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Profile Evaluation

Joined
8/30/19
Messages
4
Points
11
Hi,

I am currently preparing for masters in financial engineering, and my target masters programs are columbia mfe, nyu, and cmu.
I understand that it is very difficult to be admitted to prestigious program but I want to give my best try.
Your comments would be of great help to in setting direction for the rest of period before admission.

Status :
  • Preparing for masters program initiating 2020
  • University Related :
    • university in north east asia (not china), currently pursuing final year
    • double major in Computer Science and Business Management
    • GPA : 4.15/4.3 (= 3.86/4.0)
  • Work experience
    • Consulting Firm : research intern, BCG, finance digitalization sector
    • Venture Capital : intern, Fintech related
    • 2 internships as Software engineer at startups
  • GRE :
    • v : 155, q: 169, aw: 4.0 (it was my first test and currently planning on taking a few more tests)
  • Others :
    • FRM Level1
Questions :
  1. Overall possibility of getting into target masters program (columbia mfe, nyu, and cmu) + any rooms for improvement
  2. Is current GRE score good enough? Though higher scores would be obviously be better, your answer will help me decide whether to focus on things other than gre.
  3. Will getting scores in GRE Subject Math work as critical factor, in case of student like me who has no related quant job experience and has not majored in math or statistics?

Thanks!
 
Looking good overall, but you don't mention math at all. That's going to hurt.

Check out the pre-reqs for these programs on their websites - they are not shy about sharing the info.

Let us know what you learn.
 
Looking good overall, but you don't mention math at all. That's going to hurt.

Check out the pre-reqs for these programs on their websites - they are not shy about sharing the info.

Let us know what you learn.

Thank you for your reply.
I realize that pre-reqs courses encompass subjects such as linear algebra, calculus (multivariate included), statistic (stochastic etc).
I have the knowledge, only to some extent, of these subjects but currently do not hold any qualifications to prove so.

In this case would taking GRE subject math be a good choice?
or receiving on online certificates from courses such as Coursera, Edx be a better choice?
Any suggestion would be of great help!
 
Last edited:
Thank you for your reply.
I realize that pre-reqs courses encompass subjects such as linear algebra, calculus (multivariate included), statistic (stochastic etc).
I have the knowledge, to some extent, of these subjects but currently do not hold any qualifications to prove so.
In this case would taking GRE subject math be a good choice? or receiving on online certificates from courses such as Coursera, Edx be a better choice? Any suggestion would be of great help!

Probably you're smarter than I am, but I had a near terminal case of Dunning-Kruger syndrome. I now try to raise awareness of this in the community. A founder of one of the top MFE programs recommended treatment consiting of 5 grad level courses of the subjects above, which worked. Not only would I have failed out, I wouldn't have been very useful after graduation.

Baruch prep courses are the gold standard.
UCB / Chicago might be good as well.
Local community college or continuing ed part of city university also good.
Online courses (coursera) can be helpful, but programs won't count them.
 
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