My Next steps...

P

patrickb

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6/23/10
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Hello,

I am new the forum. I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a double major in finance and accounting with a minor in economics. My GPA was mediocre at best, kind of got hit my senior year because of some health issues... 3.05/4 ..I realize that's not doing me any big favors....I took a financial modeling class my senior year and loved it. It was basic MPT using excel, some black scholes and binomial option pricing... but I was good at it and liked it... But other than that all they gave us for math was calc 1 and stat 1.

I currently work for Moody's as a Financial Data Analyst... recently promoted to Lead Financial Data Analyst.... I want to get opinions on what I need to do to get in the field. I asked on LinkedIn and Andy was kind enough to reply...

"You have much ground to cover. Cal 2,3. ODE, PDE, cal-based probability, linear algebra, statistics, C++ programming, etc would cover the basic requirements at most programs.The ones that got admitted usually have more math training than the roadmap I just lay out. Take a look at the students profile of the programs you target and see what math courses they took. And best of luck."

I had some follow up questions that I wanted to bring here... like .. how much will my gpa impair me, how can I compensate? What about the GRE's? Are top programs reachable, if so what steps can I take to get there besides the math classes? Any other additional steps I can take to better my position?

Thanks to Andy and for anyone else reading this.

Patrick
 
It makes more sense for you to get into the best master of finance or mba program that you can. why do you want to do financial engineering specifically?
 
It is more quantitative than qualitative... from reading about it, it matches what I want to do.
 
Welcome to Quantnet, Patrick,
Most people in your situation would do a master degree part-time in math, stats or some technical major. Hopefully you will do well and get high GPA which will compensate for your undergrad's poor one.

At it currently stands, you will have 0 chance to get in a decent program. Even if you get in by miracle, you will struggle with the lack of mathematical readiness.

In any case, keep the job and get your employer to pay for your tuition.

You may want to look at this thread https://www.quantnet.com/threads/mfe-program-profile-evaluation-master-thread.202/
 
I appreciate everyone being frank with me. I will start looking into math programs then. I suppose with that I will need to take the GRE and start looking for programs in NY. I'm confident I would do well in one of those programs, the only classes I really didn't do well in were ones that were "fuzzy".. actually tutored some people in calc 1 when I was in school.
 
Patrick, I'm kind of in the same boat as you a little higher GPA 3.2 but not the most stellar, with a degree in Finance and about 5 years work experience in corporate financial analyst roles. I am in the process of going back to school for a second undergrad degree in Math with a minor in Computer Science hoping to improve my chances for admission to an MFE program. Heres a post to my blog hope it helps and good luck!

http://www.quantnet.com/mfe-or-bust
 
Thank you mannya for your response. I read your blog and am intrigued by the doing a second undergrad option. My intial reaction was not wanting to because of all the time taking the BS classes like art history classes like that... they were A) a waste of my time and B) pulled down my GPA. From the comment section I read that you aren't going to have to take those. My question is how did they structure the curriculum for you. Do you basically just have to take the set of courses which is the "core curriculum"? How is the cost structure (assumingly much cheaper) because you don't have to take as many credits...Have you gotten any feedback from any folks you deal with admissions on this path?
 
I've looked at doing a second bachelors, and it really depends on the university. One local university I applied to had no limit on the number of transfer credits meaning that I can skip all the boring stuff, i.e. art history. The only requirement is that at least 30 hours be completed at the university, which is about the number required for a degree in math there.

So assuming a university lets you do this, you should be only required to take the core curriculum and maybe some advanced electives in that field.
 
Patrick it did come out to be significantly cheaper. Essentially, I applied to a few different undergrad programs, in the lowest cost places possible because I knew I wanted to be in a big city (NYC, Chicago, Bay Area) for my MFE studies, once I got admitted to the programs I pretty much hounded the math department to see what classes they would and would not take from initial undergrad degree, some didn't take many, some actually didnt take any, but Louisiana Tech allowed most of my classes but required me to take 2 Chemistry Classes and 2 Physics classes, this I just found out about. I really don't mind the Physics because from what I have read it could apply to an MFE but I will be pushing out the 2 chemistry classes as far as possible iin case I get admitted to an MFE before the completion of this program or I need the extra classes for my financial aid, which ever comes first.

They structured my curriculum around the core math and computer science classes needed for completion of the degree. The school is in a quarter system so I will be done with my Calculus sequence by the end of the school year and over the summer and next fall Ill be able to take the rest of the classes needed to apply for an MFE, I will also have about four or five programming classes by that time. For now thats the plan PM me with your info and well stay in touch and Ill let you know whats going. Let me know if you have any other questions.
 
patrickb said:
Thank you mannya for your response. I read your blog and am intrigued by the doing a second undergrad option. My intial reaction was not wanting to because of all the time taking the BS classes like art history classes like that... they were A) a waste of my time and B) pulled down my GPA. From the comment section I read that you aren't going to have to take those. My question is how did they structure the curriculum for you. Do you basically just have to take the set of courses which is the "core curriculum"? How is the cost structure (assumingly much cheaper) because you don't have to take as many credits...Have you gotten any feedback from any folks you deal with admissions on this path?
Click to expand...

I was initially in a Commerce program, then transferred into Mathematics. When I made the switch, I was granted enough "transfer credits" so that my "electives" requirement (humanities, social sciences, etc) was waived. This is because I had already taken similar courses. So now I only have to complete the core courses of the mathematics curriculum.
 
Andy said:
Welcome to Quantnet, Patrick,
Most people in your situation would do a master degree part-time in math, stats or some technical major. Hopefully you will do well and get high GPA which will compensate for your undergrad's poor one.

At it currently stands, you will have 0 chance to get in a decent program. Even if you get in by miracle, you will struggle with the lack of mathematical readiness.

In any case, keep the job and get your employer to pay for your tuition.

You may want to look at this thread https://www.quantnet.com/threads/mfe-program-profile-evaluation-master-thread.202/
Click to expand...

Can you give a few examples on "technical major"? I don't understand what a "technical major" is....
 
coolharvard said:
Engineering, computer science are not easy major.... they are just as hard as MFE.

I was misunderstanding that he meant a technical degree...
Click to expand...

I know, generally when I hear people say technical degree they mean something like engineering. Hence, engineering would be considered a technical degree.

The best majors/degrees for FE are usually not easy :D
 
I really didn't do well in were ones that were "fuzzy"..
Click to expand...

You haven't seen fuzzy. Wait until you see Stochastic Calculus and Measure Theory.
 

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