Profile Evaluation - Fall 2025

[sohamjoshi]

I would greatly appreciate your insights and advice regarding my profile as I prepare to apply for MS in Financial Engineering programs. Below are the key highlights of my background:

Education:
BTech in Mechanical Engineering from NITK, with a CGPA of 8.48
Relevant coursework in mathematics, statistics, and programming
Completed an ML and Data Science course from UpGrad

Standardized Tests:
GRE: 319 (Quant: 166, Verbal: 153)
TOEFL: Reading 29, Listening 27 (waiting on writing and speaking scores)

Work Experience:
HSBC: 2+ years as a credit risk analyst (promoted to senior analyst), working on credit risk modeling and analysis
Tata Motors: Sales and marketing experience
Internship: Mercedes Benz (Pune) in supply chain management, focused on optimizing box packaging to reduce the carbon footprint

Certifications:
Cleared FRM Part 1 on the first attempt

Awards:
Ramanujan Scholarship in Junior Math Olympiad
Rising Star Award at HSBC for outstanding performance
Goal: I aim to build a strong career in quantitative finance, particularly in risk management and derivatives, and stay in either the US or Europe for about 5 years to maximize learning and earning potential.

Goals: My goal is to pursue a career in quantitative finance, particularly in risk management, derivatives, and financial modeling.

Given my profile and goals, I would appreciate your feedback on the following:
How competitive am I for the below MFE programs?
1. Baruch
2. Princeton
3. Cornell
4. CMU
5. Columbia
6. Georgia Tech

Thank you in advance for your time and advice. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Risk management is a good growth segment with more jobs opportunities.
I'm curious in your thought process in short listing those programs. It may be better to expand the list more to include NCSU which traditionally place into risk management jobs in regional banks.
How is your programming skills? C++ or Python?

 

[arohan]

Need to bump up that GRE score (168+ Quant 70+ percentile verbal). Apply more broadly. If you wish to work in Risk Management, a lot of the programs would place you well, you don’t necessarily need to be in the top 5/10 programs. So, I’d say focus on finding programs more aligned with your goals than just applying to the best ranked programs.

 

[sohamjoshi]

@Andy Nguyen I have a data science in python certification, as well as proficient in C++
While my experience is in risk management, I'm also interested in quantitative research. I'm keeping my options open. Could you assist me in putting together a list of additional colleges?
@arohan

 

[arohan]

@Andy Nguyen I have a data science in python certification, as well as proficient in C++
While my experience is in risk management, I'm also interested in quantitative research. I'm keeping my options open. Could you assist me in putting together a list of additional colleges?
@arohan

Off the top of my head, I’d say apply to at most two out of Baruch, Princeton, CMU (prolly just CMU), 2-3 from UCB, Columbia, Courant, Cornell, Chicago, MIT and 2-3 from UCLA, GeorgiaTech, NCSU, Tandon (this last bucket is prolly where you might get a lot of value since they aren’t the most competitive programs but all place pretty well in risk). But do go through employment reports of each and see where all do they place their students. I would suggest dropping Princeton and Baruch altogether because they are too competitive and aren’t exactly aligned with what your career goals are. It’s prolly going to be a waste applying there for you.