Profile Evaluation and advice in selecting a programme

[Quasar Chunawala]

Hi all,

I am newbie here and looking for some advice in selecting the right program(s) in MSFE and get my profile evaluated. This is my brief background:

• Engineering in IT(Information Technology) from a tier-II college in India. Basic knowledge of C, C++, Java, MS Excel.
  
• CFA Level I candidate (Dec 2014).
• 5 years experience as an IT programmer(worked on mainframe legacy platforms) that includes 2.5 years of experience with a leading depository bank. Worked as a developer on the bank's custody application(that safekeeps securities, trade processing and corporate actions processing) and and a money market funds platform.
• I am yet to take GRE/GMAT.

My objective is to work as a quantitative trader in US/South East Asia(the likes of Singapore) for a few years. I am also taking up MOOCs and brushing up calculus, probability & stats, differential equations. I plan to learn basic stochastic calculus.

My queries -
1. I plan to pursue MSFE in 2016. In general, by when should my GRE/GMAT scores be ready, and what are the admission deadlines for 2016?
2. What about scholarships for international students? Do universities award scholarships for those who need it?
3. Any areas I should work towards.

 

[mhy]

1) You should take your GRE/GMAT early enough so that your score is received by the schools you're applying to before their relevant deadlines. I suggest having the scores sent so it arrives 1-2 weeks or even earlier in advance, since schools are flooded with information near the deadline and information can get lost/delayed easily. It takes about 2-3 weeks for GRE scores to be sent to schools so that means you should ideally take the GRE 5 or more weeks before the earliest deadline. Admission deadlines vary by school.

If you are applying for Fall 2016 admission, most deadlines are in late fall 2015 / spring 2016, so you would probably want to take the test before the end of summer 2015.

2) You must be prepared to finance your education in full via your own/family funds or loans and should not expect any financial aid. You will need to prove that you have enough money to cover tuition & living expenses when you apply for your visa. Some programs give scholarships but the amount is at most 25-30% of the full tuition. As far as I know, no MFE programs give need-based aid.

3) Make yourself aware of admission prerequisites for MFE programs and make sure you have them covered. You don't want to submit an application only to find out that you missed a requirement and don't have enough time to remediate.

 

[Quasar Chunawala]

On point (2), do the colleges provide a loan facility? Back here in India, most banks offer loans upto INR 2,000,000 (approx $35,000).

 

[mhy]

You might be able to get a loan in the US (either through the school or other private lender) but it will be difficult because you probably lack credit in the US. If you have any relatives living in the US you may be able to get a loan with them as cosigners.