"MFE program profile evaluation" master thread

[Connor]

Please review my profile and please suggest good Financial Engineering Graduate Schools
My brief profile
GRE 1350 ( V 550 Q 800 AWA - awaited )
College BITS Pilani (INDIA Rank 5 )
BE(Hons) Electrical and Electronics
CGPA 8.5/10
Relevant Courses Grade
1) Operation Research A
2) Numerical Analysis A
3) Optimization B
4) MATHEMATCIS I,II,III B
5) Security Analysis and Port currently pursuing
-folio Management
6)Computer Programming 1 C
7)Computer Programming 2 B
Strong Knowledge and experience with MATLAB

Projects
Optimization of Electronic Hardware Using GENETIC ALGORITHM
Genetic Algorithm for Financial Application
A project on Pricing of Options (yet to begin)
Mathematical Modeling of wireless Communication network

Co-curricular
Joint Coordinator Electronic Forum
conducted events , organized workshops
Participated in Electronic Technical Festival


Secondly I have a job as a Business Analyst ( yet to join) at Sabre Holding , Bangalore India. Its a Airline Service Provider with headquarters at South Lake USA.
Would you advise me to work for a year and then apply?
Will this work experience be any relevant for my MS Financial Engineering ?

I don't see your current work as very relevant to financial engineering but then having some experience is better than no experience.

Would you prefer to work a year and then apply or apply now? Honestly I don't see much difference for you in working 1 year or applying now; so I suggest applying now or working for a few years.

 

[gauravpuri]

Hi Connor!
Can you suggest some good graduate schools ?
What about my projects and courses ?

 

[iniesta]

i just wrote my GRE and got 520V and 800Q.

will i get weeded out during the initial screening due to the low verbal score?

 

[latency]

gauravpuri,
based on your profile, i think you should apply to all the tier 1 schools, haas, cmu, nyu, cornell, columbia.

---------- Post added at 05:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:42 PM ----------

i dont think so, you have a good quant score. besides, the gre is only one factor, there are other factors such as course work, work experience etc which matter too.

i just wrote my GRE and got 520V and 800Q.

will i get weeded out during the initial screening due to the low verbal score?

 

[Connor]

@iniesta - I doubt it, you should be good.

@gauravpuri - Stick to the schools on the Quantnet rankings and chose a few to apply to based on location, rank and those that interest you the most.

2009 QuantNetwork Ranking of Financial Engineering Programs | Quant Network

At a quick glance your courses look good, you've covered most of the basics it looks like. Your projects are nice and may help some so definitely mention them (if they were in collaboration with a professor or manager then that could lead to a good letter of recommendation) but I don't think your projects alone will carry your application.

 

[saiD]

Hello everyone
Firstly I would really like to thank everyone on quantnet here for sharing all the information and in a way helping many students like me to get a gist of what FE actually really is.
The following is my profile:

GRE : 1210 q-760
Toefl: 104
Undergraduate degree : Electronics engineering.. overal percentage 59.6
from K J Somaiya College of Engineering, University of Mumbai

Decent LOR and a better SOP

Work Ex : 1) 3 years part time Teaching assistantship ..held the position of an Adjunct Faculty Associate at an institute recognised by the government of India to teach Object oriented programming(basically C and C++) and Business Statistics(maths basically)

2) 2 month internship at a financial technology firm...basically got exposure to trading applications and softwares for technical analysis .

3) 2 month internship at a brokerage firm as a research analyst trainee...basically into equity analysis....daily MTM estimations etc..

Programming languages : , C , C++ , Matlab , VBA.

Besides this background I have pursued
4 certifications from BSE(Bombay Stock Exchange)


I am totally aware that my Gre Quant marks are some what on the lesser side.
Also due to time constraints I would not be able to retake the GRE.

