Profile Evaulation for MFE 2022

[rayalahari]

1)BTech in Computer Science from top IIT (CGPA: 6.66)
2)1.5 years experience as a Quant Developer at a multi national Bank.
3) Strong quantitative skills and online courses in Calculus, Linear Algebra, Finance.
4)GRE score 325(Quant - 169)

Can I get into any top MFE programs in US

 

[Ismael Socheata]

Nobody can confirm that in advance.

As to your overall profile, the work experience and strong quantitative skills are an edge. Online courses usually are viewed as less convincing than courses that appear on your official transcript. You may need to confirm this with the Admission Office before you apply for a specific program. As far as I know, Cornell's MFE program doesn't consider these online courses as there is no room to upload these certificates in the application system. The GRE score is roughly the average of the top program's admission statistics. I don't know about the CGPA distribution in IIT, but it seems to be less competitive after I google-searched 'What is a good CGPA in IIT?', although IIT is well-known as a top university in India. This less competitive GPA will have some negative impact on your application process.

I think you should pay more attention to programs that do not have a "hard" GPA filter and view your application as a complete package. As quoted from the Baruch MFE's website, 'We look at every application as a complete package, which includes not only the quantifiable parts, such as GPA and test scores, but also the Personal Essay, Letters of Recommendation, and other general considerations, such as relevant work experience and the strength of the mathematical and C++ programming background of the applicant'. Pay more attention to programs like this.

My overall profile has some similarities with yours. I have an overall GPA of 3.49 out of 4.0 from a top 5 university in China, ranked roughly 30% among all my classmates, and I am applying for MFE this year. I've worked as a quant researcher intern for roughly 2 years and have some live trading strategies running at a million-dollar scale in a start-up firm. From my own experience, I got a quick rejection from the NYU tandon MFE program only one week after I applied. So this is the program I do not recommend you to apply to. Don't waste your time on it. Most top MFE program has at least given me interview opportunities, including the MIT Mfin program and the best MFE program of Baruch college. And there is some program that has specific interests in applicants with some full-time work experience, like the Gatech QCF program. You should give it a try.

Anyway, good luck with your future applications.

 

[darthvader]

Nobody can confirm that in advance.

As to your overall profile, the work experience and strong quantitative skills are an edge. Online courses usually are viewed as less convincing than courses that appear on your official transcript. You may need to confirm this with the Admission Office before you apply for a specific program. As far as I know, Cornell's MFE program doesn't consider these online courses as there is no room to upload these certificates in the application system. The GRE score is roughly the average of the top program's admission statistics. I don't know about the CGPA distribution in IIT, but it seems to be less competitive after I google-searched 'What is a good CGPA in IIT?', although IIT is well-known as a top university in India. This less competitive GPA will have some negative impact on your application process.

I think you should pay more attention to programs that do not have a "hard" GPA filter and view your application as a complete package. As quoted from the Baruch MFE's website, 'We look at every application as a complete package, which includes not only the quantifiable parts, such as GPA and test scores, but also the Personal Essay, Letters of Recommendation, and other general considerations, such as relevant work experience and the strength of the mathematical and C++ programming background of the applicant'. Pay more attention to programs like this.

My overall profile has some similarities with yours. I have an overall GPA of 3.49 out of 4.0 from a top 5 university in China, ranked roughly 30% among all my classmates, and I am applying for MFE this year. I've worked as a quant researcher intern for roughly 2 years and have some live trading strategies running at a million-dollar scale in a start-up firm. From my own experience, I got a quick rejection from the NYU tandon MFE program only one week after I applied. So this is the program I do not recommend you to apply to. Most of the other top MFE program has at least given me interview opportunities, including the MIT Mfin program, and the best MFE program of Baruch college. And there is some program that has specific interests in applicants with some full-time work experience, like the Gatech QCF program. You should give it a try.

Anyway, good luck with your future applications.

can confirm this about NYU Tandon. Any programs would you say have similar preferences to GaTech QCF?

 

[Ismael Socheata]

can confirm this about NYU Tandon. Any programs would you say have similar preferences to GaTech QCF?

I think that most programs in the top 10 (based on the ranking on Quantnet) do not say that have an explicit preference for full-time work experience, but they all like applicants with relative last work experience. From the info session of the MIT MFin, it is not designed for a career switch, so this program may be an exception. But many people including me don't consider it as a typical MFE program, so never mind. As far as I know, the UCB MFE program values full-time work experience a lot. Although they said on the Info session that no preliminary work experience is required for the application process.