Princeton MFin Princeton MFin Admission Discussion

[tips]

Thanks for the kind words guys; I applied for the financial economics program at Columbia (I'm guessing you were referring to Financial Engineering though, not financial economics), I really liked that they offered the opportunity to take PhD level courses / feed into PhD programs (if I feel like it) and that it was in the business school. I'll take you up on that, really would like to know what their experience in that program was like / what the post-grad ops were like for them.

I recognized pretty late in college that I really enjoy research so I applied mostly to places where I think I'll have a good option to continue in the industry afterwards if I choose, or get a PhD (Stanford ICME, Princeton MFIN, Columbia MSFE). Tried hard to hammer into my apps that I already know I can be a quant (given my job as a quant :^)) and that I think graduate school is a really good way to enhance my skillset so I can eventually become a leader.

Definitely understand that my profile is pretty good (don't want to come across as falsely humble / a braggart), I just have a lot of hang-ups regarding the GPA which admittedly is probably fair given that Columbia's MSFE, or MIT MFin's posted average GPAs are like 3.8s

 

[SSNauticaFin]

Hey Everyone!
Recently received an invite from Princeton for the first round interview. Any tips/suggestions or particular questions that I should focus on more? RT im prepping on the lines of a general interview and going over my CV/SOP.

 

[SSNauticaFin]

Hey Everyone!

Recently received an invite from Princeton for the first round interview. Can someone shed some light on what kind of questions one can expect? Thank you!

 

[yxxy]

Hey Everyone!

Recently received an invite from Princeton for the first round interview. Can someone shed some light on what kind of questions one can expect? Thank you!

Congratulations for getting the interview! Would you mind sharing a bit about your background?

 

[SSNauticaFin]

Congratulations for getting the interview! Would you mind sharing a bit about your background?

Thank you!
Sure, I am from India. I graduated with a gold medal from IIT (top engineering institute in my country) with a GPA of 9.68/10 specializing in mathematics and computing (Dual Degree ie Bachelors + Masters ). During my undergraduate education, I pursued three international research internships, published 2 papers, and was awarded an international scholarship ( selection rate of 1%) to pursue my master's thesis in an IVY league university. I was also the secretary of the cultural council in my college and received a letter of appreciation from the Indian Prime Minister for organizing events to celebrate the cultural exuberance of the city where my institute was situated (Yeah, this was a bit wild :D). I was awarded the IIT Blue (highest student honor in IIT) for the same. Post-college, I have been working as a strategy analyst at JPMorgan in the risk management vertical (1.5 years), looking at securities and bond acquisitions. I am a CFA Level 2 candidate.
GRE : Q :170 ; V : 166 ; AWA : 5.0. Hope this helps!

 

[Jondoiever]

Hey Everyone!

Recently received an invite from Princeton for the first round interview. Can someone shed some light on what kind of questions one can expect? Thank you!

May I ask when you got your invite?

 

[tips]

Hey Everyone!

Recently received an invite from Princeton for the first round interview. Can someone shed some light on what kind of questions one can expect? Thank you!

Besides for saying the questions are strictly behavioral, can't really add much more (wouldn't really be fair to anyone whose already done their interview w/o further knowledge). Just to do the prep you would do for a first round interview that's primarily behavioral

 

[SSNauticaFin]

Besides for saying the questions are strictly behavioral, can't really add much more (wouldn't really be fair to anyone whose already done their interview w/o further knowledge). Just to do the prep you would do for a first round interview that's primarily behavioral

Thank you! I have been prepping on the same lines.

 

[_xd]

Just received an interview invitation. It seems like they are still rolling out their top 100 list.

 

[yxxy]

Just received an interview invitation. It seems like they are still rolling out their top 100 list.

Congratulations! Would you mind sharing a bit about your background?

 

[another]

Just received an interview invitation. It seems like they are still rolling out their top 100 list.

Cong, when did you submit your application btw?

 

[tips]

Don't believe when you submitted your app matters as far as when you get an interview (unless they've got a Last-In-First-Out policy) since I submitted my app the night before the deadline and already have interviewed

 

[merloyeti]

CMU is a good school; I had friend that graduated from the program. I don't get one thing though...if it's Covid all around..why do these quant schools insist on going to campus?? Can't they make it hybrid or online??

 

[Michsund]

CMU is a good school; I had friend that graduated from the program. I don't get one thing though...if it's Covid all around..why do these quant schools insist on going to campus?? Can't they make it hybrid or online??

Cmu is currently and has always been hybrid. We have always had ability to watch lectures from home and come to campus.

 

[_xd]

Cong, when did you submit your application btw?

Thanks man. Half an hour before the deadline.

 

[noether-skolem]

CMU is a good school; I had friend that graduated from the program. I don't get one thing though...if it's Covid all around..why do these quant schools insist on going to campus?? Can't they make it hybrid or online??

Practically speaking most of the hybrid classes are only hybrid to allow international students to get into the country (we need to have at least 1 class in hybrid or in-person mode for the visa). At least from what I've seen, in a 50-60 person class only 5-10 would actually come to the class physically. Most of us try to avoid going to campus unless necessary (libraries, covid testing, and perhaps covid vaccination later on).

So far I've had taken a total of 6 core courses for my program: 2 in Fall A (1 hybrid, 1 online), 2 in Fall B (1 hybrid, 1 online), 2 in Spring (1 hybrid, 1 online). It almost feels like they're intentionally having that 1 hybrid core course every semester.

 

[SSNauticaFin]

Does anyone know, by when the results would be out?

 

[WorkofArt]

I haven't applied to Princeton, but you can get a general idea from the tracker applications. They seem to offer admissions on a rolling basis from Feb by the looks of it. Majority of tracker applications have their result date in the first week of March though.
You have an excellent profile, I would be waiting for my admission letter if I were you.

 

[SSNauticaFin]

I haven't applied to Princeton, but you can get a general idea from the tracker applications. They seem to offer admissions on a rolling basis from Feb by the looks of it. Majority of tracker applications have their result date in the first week of March though.
You have an excellent profile, I would be waiting for my admission letter if I were you.

Thank you for the motivation mate! Has anyone received an invitation for the alumni Interview? I had asked Ms. Bracken about this and she mentioned that some admits might have one this cycle as well.

 

[mspinoza]

I didn't get an invite, but was informed that there is a possible (but not certain) alumni interview this year