Can anyone please let me know what are my chances of getting in to a 2nd tier program like Michigan, Georgia tech,Rutgers both (MQF and MSMF),UCLA,NCSU.UIUC(MFE).
I am perhaps more inclined towards
1) UMICH
2) UIUC
3)RUTGERS (MQF)
What are my chances of getting into above 3??

Waiting in anticipation
Thanks in Advance
<!-- / message --><!-- edit note -->

 

[taran]

Hi All
It's my first post on quantnet though I've been following it for almost 6-7 months now.

I am thinking of applying for MFE for fall 2012 and would really be thankful if someone can help me in evaluating my profile. Following are my credentials:

1. B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering discipline from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (CGPA 6.6/10) v poor

2. I've taken up courses in C++ (8/10) , linear algebra, Calculus etc but the grades are average or below average (6/10)

3. 2 years of work-ex as Associate Business Analyst (IT) in major commercial bank. Excellent recommendation. Experienced with Java (intermediate), J2EE, enterprise system design.

4. 1 year (would be next year) work-ex in FX Exotic Derivatives Trade Reviews (ETR) for a BulgeBracket Bank. The profile is related to Global Middle Office Risk Management. Using VBA on a regular basis. Will get a good recommendation from here too.

5. CFA Level 1 (dec 2009)

6. Will be appearing for FRM next year May 2011 (since it is more relevant to my ETR job profile)

7. GRE 1330 (780 QA / 550 VA / 4 AWA)


After looking at the profiles here on the forums and my grades/CGPA from college I'm not sure if I should even apply for top MFE programs.

Since I still have 11 month's time before I submit my applications, can someone please advise what else can I do to strengthen my profile for good MFE programs? Also if someone can advise regarding which Univs. I should be looking at?

 

[rahulb]

Hello everyone,

I'm looking forward to applying for MS in FE 2011 and I'm hoping to get some guidance here. I finished my B Tech in Electrical Engg. from IIT Bombay, India in the 2010 batch. I got a CGPA of 7.5/10. I just gave my GRE and got a score of 1460 (Q 800; V 660). I am currently working in a Power company (I'm looking forward to shifting to a Finance related job very soon). I did my internship in INRIA, a computer science research institute in Paris, which involved Matlab coding. My main B. Tech. project was in Maths (involving computing, statistics, algorithm, enumeration), and I'm hoping to get an excellent recommendation from the project guide, and other okay recommendations from my professors at IIT.

I've got mostly good scores in all the Maths courses. Is there any chance I can get into any of the tier-one Financial Engineering courses? Also, what are the ways in which I can bolster up my chances. Furthermore, now that I'd be applying for a new job, which kind of jobs would be the most helpful when applying for MFE. Considering that it'd be difficult to get a very good finance job for a fresher like me, will internships help? Sorry, if I sound a bit too novice :-ss. Any advice regarding these issues would be most helpful.

 

[PRateekSIngh]

shifting job now wld nt make ny diff until u hv a yr or 2 of work exp....u wont b able 2 mention it in ny detail ny where in ur resume till then....

 

[TraderJoe]

IIT has good brand recognition in USA. I was seeing the profiles for the Indian students at UCB and they are all IIT people. So that will definitely help you. The best strategy is to apply to all the Top 10 schools and then see where you are able to get an admit.

 

[sason]

Hi ,

I have been a lurker for long on Quantnet as I thought it would be better if I first get my Gmat score. So now with my gmat over, I am posting my profile here for some feedback and info about some reachable schools to apply.

It is a bit long post but please dont ignore it
Any help would be appreciated ...

