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Profile Judgement

Joined
12/3/14
Messages
24
Points
13
Hey Everyone,

I noticed every once in a while you folks provide feedback for hopeful MFE admittees, and I've been pretty worried lately about my overall profile, so I guess any feedback would be great.

I'm in my penultimate year at UofT (Toronto) majoring in Statistics and Astrophysics.

Academics

UGPA: 3.5
This number looks better when I slice it differently, for example, math/stats gpa: 3.75, senior courses: 3.8
Discrepancies basically come from a poor first year, and the fact that I don't do as well in physics as I do in math/stats. Also, I didn't have that much motivation to do well in school when I was 18.

Relevant Courses: Within the Stats major there's a "stream" made for quantitative finance, which I'm in. It basically covers all the major topics I've seen required, from bond price calculations to copulas. The department head who oversees the stream is a guy who did a PhD in comp finance at Carnegie Mellon, and he TA'd the MSCF courses when he was there, so he's pretty solid on what future MFE kids should know.

Programming Experience: Solid R programming. Intermediate Python, I've taken two undergraduate courses, but have studied it on my own as well using the MIT online courses. I'm very very basic at C++, but once this semester is over I plan to enroll in an online course. I was thinking about the Baruch one advertised on this site, but I'm still doing some research to find the most cost effective course.

Work Experience

Macro Analyst Intern: 8 months under an investment advisor at top 5 Canadian bank, reporting on macroeconomic trends.

Sales & Trading Summer Analyst (4 months): Incoming intern for top 5 Canadian Bank trade floor, will be working on a CVA desk. I'm just really excited to be working on one of the more quanty desks.

GRE: So I haven't written this yet, but would love some insight on what scores are considered "bad", "good", and "very good".

Programs I'm interested in: I'm really interested in UCB, Cornell, and MIT.

I'll also def apply to the UofT program as well, but my top choices are the above.
 
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In terms of GRE: Very good: 330+, good: 325+, OK: 320 - 325. Bad 320-. These are just my opinion. Feel free to correct me.

ALso, I am from waterloo, currently in my third year, will apply next year for admission of Fall 2017, or March 2018 (UCB).

Hows your C++ skills? How many math courses have you done?

We can chat more in terms of my background.

If you are chinese, you can add my wechat.. 391346868.
else, FB/here would be good.
 
BTW, how many people at UofT are serious about MFE? how many do you think have been admitted to top MFe programs? and what does their bg look like?
 
BTW, how many people at UofT are serious about MFE? how many do you think have been admitted to top MFe programs? and what does their bg look like?
Thanks for reminding me about the programming experience, I'll edit my post.

Also, in regards to your question about if UofT kids are interested in quant finance, tbh I've met like 2 other people who were interested in the MFE. I've met more students at loo who are serious about quant finance than at UofT.

I think UofT kids love investment banking haha, and the math/stats/engineering kids who have the skill set to become quants are so consumed by the amount of work and stress that they don't put in the time to research how to become a quant.
 
Thanks for reminding me about the programming experience, I'll edit my post.

Also, in regards to your question about if UofT kids are interested in quant finance, tbh I've met like 2 other people who were interested in the MFE. I've met more students at loo who are serious about quant finance than at UofT.

I think UofT kids love investment banking haha, and the math/stats/engineering kids who have the skill set to become quants are so consumed by the amount of work and stress that they don't put in the time to research how to become a quant.


True. UofT kids prefer IB to Quant. But keep in mind that 22% of UCB graduates go to S&T, IB afterwards. So...MFe wouldn't be a wrong choice, altho it is more tailored toward Quant.

Lets get the conversation run in private messages I will reply you there.
 
Have you considered CMU? Your chances might be pretty good if you're able to get a recommendation from your dept head.
 
Have you considered CMU? Your chances might be pretty good if you're able to get a recommendation from your dept head.
I'm very likely to get a recommendation letter from my dept head since we're fairly close.

I've definitely considered CMU but the only thing that I think would work against me is their emphasis on being able to program in C++ beforehand, and my lack of experience in that category. Hopefully the summer online course I end up taking helps me feel more comfortable with my programming skills.
 
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C++ is not a hard requirement. You can still be admitted and be required to take a free C++ prep class (at CMU) before the program starts to satisfy the programming prerequisite. Obviously, having any programming experience beforehand is helpful.
 
C++ is not a hard requirement. You can still be admitted and be required to take a free C++ prep class (at CMU) before the program starts to satisfy the programming prerequisite. Obviously, having any programming experience beforehand is helpful.

If that's the case then yeah I'd definitely be interested in CMU. Do you happen to have any further info on the C++ prep class you mentioned.
 
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