Prospective MFE 2027 Applicant - Profile Review & Suggestions

[siddg]

Greetings!

I am a prospective candidate from India planning to apply for MFE 2027 applications. I wanted to share my profile and ask for any suggestions to improve it. I have reviewed profiles on Tracker and LinkedIn, but would really appreciate a second opinion.

Education/Exams:
- Graduated from one of the top 7 IITs in 2024 with a major in Electrical Engineering (CGPA: 8.15/10 ~ 3.5/4) and a minor in Mathematics.
- Relevant Major Coursework (Uni/eq. US format): Calculus (BC/3), Linear Algebra & ODE (BB/3.5), Complex Analysis & PDE (AB/4), Prob & Random Processes (BC/3), DSA (AB/4), ML Architectures (BC/3)
- Relevant Minor Coursework (Uni/eq. US format): Measure Theory (BB/3.5), Scientific Computing (CD/2), Mathematical Stats (CC/2.5), Modern Algebra (BC/3), Differential Geometry (BC/3)
- Have appeared for CFA Level I in November (worst case might need to reappear in May)
- Planning to appear for GRE (targeting 325+ with Q: 169+)

Experience: Currently working at a global bank in a finance role involving analytics for regulatory stress tests (will complete 2 years by the time of applications). Did my summer internship during UG at a Big 4 firm as a consultant.

LORs: Will get one academic LoR from professor and one industry LoR from my manager

Motivation: I aim to transition into quantitatively rigorous roles at buy-side firms. While I'm aware that quant research is competitive and often PhD-leaning, I believe an MFE can help me build the right industry-focused skill set and position me for such roles.

Questions:
1) Based on my current profile (assuming I clear CFA Level I and score 325+ on the GRE), how should I divide schools into safe, target, and ambitious categories? I’m genuinely clueless which schools fall into each tier for me.
2) I am worried about how my math grades would reflect on my profile (I took math minor too lightly as I had no plans for MFE then and my target was just passing the courses to get a minor degree). I just realised that the deadlines for pre-MFE programs close within the next 2 days (1st dec for Baruch, 2nd dec for UCB). It would be really difficult to apply now as I have will have to start working on my CV and SOP for pre-MFE programs from scratch. Will it be helpful if I take these later/in the next cycle as well, if not how do I compensate for my concerning grades?
3) I am also worried that I have only 2 LoRs and no undergraduate research project. Should I prioritise picking up a part-time summer research project in quant/fin which would help me in my profile as well as an additional academic LoR?
4) Does there exist a schedule in which I can do all 3 – pre-MFE, research project, and GRE and still leave enough time to work on my SOPs?
5) Are there any other areas where I should focus my efforts over the next 10 months to strengthen my profile?

Thank you for your time!

 

[arohan]

1) Apply for all the top 10 programs
2) Poor grades in pre-reqs will be taken note of. However, you can cover up on them by strengthening other aspects of your profile. Being from an IIT already helps you. Having work ex also helps. Work on your SoPs, Essays, and LoRs.
3) You need more LoRs. A lot of programs require 3 LoRs. Additionally, you can’t expect the same recommenders to send LoRs to all programs you apply to on time. Its always good to have at least 1-2 recommenders as alternatives.
4) I wouldn’t bother with pre-MFEs. All programs run pre-MFE courses for their admitted candidates so you’ll be doing those anyway. Just focus on strengthening your application.
5) I’d consider rethinking your career goals for the purposes of your SoP and Essays. Vast majority of MFEs do not place well on the buy side and programs do not want to admit candidates who’s career goals do not align with the program’s outcomes and their pre-MFE profiles. Moving into front office bank roles would seem like a much more tempered and realistic career goal imo with transitioning to buyside as the long term goal.

 

[siddg]

1) Apply for all the top 10 programs
2) Poor grades in pre-reqs will be taken note of. However, you can cover up on them by strengthening other aspects of your profile. Being from an IIT already helps you. Having work ex also helps. Work on your SoPs, Essays, and LoRs.
3) You need more LoRs. A lot of programs require 3 LoRs. Additionally, you can’t expect the same recommenders to send LoRs to all programs you apply to on time. Its always good to have at least 1-2 recommenders as alternatives.
4) I wouldn’t bother with pre-MFEs. All programs run pre-MFE courses for their admitted candidates so you’ll be doing those anyway. Just focus on strengthening your application.
5) I’d consider rethinking your career goals for the purposes of your SoP and Essays. Vast majority of MFEs do not place well on the buy side and programs do not want to admit candidates who’s career goals do not align with the program’s outcomes and their pre-MFE profiles. Moving into front office bank roles would seem like a much more tempered and realistic career goal imo with transitioning to buyside as the long term goal.

Thanks for such a detailed and honest feedback, Arohan! Especially appreciate the advice on realigning career goals.

2) Based on the threads I read on forums, I thought that taking pre-mfe courses before applying and scoring well might help in strengthening my profile and push a few schools from ambitious to target category.
3) I don't think I can get more than 1 LoR from my uni profs. I will try to pick up a summer part time research internship for the 3rd LoR. Do you have any suggestions on how I can get the additional 1-2 LoRs? I am not very sure I can take up more than 1 internship along with my job work load.

 

[arohan]

Thanks for such a detailed and honest feedback, Arohan! Especially appreciate the advice on realigning career goals.

2) Based on the threads I read on forums, I thought that taking pre-mfe courses before applying and scoring well might help in strengthening my profile and push a few schools from ambitious to target category.
3) I don't think I can get more than 1 LoR from my uni profs. I will try to pick up a summer part time research internship for the 3rd LoR. Do you have any suggestions on how I can get the additional 1-2 LoRs? I am not very sure I can take up more than 1 internship along with my job work load.

2) Its very marginal and, imho, more of a cash grab by programs. Its really only useful if you do not have the required mathematical background, which you do by virtue of your undergrad. Additionally, it really won’t offset poor grades in undergrad. Your LoR, essays, SoP, Recommendations, work ex and all other aspects of your profile matter a lot more imo.

3) You have full time work experience. You should have at least one LoR from there. It will really not reflect well if you go in with full time work ex but cannot get a single LoR from your place of work. For places that require three you’d ideally want one academic LoR, one from an internship, and one from workplace. But you can also do 1 academic and 2 workplace (i’d recommend this more) or 2 academic and 1 workplace. In each category you should have an alternative. At least two profs, 2 internship/project supervisors, and 2 workplace supervisors ready to submit LoRs.

 

[siddg]

2) Its very marginal and, imho, more of a cash grab by programs. Its really only useful if you do not have the required mathematical background, which you do by virtue of your undergrad. Additionally, it really won’t offset poor grades in undergrad. Your LoR, essays, SoP, Recommendations, work ex and all other aspects of your profile matter a lot more imo.

3) You have full time work experience. You should have at least one LoR from there. It will really not reflect well if you go in with full time work ex but cannot get a single LoR from your place of work. For places that require three you’d ideally want one academic LoR, one from an internship, and one from workplace. But you can also do 1 academic and 2 workplace (i’d recommend this more) or 2 academic and 1 workplace. In each category you should have an alternative. At least two profs, 2 internship/project supervisors, and 2 workplace supervisors ready to submit LoRs.

Thanks Arohan! This is really helpful.