Undergraduate degree: BTech -IIIT Allahabad (India)
gpa: 9.17
GMAT : 750 ( Q50 , V40 )

Relevant courses:
Mathematics-I
Discrete mathematics & Mathematical logic
Mathematics-II
Probability & Statistics
Design and Analysis of Algorithms
Business Systems (Accounting)
Principles of Management
Economics
Artificial Intelligence
Digital Signal Processing
Image processing
System Modeling & Simulation

Programming Courses:
Had many cources in prog ,algo,etc.
Extensive experience (coll as well as job) in c,c++,win32,.NET,c# , also have exp in matlab

experience:
6 months internship at an MNC
2+ years as Associate Software Engineer at the same MNC

Extraco : decent
student rep for microsoft in coll ,org many tech events.
Won quite a few competitions (college and national level )
decent social service record in coll and after.
merit scholarships form coll etc.
Organized many events in college.
Maintain my own blog (I write about Indian stocks with a med to long term view ) ... its a simple site should I write about it in my app.

Certs :
Passed CFA level 1 in June 2010 ( first attempt) , Currently CFA Level II candidate.


Would appreciate if anyone replies to my queries given below

1. In my college , I scored badly in the second semester (7.8) due to some personal reasons.Now the score is definitely an outlier as one can see that my total cgpa is above 9 (in the top ten student of my class ) . I did read a post of Andy some time back where he said that one should not justify his bad grades ( or something like that). My questions is whether I should write about my bad grades of second semester in the additional essay ( currently writing for MIT).The issue is more important that many of the math &prob courses I did were in the second semester and I scored badly in them too.

2.would passing CFA level I help me in overcoming the bad grades in maths ( described above).

3. some colleges ask for relevant courses is Image Processing ,Digital signal Processing,system simulation and Artificial Intelligence would be considered a relevant course.they are maths heavy ( fuzzy logic,monte carlo simulation etc) and matlab was used in the labs.

4. Are finance related subjects such as Economics, Accounting etc also considered as relevant ( they seem to be at MIT)

5. I plan to work for a few years as a quant but my long term goal is to have my own firm providing finance and accounting solutions to govt sector orgs in India. Is this long term plan of mine somewhat unrelated to the courses etc.

6. Finally ,which schools should I apply : As of now I have shortlisted Baruch ( stefan do reply whether I have a competitive profile ) and MIT .I know the course of MIT is completely different to that of baruch in fact they both give differnet degrees ,but I really liked the the structure of MIT and the choice of electives ,Merton being the more reason . I know Princeton is highly selective and extremely competitive but still do I have any chance at Princeton (i.e. I dont want to waste my application fee ).
any other school suited to my profile.

7. I dont have any prof experience in Finance though I have some knowledge about it ,also been maintaining my trading portfolio for quite some time. will not have any Prof exp diminish my chances.

I know I have written a very long post here , that too only asking for help.But I would really appreciate if someone answers to my queries

Thanks and Regards
Sason

 

[rhk]

Hi everyone,

I am planning to apply to MFE programs for Fall 2011. Can someone please evaluate my profile.

Nationality : Indian
Education : B Tech Computer Engineering from an NIT (top 10 in India)
GPA: 7.9/10.0
GMAT: 750 (Q 51, V 39)

Math courses undertaken:
2 courses of engineering mathematics(calculus), discrete mathematical structures , probability theory and its applications, numerical methods and concrete mathematics. Grade B and above in all.

Work experience : 2 years ( by June 2011) as software developer at IBM India Software Lab, Bangalore.

Programming experience : Extensive. Worked on research projects and internships during under graduate studies. Full time coding job presently. Skilled in C++, Java and Python.

Finance Experience : No professional work experience or formal education. Couple of Certifications from National Stock Exchange of India. Maintaining a personal trading account since last 2 years.


My questions are :
1) Is no professional work experience in finance a major weakness in my profile. If yes, what steps can I take to improve that aspect of my profile in next 3-4 months?
2) At this point, my target schools are Baruch and CMU. Will my present profile be competitive at these schools? What can I do to improve my chances at these schools?

I really appreciate the honest feedback people give in this forum and request you all to give some inputs for my profile as well. Thanks!

 

[PepQ]

MS FE Fall 2011 | BTech(CSE) 4m NIT(India) | CGPA 9.2/10 | GRE 800+620 | TOEFL 98 | 3.5 yrs Work Ex

Hello seniors and fellow QuantNetworkers,

Greetings! I am from India. Can you please help me evaluating my chances for fall 2011 application for MS in Financial Engineering.

