Profile Review for MIT Mfin (2026 intake)

[not_iuc]

Hi! I only wanted to know thoughts about my chances for getting an interview for MIT's program because that's the only US school I'm applying to.

Demographic : 21F, Indian
Target Industry: Healthcare investment banking
Undergrad: Biomedical Engineering from a T5 IIT (GPA: 8/10), I graduate in 2026
GMAT Score: 755 (100 percentile)
Work Ex. :
1. I initially wanted to work in biomedical research so in summer of sophomore year, I interned at a well-known research facility in Europe (I'd won a pretty competitive fellowship for it).
2. Business research/ founder's office of a small startup
3. Financial Advisory intern at a Big 4 last summer

Biggest concerns/ red-flags: Coursework and grades; I have taken a lot of quantitative courses and can code but my grades in Linear Algebra and Multivariable Calc are bad (C in both). This is a bigger issue in general where my gpa was shit in the first 3 semesters because of a few medical issues (which was when I took both of these courses) but there's a visible upward trajectory after that and in the past 3 semesters, I have an almost perfect gpa. I was wondering if there's anything I could/should do to make up for this. I imagine that a high GMAT score does slightly offset my gpa in general but I'm anxious about grades in specific courses that MIT seems to care about.

Thanks!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Welcome to Quantnet.
There are ways to compensate for your low GPA. This is from another Indian applicant but he got into another program not MIT. Your profile may be a better fit for MIT given the flexible courses choice and career path.

Thread 'From Low CGPA to My Dream School: Columbia MAFN, NYU MFE, and More'

3/24/25

Hello QuantNet Community,

I wanted to share my journey to getting accepted into Columbia's MAFN program, NYU's MFE, NCSU's Mathematical Finance, and Nanyang Business School's MFE in Singapore. I'm still waiting on decisions from Columbia's MFE and GaTech's QCF. My hope is that this post helps those who feel limited by a low CGPA but are passionate about breaking into the world of quantitative finance.

My Biggest Drawback

• Low CGPA: I had a CGPA of 2.98/4.00 in both my undergrad and grad studies.
• Poor Math Grades: I had a B- in Mathematics 3 and a...

• Leggoo MFE
• Replies: 23
• Forum: Articles

• 
• 

 

[not_iuc]

Welcome to Quantnet.
There are ways to compensate for your low GPA. This is from another Indian applicant but he got into another program not MIT. Your profile may be a better fit for MIT given the flexible courses choice and career path.

Thread 'From Low CGPA to My Dream School: Columbia MAFN, NYU MFE, and More'

3/24/25

Hello QuantNet Community,

I wanted to share my journey to getting accepted into Columbia's MAFN program, NYU's MFE, NCSU's Mathematical Finance, and Nanyang Business School's MFE in Singapore. I'm still waiting on decisions from Columbia's MFE and GaTech's QCF. My hope is that this post helps those who feel limited by a low CGPA but are passionate about breaking into the world of quantitative finance.

My Biggest Drawback

• Low CGPA: I had a CGPA of 2.98/4.00 in both my undergrad and grad studies.
• Poor Math Grades: I had a B- in Mathematics 3 and a...

• Leggoo MFE
• Replies: 23
• Forum: Articles

• 
• 

Thanks for sharing! I'm unsure if anything significant is feasible now given the timeline but as things are, what would you say my chances are for being interviewed at MIT?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

What are other programs you apply to? What is your career goal?

 

[not_iuc]

What are other programs you apply to? What is your career goal?

I'd like to get into either Healthcare IB or consulting. I'm applying to programs in Europe that I know I'm more competitve for (LBS MFA, LSE, HEC Paris's MIF) but only applying to MIT in the US.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I see that you target the more traditional MFin program. In that case, you may want to look into the new Chicago Booth MiF program that just opened last year. I heard good things from alumni but haven't seen the first placement report yet.

 

[arohan]

I would strongly recommend connecting with alumni from the program and talk to them about your career goals. While MIT MFin does market itself as a generalist finance program, the vast majority of their candidates, especially internationals, end up in quant aligned jobs, not investment banking.

 

[Yuvraj Chauhan]

Just adding to what Arohan said above, I think as per MIT's latest employment report, ~40% of folks went into non-quant roles. I'd say that is pretty sizeable, and considering it is a batch with ~90% internationals, it represents a sizeable section of folks moving into non-quant finance roles. So yeah, MIT does look like a good choice