• C++ Programming for Financial Engineering
    Highly recommended by thousands of MFE students. Covers essential C++ topics with applications to financial engineering. Learn more Join!
    Python for Finance with Intro to Data Science
    Gain practical understanding of Python to read, understand, and write professional Python code for your first day on the job. Learn more Join!
    An Intuition-Based Options Primer for FE
    Ideal for entry level positions interviews and graduate studies, specializing in options trading arbitrage and options valuation models. Learn more Join!

Quant score for MFE programs

gradaplicant

gradaplicant

Joined
11/2/11
Messages
86
Points
18
Hi, this is a repost of a thread that I had previously posted but don't believe I got any answers and the discussion moved away from the topic.

I am currently applying to CMU, Princeton, Cornell, Columbia and NYU.

I just got my GRE scores and I only received a 162 (87% below) in the quant section.

What my main concern is and what I meant to ask was that every school must surely have a filter, where they filter out applicants before really looking at the application (I doubt Princeton would spend time reading the SOP from a student with a GPA of 2.5 and a quant score of 600).

So my question is, is there a chance I will be filtered out at any of these schools before hand because of my 162 (770-780) quant score? I have a GPA of 3.95 (4.00 on all mathematical and financial courses) and an interesting story/work history that should weigh up the low quant score. All I was thinking was: Is the quant score to low for them to even consider/look at the application?

I see for example that Columbia mentions on their site that almost all applicants have a Quant score of 690 or higher, and Cornell mentions 740. I do have doubts about these numbers from what I have read on this site where people for example say that a score of 770 is an instant No from most of the programs (and therefore surely from top programs like the ones I mentioned above).

Can anyone here comment on this? Do you know of anyone that has gotten into any of these programs with a Quant score of 780 or lower?
 
Average quant score of admitted MFE students at Cornell last year was 791, just so you know.

Dont know about the filter though. I got 169(98 percentile) on quant and am hoping its not too low.
 
I should probably mention that I applied to NYU-Poly MFE and am considering Rutger's MQF. Is it possible that these two programs might have a lower standard if I get automatically rejected by the other four?
 
gradaplicant said:
I should probably mention that I applied to NYU-Poly MFE and am considering Rutger's MQF. Is it possible that these two programs might have a lower standard if I get automatically rejected by the other four?
Click to expand...

i think getting into Rutgers and NYU-Poly for you should be easy. The more important question is that if it is worth going to these institutions in current market conditions
 
Andy Nguyen said:
Is there any good reason you don't want to retake it?
Click to expand...

Where I live the test is only held two times a year, and the next time will be in February which I believe is to late? I could retake the exam but it would be costly and require traveling abroad.
 
Andy Nguyen said:
Wow. Didn't know that rule. Before, you can take once a month.
You can retake the paper version if it's offered at your location
http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/register
Click to expand...

the reason i think this rule was implemented is because lot of tutor sort of people were retaking the tests thereby inflating the actual student average.

Paper GRE: I think only left in African and some south American countries
 
Is 168 quant good enough for MIT/Princeton? If we go by percentile, this is higher than 800/800 in the old system. I do a Maths and Economics degree, so there should really be no question of my quantitative abilities.
 
Back
Top