I have been working in IT section of a global Software products giant for 3.5 years and am well versed in coding in C, C++, C#, Java Script etc.

I had Engineering Mathematics, Discrete Mathematics, Probability & Stochastic processe, Operations Research, Numerical Analysis, Advanced Graph Theory, AI, DSP etc mathematical subjects and got A or Ex grade in all these.

Although I dont have formal finance training (except the Engineering Economics & Accountancy course at undergraduate) and Experiences (I am working in the Finance domain of IT, but its much different from the Financial service sector), I want to switch my career in Finance. My Goal is to work in the streets for few years and then start some financial consulting company back home in India (and teaching part-time).

Can you please evaluate my chances for the following programs?
1. CMU
2. Princeton
3. Columbia
4. Baruch
5. Rutgers
6. Gatech
7. U Toronto

I will really look forward for your feedback and opinion regarding my profile. Thanks!

 

[kichuxj]

gre awa

hi guys,

i just wanted to know how important is the awa section?? a 3.5 score is that gonna hurt u bad...do the top tier program ask for a minimum of 4 awa?

 

[vikrantkhadilkar]

Hello everyone
The Course I would like to apply is Financial Engineering / Financial Mathematics/ Quantitative Finance/ Computational Mathematics
The following is my profile:

GRE : 1300 q-730 AwA : 3.5
Toefl: 111
Undergraduate degree : IT Engineering.. overal percentage 68.3
from VESIT ( top college in Bombay), University of Mumbai

Mathematics marks for 4 semesters :
Sem1 : 95
Sem 2 :87
Sem 3: 92
Sem 4 :74


Work Ex : No Work experience
.
1 month internship at a brokerage firm as a research analyst

Programming languages : C , C++ , Matlab , java

Besides this background I have pursued
4 certifications from BSE(Bombay Stock Exchange) Which include :
1. Technical Analysis
2. Fundamental Analysis
3. Investment Analysis and Wealth Creation
4. Understanding of behavorial Finance

3 certifications with NSE ( national stock exchange)
1. Basics of financial markets
2. Equity Derivatives
3. Currency Derivatives

I am aware that my Gre Quant marks are extremely low.
Also due to time constraints I would not be able to retake the GRE.

Which are the colleges I might be looking at .. ?
What should be done so that my GRE quant marks can be compensated.

Can anyone please let me know what are my chances of getting in to a 2nd tier program .

Is getting into colleges like Baruch , UIUC , Rutgers , UCLA, Florida state Univ , Kent State Univ, Michigan, USC possible.

Also which Colleges In UK I might get into for Msc in Financial Engineering / Financial Mathematics/ Quantitative Finance/ Computational Mathematics.

 

[adityagandhi]

Hi all,

I am a little uncertain about applying to UMich cause of the high tuition...is it a strong enough brand name that i can borrow the entire tuition on a loan and hope to earn it back? I mean, i have shortlisted Gatech qcf as a good alternative cause its tuition is lower....but its b-school reputation isnt as good as UMich's.....the pluses for umich are also that it has a flexible course and a better name on wall street.....

so..any suggestions if Umich is worth the astronomical tuition or Gatech qcf would be a decent alternative if i want to spend less?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I know I have written a very long post here , that too only asking for help.But I would really appreciate if someone answers to my queries

I would suggest that applicants who unsure about their chance apply to more than 2 programs and less than 6. Usually, the longer people research into potential programs, the shorter their list becomes.
Full disclosure: I applied to only ONE program because I knew what I wanted.

As for people spending part of their essay to explain why they got bad grades, my experience is that it does not help much, if at all. When I got a chance to look over their full profile, I already have a good picture if they are a good fit for a specific program or not. Programs often want to select people who are mature and do not try to make excuses for their shortcomings. When the admission committee has a hard time picking from the top scorers, mature, accomplished professionals, it only makes you looks undesirable.

