US financial engineering program for a French guy

[Frenchie]

Hello everybody,

I am a French guy and I am going to do my second year of engineering school in september 2008 => june 2009. And i have plenty of unanswered questions :smt024 but I'll try to make it short.

First of all, the French system : 2 years of "classes préparatoires" in which students study very intensively maths and physics. Then a competitive nationwide exam to determine in which school you are going to be. In my school I've studied applied mathematics, C , probabilities and during 2008/2009 year, I'll study advanced probabilities, statistics, Java & C++ and an introduction to finance ( no need to talk about physics here I guess ).

Instead of doing my third year ( during which you study your "major" ) in France, we are allowed to attend to a Master of Science and of course I'm interested in financial engineering ones.

The problem is that I will be 22 for the year 2009-2010 and without a relevant work experience in the world of finance. So i think my knowledge on several subjects could be limited compared to some other students.

That's why I would like to ask you if a relevant work experience is required to get into Baruch program for example. ( or other programs ) ( for example i know it's needed for berkeley ).
Moreover, I would like to know the average age of the incoming students.

If there is something you don't understand because of my English, feel free to ask me.

Thank you


:tiphat:

 

[cstassen]

Hello

First: it is possible to get in without work experience if you are VERY good. I didn't have fulltime exp, got some part time though, and got in - probably somewhere in between! You could go for the UK, in which there are masters that require no work exp. Fx Cambridge or Oxford or LSE. Which school are you at?

Second, the french system is highly regarded in finance. if you do eg the DEA El karoui, then every door will be open for you! what about that??

 

[Frenchie]

I am in an engineering school not known outside France ( Telecom ).
Nevertheless, it's usually ranked among the top 15-20 french engineering schools.

I know the DEA El Karoui which is the second year of the University Pierre&Marie Curie "Probabilités et applications" program. Parallely to my school, I'm currently in the first year of this program, even if it does not imply that I will be selected for the second year... ( very difficult to get in ).
That means that I could also do the DEA EL Karoui ( if selected ) instead of my 3rd year. But I would prefer an American master because the Karoui is too theoretical for me. Something applied would be perfect.

Of course I will also try to go to the UK because they are less regarding about work experience, even if I would prefer the Ameican way of life :p

Thank you for your reply

:tiphat:

 

[Frenchie]

Hello,

I'm back again.
I made lots of research on several masters websites but I did not manage to get some relevant information about the average age of incoming students.

That's why I would like to ask you if you have such information, especially for Toronto University, University of Southern California, Baruch College ( ), Goergia Tech, Boston and Columbia...

My goal is to find a good master in mathematical finance or financial engineering which could be attended with no ( or not a lot ) relevant work experience.

If someone could help me with this,

Thank you

 

[dstefan]

For the Baruch MFE Program, the median age of the Fall 2008 students is 25-26 years. Work experience is not a requirement, although it is helpful. I would guess about a quarter of our students do not have relevant full-time work experience.