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"MFE program profile evaluation" master thread

thanks rishab....it was really very nice of
@ ravikanbhatt

If I were you, I would first retake GRE to score atleast 780 - I would probably aim for 800. Also, if by any chance, those low GPA scores were due to low scores in Math, or your Math scores were just about average, I would also take GRE Math Subjective.

I assume, as your background is civil engineering, that your programming knowledge would be at best basic and at worst nil, so I would also get some certifications in C++. If possible try taking a C++ course from an open university ( UCB also offers a C++ course, but it charges for it).

Your finance knowledge, at-least to me, seems good enough.

P.S Remember your other part of the profile has to be so much better than the other students to compensate for you low GPA.

hi rishab...thanks for your time and attention...could you suggest me which universities should i apply(and ya my quants score is 790...that day i typed it wrong and den didnt correct it :) )..based on my profile...i dont know whether i will be able to go for a subject test....as far as my maths knowledge is considered ...i guess it is ok...its just that i never bothered to study while in college.....C++ training with job .. i dont know...so my idea is to present what i have efficiently rather than getting something new.....i am planning to apply to USA(Yet to figure out :) ) , UK(CAAS , imperial, and exter) and Europe(HEC paris and University of Zurich).
kindly grade my selection chances and yups advice me which universities i should apply in USA.
 
Hi all,
Thanks and Congratulations for maintaining such an informative forum
I will be applying for Financial Engineering courses this fall and my profile is as follows
  • >Qualification: Electrical Engineering (Dual Degree : Btech+Mtech)
    >University Name : Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
    >GPA : 8.9/10 Maths GPA : 9.7/10
    >GRE: Still to take, hopeful of good Math score
    >Internship at EPFL, Switzerland ( in Statistical Modeling )
    >Publication: 2 international publications in wavelets based image processing
    >Maths Courses : 6 in total (Calculus, Advanced Stochastic Processes, Complex Variables, Differential Eqs, ... ). Besides my elective
    courses in Electrical Engineering have been very maths intensive.
    >Programming: Have used C++ and MATLAB extensively for my projects.
    >Work experience: 6 months as derivatives trader and 1 year as Derivatives research analyst at CRISIL, A standard & Poor's company.

I would really appreciate if you could evaluate my profile.
I am to understand that there are a few students from IIT in the current batch of Baruch. Any feedback from them would be very valuable.
 
uks.. Come on!! you already know,dont you?? You have as good a profile as there can be. Btech+MTech from IIT-B, International Publications and relevant work experience. Dude what more can you ask for?? For prospective applicants like me, you are only raising the bar to an insuperable degree.
 
Thanks Faisal, you comments really gave me a lot of confidence :). I agree that it looks like a decent profile, but my weak area would be LoRs, I can get a good one from my Thesis Guide and a decent one from my manager. How important are these?
Also, Could anyone give any idea about scholarships, if available?
 
Thanks Faisal, you comments really gave me a lot of confidence :). I agree that it looks like a decent profile, but my weak area would be LoRs, I can get a good one from my Thesis Guide and a decent one from my manager. How important are these?
Also, Could anyone give any idea about scholarships, if available?
 
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
your profile is suitable...but if u dnt like programmming y do u want to choose mfe?
 
Hi,
Kindly evaluate my profile

GRE Q 800 V 610 Awa-3.0
Toefl- 112
Academics
10th - 86%
12th - 85%

B.E (Computers)
Mumbai university
Agg-71%


Wrk Ex - Will be working in TCS from November 2011

Field of interest:Financial engineering

Colleges interested in

Stanford-MFM
CMU(Tepper)-FE
Cornell-FE
Georgia Tech-QCF
Univ Of Illi UC-FE
UC berkeley-FE
UCLA-FE
USC (Viterbi)-FE
University of Washington-FE
 
Hi,
Kindly evaluate my profile

GRE Q 800 V 610 Awa-3.0
Toefl- 112
Academics
10th - 86%
12th - 85%

B.E (Computers)
Mumbai university
Agg-71%

Wrk Ex - Will be working in TCS from November 2011

Field of interest:Financial engineering

Colleges interested in

Stanford-MFM
CMU(Tepper)-FE
Cornell-FE
Georgia Tech-QCF
Univ Of Illi UC-FE
UC berkeley-FE
UCLA-FE
USC (Viterbi)-FE
University of Washington-FE
your profile is no different from a million others.its all about how u convince the admission guys y u want to do mfe?
 
your profile is no different from a million others.its all about how u convince the admission guys y u want to do mfe?

Thanks arjun for the frank reply. I know the toughest job is convincing the univs. however, can you give me some information regarding how someone with my background can prepare for a course difficult course like FE.
 