Again, I'm only talking about the most selective programs here. The number of MFE programs is huge and there are always places that will love to have you. I can't speak to all programs.

2) At this point, my target schools are Baruch and CMU. Will my present profile be competitive at these schools? What can I do to improve my chances at these schools?

Polish your profile. Show them where your technical skills can be useful in the financial world. Show them you are savvy and not a typical geek head. What can you bring to the programs? Where you want to be in a few years?

Can you please evaluate my chances for the following programs?
1. CMU
2. Princeton
3. Columbia
4. Baruch
5. Rutgers
6. Gatech
7. U Toronto

You probably could make it to half the list. I don't have any suggestion specific to your case. Like I always say, you are competing against people with very similar profiles (IIT, competent technical guys) so it's always good to show something unique. Have you run a successful business? Have you taken any risky projects before?
What unique about the programs you select that other applicants don't know? Give me a good picture of you as a person, not a package of numbers and stats.

hi guys,

i just wanted to know how important is the awa section?? a 3.5 score is that gonna hurt u bad...do the top tier program ask for a minimum of 4 awa?

No, they don't require a minimum cutoff but looking at stats of the admitted students, it's easy to have an idea of where you stand.
I usually take AWA in the 4-4.5 as acceptable and I put more weight into that than the verbal section. Different programs may be more lenient but you want to be on the safe side if you want to have a fighting chance at the top programs.

I am aware that my Gre Quant marks are extremely low.
Also due to time constraints I would not be able to retake the GRE.

Which are the colleges I might be looking at .. ?
What should be done so that my GRE quant marks can be compensated.

Can anyone please let me know what are my chances of getting in to a 2nd tier program .

Is getting into colleges like Baruch , UIUC , Rutgers , UCLA, Florida state Univ , Kent State Univ, Michigan, USC possible.

You probably will have no shot at Baruch but the rest would be more feasible. Instead of trying your luck, I would redo GRE and apply next year. These programs don't go anywhere soon and you don't want to end up in a program with no career prospect, big loan and hating your life.

Hi all,

I am a little uncertain about applying to UMich cause of the high tuition...is it a strong enough brand name that i can borrow the entire tuition on a loan and hope to earn it back? I mean, i have shortlisted Gatech qcf as a good alternative cause its tuition is lower....but its b-school reputation isnt as good as UMich's.....the pluses for umich are also that it has a flexible course and a better name on wall street.....

so..any suggestions if Umich is worth the astronomical tuition or Gatech qcf would be a decent alternative if i want to spend less?

Have you read
Review of University of Michigans Financial Engineering (MFE) program | Quant Network
Review of Georgia Tech QCF program | Quant Network

 

[Sissi Qiu]

Hello everyone,

I would really like to thank everyone on quantnet here for sharing all the information and answer questions.

And I really hope someone could review my profile and see which programs I should apply and the chances to be admitted to the 1 tier programs.
I just feel really frustrated and stressed recently because many people around me keep telling me that it's a super competitive program and how hard it is to get into the top programs. So I am now really lost and so not sure about myself. Hope someone can give me some helps. THANKS!

The following is my profile:

Undergraduate: U of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Major: Applied Math

GPA: 3.83

Classes has been taken:

cal 1-4
Intro of math analysis
theory of interests
intro of stat and prob (5000x level)
risk management
corporate fiance, accounting, economics

Classes are taking:

Basic C++
Process of Stochastic
Financial Math
Actuarial Math

Experience:

(1) Summer intern at an Investment Bank for 2 month
(2) Research about dynamic finance (in the process, nothing exciting)
(3) One month intern in a research department of a chinese securities' corporation
(4) Tax-Return Volunteer

GRE General & GRE Subject Math: are going to take next month.

Thanks a lot!

