"MFE program profile evaluation" master thread

[Sanket Patel]

SOS!! Want to know my chances in top-league MFE

I'd say about 42%.

 

[financeguy]

You know, there's no way for them to know you don't have a programming background unless you tell them. For all they know, you coded up tons of stuff in econometrics courses. If you're willing to work extra hard and learn how to code as you go, you could just fake it on your apps. Of course I would recommend trying to learn how to program now in the meantime up until classes start in the fall.

 

[Roger Trimble]

I'd say about 42%.

Is that via Monte Carlo?

 

[dstefan]

Words of caution: it is hard to fake programming knowledge in a one on one interview.

 

[Roger Trimble]

Words of caution: it is hard to fake programming knowledge in a one on one interview.

I can vouch for that. Simple case:

Interviewer: You know object oriented programming?
Interviewee: Yes, I program in C++, Java, ....
Interviewer: What is the difference between an object and a class?
Interviewer: How would you use dynamic memory allocation?
....

You can't bs questions like that. You either know it or you don't. But if you don't, then you're obviously faking it.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

A programming background can be easily detected even without an one-on-one interview. Things that admission committee looks at
1) College transcript: where/when you took the programming courses, how you did, what book the course use
2) Resume: does it include any work experience that shows you use the language extensively
3) Personal statement: how do you address your programming ability or lack of. If you have none or try to fake it, it will be easy to detect by the application readers who know the language.
4) Letter of recommendation: from coworkers, managers who can tell about your technical skills

That said, some have tried to qualify their programming skill by having one single line in their resume that goes like this "Familiarity with Excel, VBA, Matlab, C, whatever". This is a serious business so it definitely won't fly.

 

[financeguy]

Guys, come on. Most schools don't interview for admissions. If they do, obviously you're screwed if you're faking it. Otherwise, even if there's ways for them to assume you don't have a programming background, let's not pretend people can't extremely easily slip through without knowing how to code. Obviously it is way, way better to just know how to program already, but if you don't and you really want an MFE now, you can fake it and learn as you go as long as you work hard in the program.

 

[Joe Yu]

Thanks a lot for all your inputs! So which schools interview applicants for MSFE programs? I really wanna go to school in NYC (Columbia, NYU, Baruch). Do they interview applicants? I don't mind learning more about programming (whether on my own or taking a class) but I rather do that once I find out I will be attending an MSFE program. Is it really THAT detrimental to my application if I have no prior programming experience? Will my lack of programming experience prevent me from getting to these MSFE programs? Thanks!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Baruch: in person interview if in NYC area, phone otherwise
CMU: phone interview
NYU, Columbia: No interview

Learn programming NOW. You will be competing against people who do. Or apply to programs that do not emphasize much on your programming skills.
You don't want to learn basic programming in your first semester when you have pricing code, weekly HWs and other things to be concerned of.

 

[sak]

I don't think faking anything is a good thing and it should not be encouraged at all. Just because no one is watching everything that we put on the resume/SOPs/essays, etc., doesn't mean we have the license to lie and fake. Where is the honor?

 

[gyaneshwar]

can somebody throw some light

How about Markov Chain Monte Carlo

Guys,
Can somebody please suggest some colleges. At least tell me where not to apply. There are simply too many of them and my score is not too great. I am thoroughly confused.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Sounds like a program picker that use some criteria (location, tuition, length, etc) to narrow down to a few programs is what you're looking for.
It's coming soon.

 

[GoIllini]

Profile Evaluation- Princeton, CMU, Chicago

Can you please evaluate my profile for admission at a top-five financial engineering/mathematics program? Thanks!

Academic Background:

UIUC- BS, Comp. Sci, '07
College of Engineering - 5th ranked CS program in the country according to US News
GPA: 3.52 (Program curves to about a B- ; maybe C+ average- not sure if schools are aware of this)
Three courses short of a double-major in finance.

Coursework:
Math: Multivariable Calc: A+, 400-level calculus-based Probability: A-, Hypergraphics: A-, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations: B, B- (Both were 2nd semester Freshman year; taking 19 credit hours of classes.)
Related CS Courses: Discrete Math/Propositional Logic (Comp Sci): B+, Algorithms & Theory (CS, considered one of the hardest courses of its kind in the country): A-, Numerical Methods: B+
Finance Courses: Intro to Finance: A, Intermediate Finance (weed-out course for finance majors): A-, Financial Derivatives, A+. Numerous accounting courses.

Research/Academic Work:
-CS 473 (Algorithms and Theory) course staff for three semesters.
-Developed a unique algorithm for solving Subset-Sum (an NP-Complete problem) that runs in avg. case O(2^.5n) time. Second of its kind (first one developed 25 years ago. ) Unpublished.