Hi

I graduated from Stony Brook University with majors in Applied Maths and Statisitcs, Maths, Economic.
GPA 3.6 (cum laude)
GRE: 800/550 (maths/verbal), 4.5 (Writing)
intermediate knowledge in matlab, C ++
3 years experience in JPM AM.

i want to apply Master in Financial Enginnering/ Financial Maths/Eoncomics in US (NY preferably).....
i wonder if i can enter Tier 1 university like Columbia/NYU or i should try tier 2 instead ?
 

Hi,

I graduated from SUNY at Buffalo with major in Business Administration (Financial Analysis Concentration)

GPA 3.97 (Summa cum laude)
GRE: 800/720 (Quant/Verbal)
2 years experience as an Analyst in Revenue Operations (Finance Dept in Health Insurance Company) - will have 3 years of work experience by the time of enrollment
It's really not until very recent that I've known for sure that Financial Engineering is the path I want to go for (Initially, I was thinking of MBA programs) and I am targetting Tier 1 universities like Columbia/NYU/MIT/Princeton/CMU for Fall 2012.

But I have not taken any Stats/Math/Programming courses required for the admission--- Calculus I, II, III, Linear Algebra, Differential Equation, Probability, Statistics--- during my undergrad years as I was not so determined about what I want to study further then. (Calculus, Microeconomics, Business Statistics and that's it!) To make it worse, I've learned that I cannot take courses at school during an H1B. So, I have been doing a self study of the reqired coursework in math with suggested textbooks and online tutorials (utilizing MIT opencourseware). Also, I recently found that there is Programming course offered online and I am thinking of taking it (have not yet started)

My question is will i be still considered as a successful candidate for the programs? Do I still have a chance of being admitted to the program without official credits for these courses on my undergrad transcript? What would you recommend at this point when I want to increse my chance of getting into the program?I don't think the GRE quant score suffices to indicate my quantitative capabilities as most of the applicants for those program will have that but please advise.

Also, when looking through the class profiles of those programs in Tier 1 universities, almost all the current students graduated from Tier 1 universities. With my current academic record, would it be realistically impossible to get admission? If so, what are the Tier 2 universities that I have more likely to be admitted?

As far as I know, MIT and Princeton offers MS in Finance (Supposedly broader scope in Finance, not as strict in math requirements as other programs namely MSFE, MSCF, MSMF), is it safe to say that I have relatively more chance of getting admission from these schools than others?

Thank you so much for your help in advance.​
 
Forget Tier 1, maybe not even Tier 2. The Maths in Financial Engineering is much^2 higher than the GRE high school math. Even if you get in you will not be able to perform because of the lack of mathematical knowledge and thereby waste an year

Might sound rude but that is the fact. Go for MBA

Did you take Dr Mohr's Cooperate Finance? I am from SUNY Buffalo too
 
There is no way of proving your math skills without taking classes. Furthermore, how do you even know that FE is good for you without taking all the basic math/programming classes?
 
UCB-Berkeley admitted one student from SUNY-Buffalo into their MFE program starting in March 2011. She had done BS and MS in Finance with specialization in Financial Engineering from SUNY-Buffalo. You can try that route. You can find her profile on UC-Berkeley MFE page and email her for advice.
 
A) GRE : Quant- 800 , Verbal- 600 .

B) MSc in Mathematics (2011) from IIT Madras . CGPA : 6.04
[ Relevant subjects : Mathematical Finance, Optimization , Operation research (2 courses) , Numerical Methods and Computing ,Probability Theory, Numerical Analysis, PDE, ODE, Linear Algebra, Transform Techniques etc. ]
Master's Thesis on Interest rate swaps and their valuation using the Cox-Ingersoll-Ross Model.
Intern at Market and credit risk deparment at a leading Indian Bank. : Studied about Liquidity risk and illiquidity premium in case of Interest rate swaps. ( 2 months)

C ) Had Math, Statistics and Economics during under grad . Majored in Mathematics.
[ Statistics Courses included Probability Theory , Hypothesis Testing , Sampling , Ananlysis of Variance , Statistical Techniques..etc. ]

Honors Course in Time Series Analysis, Binomial Option Pricing.

D) C,C++, Java , SQL, VB.
E) No Work Experience.

Looking to apply : 1) University of Chicago , NYU , Baruch , Columbia.
2) Rutgers , University of Michigan , Georgia tech,UCLA
3) ETH Zurich , Imperial College London , London School of Economics,
4) NTU , NUS Singapore.
Should I drop the idea of applying to any of the univ. mentioned in 1) or do i have some chance?
What about the other universities? Are there any other universities that I should be looking to apply in?
 
I know. That is exactly what I am worried about. I shall start applying to the universities by the end of November. I don't know what to do to compensate for my Average CGPA . The GRE score obviously doesn't reflect much. Should I give the Math Subject GRE ? The most I can do is to look for an Intern at some company or do a project under some professor at IIT , but even that will be between November 2011 - June 2012.
Also will my CGPA be a problem at all of the mentioned universities or are there some where I have a really good chance of getting in despite my CGPA?
 
Good letters of recommendation and a strong personal statement help.
 
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