 

[vikrantkhadilkar]

Hello everyone
The Course I would like to apply is Financial Engineering / Financial Mathematics/ Quantitative Finance/ Computational Mathematics
The following is my profile:

GRE : 1300 q-730 AwA : 3.5
Toefl: 111
Undergraduate degree : IT Engineering.. overal percentage 68.3
from VESIT ( top college in Bombay), University of Mumbai

Mathematics marks for 4 semesters :
Sem1 : 95
Sem 2 :87
Sem 3: 92
Sem 4 :74


Work Ex : No Work experience
.
1 month internship at a brokerage firm as a research analyst

Programming languages : C , C++ , Matlab , java

Besides this background I have pursued
4 certifications from BSE(Bombay Stock Exchange) Which include :
1. Technical Analysis
2. Fundamental Analysis
3. Investment Analysis and Wealth Creation
4. Understanding of behavorial Finance

3 certifications with NSE ( national stock exchange)
1. Basics of financial markets
2. Equity Derivatives
3. Currency Derivatives

I am aware that my Gre Quant marks are extremely low.
Also due to time constraints I would not be able to retake the GRE.

Which are the colleges I might be looking at .. ?
What should be done so that my GRE quant marks can be compensated.

Can anyone please let me know what are my chances of getting in to a 2nd tier program .

Is getting into colleges like Baruch , UIUC , Rutgers , UCLA, Florida state Univ , Kent State Univ, Michigan, USC possible.

Also which Colleges In UK I might get into for Msc in Financial Engineering / Financial Mathematics/ Quantitative Finance/ Computational Mathematics.

I understand getting into Top Schools in US is goin to be a problem with my Low GRE scores .
But Since UK Schools do not take into account GRE. I might have a chance with some good schools there.

The colleges I m looking at are :
1. Warwick
2. Manchester
3. Cass
4. LSB
5. Ashton
6. Birbeck

 

[sason]

I would suggest that applicants who unsure about their chance apply to more than 2 programs and less than 6. Usually, the longer people research into potential programs, the shorter their list becomes.
Full disclosure: I applied to only ONE program because I knew what I wanted.

As for people spending part of their essay to explain why they got bad grades, my experience is that it does not help much, if at all. When I got a chance to look over their full profile, I already have a good picture if they are a good fit for a specific program or not. Programs often want to select people who are mature and do not try to make excuses for their shortcomings. When the admission committee has a hard time picking from the top scorers, mature, accomplished professionals, it only makes you looks undesirable.

Again, I'm only talking about the most selective programs here. The number of MFE programs is huge and there are always places that will love to have you. I can't speak to all programs.


Polish your profile. Show them where your technical skills can be useful in the financial world. Show them you are savvy and not a typical geek head. What can you bring to the programs? Where you want to be in a few years?


You probably could make it to half the list. I don't have any suggestion specific to your case. Like I always say, you are competing against people with very similar profiles (IIT, competent technical guys) so it's always good to show something unique. Have you run a successful business? Have you taken any risky projects before?
What unique about the programs you select that other applicants don't know? Give me a good picture of you as a person, not a package of numbers and stats.


No, they don't require a minimum cutoff but looking at stats of the admitted students, it's easy to have an idea of where you stand.
I usually take AWA in the 4-4.5 as acceptable and I put more weight into that than the verbal section. Different programs may be more lenient but you want to be on the safe side if you want to have a fighting chance at the top programs.

You probably will have no shot at Baruch but the rest would be more feasible. Instead of trying your luck, I would redo GRE and apply next year. These programs don't go anywhere soon and you don't want to end up in a program with no career prospect, big loan and hating your life.

Have you read
Review of University of Michigans Financial Engineering (MFE) program | Quant Network
Review of Georgia Tech QCF program | Quant Network

thanks for the input.I was also thinking of not giving a reason.I think my grades in other semesters and in subjects like Artificial Intelligence,Image processing,System Modeling & Simulation might help.
by the way do you think that I should give GRE math subject test also to strengthen my profile.