Other Pre-professional Info/Honors:
-Student minister at campus church; organized campaign that helped reverse a 30 year trend and doubled membership in three years; church set state-wide denominational record for evangelism that year.
-Eagle Scout
-Part of a selective campus-wide honors program with 125 students per year out of classes of ~8000.
-Former lifeguard and swimming instructor, WSI certified.
-Perfect score on SATs

Professional Background:

Developer/Analyst, Fixed Income Analytics at a Bulge-Bracket Investment Bank (Two years so far)
-Responsible for product-specific pricing of certain fixed income instruments. I do a little work with the pricing engines/models in C++, but mostly work with the pricing assumptions and inputs in Java systems that feed them into the pricing engines. My work requires me to explain the outputs of the pricing and analytics engines and occasionally make minor tweaks to them, but not actually develop pricing models.
- Currently an application owner for a 24/5 product-specific real-time risk and analytics delivery system that serves several dozen traders. Instruct and train a global support team. Youngest application owner in any fixed income analytics group at the entire bank by about two or three years. Previous holder of this position was a VP.
-Coworkers include financial engineering MS graduates from NYU and Cornell. We're not quite a front-office group- technically we're now in IT- but you can't run our systems unless you have a strong background in math and finance.
-Firm consistently ranked as having the best Fixed Income Research/Analytics on the street, according to Institutional Investor. Much of my work for the first year-and-a-half involved working on projects requested by our institutional analytics delivery group.

Professional Certifications:
Series 7, 63
Passed Level I CFA Exam, two years of qualifying experience.

Test scores:
GRE: 800 (Q)/ 730 (V) / 4.5 (AWA)
GRE II Math Subject Test: Probably 650-700. Technically not required for any of the programs I'm applying to, but generally accepted.

---------- Post added at 11:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:13 PM ----------

One of the things that I'm nervous about is that I see a lot of 3.8 and 3.9 GPAs in the Princeton resumes, a program I've been encouraged to apply to by a number of friends. Can anyone give me any sort of color on what these GPAs mean? Are they coming from programs with a lot of grade inflation? My GPA is a little over one standard deviation above average at a top-five engineering program, and I am just wondering how I would compare against Princeton's most qualified applicants.

Also, do leadership experience and communication skills matter at all to these schools? Or is it more like an Econ/Math PhD program where it's solely test scores, academic background, academic references, and research?

 

[Roger Trimble]

How about Markov Chain Monte Carlo

Guys,
Can somebody please suggest some colleges. At least tell me where not to apply. There are simply too many of them and my score is not too great. I am thoroughly confused.

My advice to you would be to reach out to several programs and try to contact students and faculty. Easier said than done for many programs, but that will be your best shot at getting your answer.

 

[WilliamY]

It looks fine. It's an above average application; maybe one real analysis and stochastic course will complement your "profile".

You can't do nothing about the past and you can't be concerned with someone's background. The Admissions Committees are essentially "Board of Managers". If you are presented with two candidates/applicants, I'm sure you will also make responsible and sound judgement based on the available information before you to optimize the goals and interest of your stakeholders.

Notwithstanding the lack of transparency, I believe LUCK is a non-negligible component in any admissions process (unless you stand on the extremes of the "profile" spectrum, e.g. Ph.D., Directors, VPs). You, however, can control how much benefit you want to derive from one of these programs by being as prepared as you can mathematically and reading tons of relevant articles and literatures.

(Off-Topic. A quick glance at your grades draws a tangential question. Why is the CS/MATH courses average sub-3.52?)

 

[GoIllini]

It looks fine. It's an above average application; maybe one real analysis and stochastic course will complement your "profile".

You can't do nothing about the past and you can't be concerned with someone's background. The Admissions Committees are essentially "Board of Managers". If you are presented with two candidates/applicants, I'm sure you will also make responsible and sound judgement based on the available information before you to optimize the goals and interest of your stakeholders.

Thanks for your help/advice!

(Off-Topic. A quick glance at your grades draws a tangential question. Why is the CS/MATH courses average sub-3.52?)

I got some help from the finance, accy, and physics courses, which were curved to Bs/B+s. My major GPA works out to about a 3.35, which is still above-average.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Do you plan to study FT or PT while holding a job? Princeton is FT only.

 

[GoIllini]

Do you plan to study FT or PT while holding a job? Princeton is FT only.

It will probably be full-time if I go to Princeton or Chicago. I love the people I work with, but my job is 3/4 programmer/bug-fixer, 1/4 fixed-income products analyst. Most of my development time is spent in Java with occasional minor bug fixes on some of the less complicated pricing models written in C++, and the rest of the time is spent explaining to our users why the numbers that come out of the system make sense. I don't think I have enough economic/financial modeling under my belt to run a serious algorithmic fixed-income pricing system.

My goal is to get into the algorithmic trading of the fixed income products I currently work on. (The products are getting standardized right now and will probably be exchange traded within a year or two.) I think the fastest, easiest route there will be a full-time program. I'm looking at CMU's part-time program in case the firm decides to give responsibility for developing market-making algorithms on our product to our group, but if they don't, the easiest way for me to get into algorithmic trading would be a full-time program at a top-five school.

 

[Sanket Patel]

Is that via Monte Carlo?

No, not Monte Carlo. It is 42% via the Infinite Improbability Drive.

 

[alain]

I came up to the unorthodox conclusion that whoever ask for a profile evaluation is not cut out for the type of job that the MFE prepares you for. I think you ask for a profile evaluation only if you are not confident enough in yourself or your abilities to apply to a given program and are looking for the opinion/support of others.

So, do yourself a favor, grow a pair of "balls", and apply with confidence to whichever program you like. There is nothing to loose. The worse that could happen is that you get rejected. If that is the case, you should find out why and work towards improving those weak spots.