Should I do an MFE?

[carrotweasel]

Hi everyone, I am a student at a nontarget studying Economics and Mathematics. I am interested in going into an MFE next year, but not sure if its worth it. I have an internship coming up working in the Chief Investment Office at an AM, and they do tend to return many of their interns. I am on track to graduate in December, but am thinking about accelerating my graduation to this May by overloading classes and applying to MFE programs. I am signed up to take the GRE and have all my reccomendation letters lined up, but am conflicted on whether an MFE or work experience would be more beneficial for my long-term career goals, which would be to work for a portfolio manager at a HF in some type of arbitrage or global macro. Thank you for your advice.

I am also wondering how competitive I would be for top MFE programs.
B in Calc 2
B+ in Calc 3
A in Econometrics(Graduate level)
A in Intro to Data Science
3.7 GPA

Taking Linear Algebra, Diff eq, advanced prob and stat now and will be taking stochastic processes, Machine Learning, and some more math classes next semester

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I assume you are domestic student?
Your profile at its current stage is not competitive for the most selective programs. You will get into some MFE programs but the question remains whether it's worth it or not.
Top programs' graduates can get 200K+ out of school. Graduates from other programs run much lower.
Consider where your current path will get you in 5-10 years. Consider where going to a top MFE will lead you.
Research what skills you need to "work for a portfolio manager at a HF in some type of arbitrage or global macro".
If you can get there without going to MFE programs, then stay and get more experience.
If not, consider invest time on making your profile much better and apply to top MFE programs.
Currently, you do not have enough math or none of the programming to apply and compete in this field.

 

[carrotweasel]

Hi Andy, thanks for the reply.
I think it is possible to get into these roles without an MFE, but it would be an uphill battle for me coming from a nontarget. Thankfully, the skills for having a better MFE profile and being a stronger job candidate have a lot of overlap, and I was hoping to use the MFE program to help me gain some of the math and programming skills to bridge the gap betweeen me and other candidates competing for similar roles.
If I were to apply with an A in ODE, Linear Alg, and Prob and Stats, and get a 170 GRE Quant, would this made me a decent candidate in my applications?
And how would you reccomend a student try and gain some of the programming skills? I have some practical experience programming, but as I am not a CS/DS major I do not have as much academic experience.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

If you are domestic applicant, things will be a bit easier for you.
Obviously, getting 170 Q and A on relevant math courses will remove barriers to acceptance but not an automatic ticket to top programs. With an acceptance rate of less than 10% at top MFE programs, you basically have to devote a year of full-time preparation to have a good shot.
My approach is if you aim for the very top programs, you may not get in but it will increase your chance at many other programs.
Take the C++ course here and the Python course. It's a proven courses taken by over 4,000 MFE applicants at this point.

 

[MikeLawrence]

If I were to apply with an A in ODE, Linear Alg, and Prob and Stats, and get a 170 GRE Quant, would this made me a decent candidate in my applications?

No. This is technically the bare minimum, but you're unprepared with just these. And the GRE is useless, it adds nothing to your profile.

And how would you reccomend a student try and gain some of the programming skills? I have some practical experience programming, but as I am not a CS/DS major I do not have as much academic experience.

The C++ course here is good. Start there.