I started off as an accounting major, because my parents always told me that "you are good at math so you should do accounting" and that accounting is a safe career (really paying off during these hard times though). However, I'm not sure if I like accounting. I recently took the GMAT and got a 50 in math, which I would say is pretty good for someone that hasn't done math since AMC 10. My question is, is it even possible for me to get into a good MFE school, with no programming skills (except a little bit of dabbling on Udemy and coursera) and only cal 2?
Quant route for a non STEM major?
- Thread starter Blunder
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"Is it even possible for me to get into a good MFE school, with no programming skills (except a little bit of dabbling on Udemy and coursera) and only cal 2?"
No, of course not. Would you want classmates that don't know math and programming anyways?
So what your question really should be is: "Is it even possible for me to take the necessary prerequisites for a good MFE school?". The answer to this fortunately would be a resounding yes. Look at the prerequisites for the programs you are interested in and start taking those classes part time, or online if from an accredited university.
Hey. I am also thinking of becoming a quant without STEM degree. What I have is bsc in economics followed by msc in finance and accounting (specialization financial markets). I too thought about MFE, but combining two similar finance msc degrees put me off, so I chose to learn the missing skills by studying on my own.
I think you should have a reasonable chance for MFE maybe not in a top program, but accounting qualifies as numerical degree I believe. You would have to study the prerequisites on your own, mainly linear algebra, calculus 1-3, probability and statistics from what I saw.
I think you should have a reasonable chance for MFE maybe not in a top program, but accounting qualifies as numerical degree I believe. You would have to study the prerequisites on your own, mainly linear algebra, calculus 1-3, probability and statistics from what I saw.
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Could be an uphill battle, but if you have the ability and want it badly enough, I think it's definitely possible. But you will have to build on your skills & education before applications, and highlight the areas that make you strong as a candidate and future industry professional. I'm in a similar boat as you, economics major who wants to apply to MFE programs for the next admissions season. Currently taking the C++ course offered on this site, and plan to take Calc 3 in the summer and probability & differential equations in the fall, to at least have the basics down. Hopefully kill it on the GRE and find other ways to improve my candidacy. I think you should try to do the same, you'd be surprised how much you could get done in a year of preparation.
