95%
cornell - 90%
pricenton - 30%
chicago - 65%

are these risk neutral distributions implied from the distribution of admissions data

 

[dstefan]

So, you want Baruch students to evaluate your chances of being admitted to these six schools?
OK, approximately your chances are as follows:

CMU - 85%
NYU - 20%
columbia - 95%
cornell - 90%
pricenton - 30%
chicago - 65%

Good question. We have the policy to not evaluate chances for admission, but this only applies to the Baruch MFE

 

[Yuriy]

So, you want Baruch students to evaluate your chances of being admitted to these six schools?
OK, approximately your chances are as follows:

CMU - 85%
NYU - 20%
columbia - 95%
cornell - 90%
pricenton - 30%
chicago - 65%

I wonder how you came up with these numbers especially NYU 20% vs. Columbia 95%

 

[mask]

Pls evaluate my profile for MFE 08

Hello everyone,

Please evaluate my profile for MFE 08.

Credentials:

Degree: Undergraduate

Major: Mathematics (done almost all courses mentioned on this forum and others that are regarded as the necessary pre-reqs for an MFE degree)

Minor: Economics

Stats: CGPA: 2.88/4 Specialization GPA: 3.08 (I know its a bit low but cant do much abt it now!)

Additional Qualifications: CFA Level 3 candidate - June 08

GRE Score: M750 V400 AWA4.5

TOEFL iBT Score: 113/120

Work Experience: 1.5 yrs in the relevant area - Structured Products. My job mainly includes hedgding/trading FXOs and Interest Rate Derivatives (IRSs, Cross Currency Swaps etc)

As for my GRE score, I read somewhere on GD that a good TOEFL score can compensate for a bad verbal score in GRE. How true is that? secondly, how would u guys rate my gre math score??? i know its a bit low but is it hopeless or do i stand a chance ?

I would really appreciate if anyone of u guys can give me any inputs on how to improve my profile. Also pls tell me wat unis I shud be fairly confident abt getting into with this profile. Getting into columbia MFE/MAFN or NYU MF program would be a dream come true !

--
mask

 

[Yuriy]

Well, about Columbia and NYU. Check admission stats from these programs.
2.88/3.08 GPA and 750 on Quant GRE won't help you get there.
Even 800 on Quant GRE won't guarantee admission, but 750 is a way too low.

 

[Uncle Max]

GPA is very low. You will have to spend a lot of time preparing your admission Essay to explain why is it so low. Especially if you don't have good grades for Math courses.

GRE M750 is low too. But you can improve it - retake GRE. Mathematical part of GRE is pretty easy to improve, so you should not have problems with that. Aim for 800. It will be another good point to support your weak GPA.

Good luck!

 

[mask]

Maxrum & Yuriy:
thanks alot for your suggestions guys..you are both definately right abt my GRE math score. actually I gave it right after my CFA L2 exam and was too exhausted to study for GRE. I know I shud have taken it more seriously.

Ill give GRE again pretty soon and aim for 800 and I think i shud get it. plus my verbal is pretty bad too. a better score in it will obviously help ofcourse. can anyone of you guys suggest a good book to study for GRE exam??? that'll be of great help to me.

I do realize I have a low GPA. thats partly because i was into alot of extra curriculars. now i know for fact that this wont do any good to my profile while applying for MFE at top schools ! therefore I decided to take CFA exams and have passed both level 1 and 2.. will be giving Level 3 in June 08...I hope that this counters my low GPA.

anyways, thanks again...pls let me know if you know of any good GRE books...

 

[amsh]

Hi Maxrum,

my gpa is 3.0/4.0....whereas my math cgpa is 3.4/4.0 and GRE quant 800 and GMAT Quant:50(95%)....can i use these to explain my low gpa....i mean even though i have low gpa i have good quant performance....

thanks

 

[Andy Nguyen]

GPA is a good indicator of your study ability since it spreads over a long period of time (4 years or more). On the other hand, GRE is a single test.
Lot of people can get 790-800 GRE but not many can maintain a 3.5-4.0/4.0 GPA for 4 years. And depends on your courses selection, undergrad school, 3.5 GPA here is more difficult to obtain than 3.5 GPA there.
That's why the admission committee has to look at everything and not just use a cut off number to filter them out.
If you believe you have something special to offer or explain, do apply.

 

[Yuriy]

I do realize I have a low GPA. thats partly because i was into alot of extra curriculars. now i know for fact that this wont do any good to my profile while applying for MFE at top schools ! therefore I decided to take CFA exams and have passed both level 1 and 2.. will be giving Level 3 in June 08...I hope that this counters my low GPA.

You might want to stress your CFA exams when you write your essay, make sure to point out your long-lasting interest in finance that has allowed you to pass CFA exams.

Many GRE books are good, just make sure you do a lot of problems in Math and practice the Verbal part as well.

 

[tushar jain]

Pls evaluate my profile

Hi
This is Tushar.It would rely help if u people could evaluate my profile and advice me as to whether it makes sense to apply to Baruch or not
COmputer Engg(University of Mumbai)
GPA:3.63
GRE:1430(630V+800Q)4.5 AW
TOEFL:113
Great math scores in egg
NO WORK EX
Im applying to usc,gtech,stanford,michigan,iit
Any suggestions...What are my chances for BARUCH
Thanks

 

[alain]

if you don't apply, you won't know