Ways to improve my profile

[potatopeeler]

Hey,

I am planning to apply for MFE programs for Fall 2024. I am currently in the phase of closing down my crypto startup, and I will have a lot of time before applications start. Hence, I would like to know how to strengthen my applications.

Profile:

Academics:
BE (Tier II/III) in Electronics: 6.75/10 (I know it isn't good)
MBA (Top 15) (Marketing): 7.74/10 (There is no official ranking, but it is in the top 10% of the class)

Research Paper:
Consumer Perspective around E-groceries in India - Presented at a conference

Certifications:
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt by KPMG
15+ Coursera certifications related to research, marketing and analytics.

POR:
Chairperson of the IEEE committee during my BE.

Work Ex:
1. Co-founder of an e-commerce startup with lifetime sales of 250K+ euros.
2. Co-founder of an NFT marketplace looking to tokenise non-fungible assets - raised close to $2M
3. Co-founder of an options platform for NFTs (under the same parent company)

Internships:
1. Market Research for a social networking startup.
2. Research & Strategy for a waste management startup.
3. Brand re-launch for an FMCG company.

Awards:
1. Most competitive business leader during my MBA (out of 25K+ students across top B-schools in India)
2. Multiple case competition wins related to marketing and research and one related to finance.

Now, things that worry me are:
a. A degree in Marketing and low grades might make me seem unfit for a career in Finance.
b. My experience at a crypto startup might be seen as a negative since we had to shut it down.

I am looking at certifications, jobs, internships, or anything else that I could do to increase my chances of getting into a good MFE program in the USA. Any suggestions?

I can also try for CFA Level 1 but would like to only do that if necessary.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

You need a focused plan on how to strengthen and transform your profile.
Research on the best programs that will accept you. Dont just apply randomly.
Take math courses that these programs require. Take the C++ courses which will satisfy the programming requirement and make you hireable right away. There are online courses you can take these days, many are even free. We have courses that are specifically tailored for MFE applicants and for people aiming to be quants.
Read books (we have a master reading list here).
Start today.

 

[potatopeeler]

You need a focused plan on how to strengthen and transform your profile.
Research on the best programs that will accept you. Dont just apply randomly.
Take math courses that these programs require. Take the C++ courses which will satisfy the programming requirement and make you hireable right away. There are online courses you can take these days, many are even free. We have courses that are specifically tailored for MFE applicants and for people aiming to be quants.
Read books (we have a master reading list here).
Start today.

Thank you for replying.

1. I already have completed all the pre-requisites including C++ during my engineering.

2. What would be the best way to research programs? I haven’t found any profile similar to mine, hence it is difficult to draw parallels.

3. Definitely going to start reading but how does that help me in applications?

I have read and researched extensively on Decentralised Finance, and derivatives and probably have a better command on them than most finance majors who have just graduated.

Also, I have been trading for the past 7-8 years now, just my personal portfolio though. Equity and Crypto.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Reading the books will help you express better why you want to do an MFE and how you fit into the picture. They will interview you.
Many programs have courses in DeFi, crypto so your experience will help.
Again, there are hundreds of applicants for every program so they expect you to at least meet the minimum requirement.

 

[potatopeeler]

Reading the books will help you express better why you want to do an MFE and how you fit into the picture. They will interview you.
Many programs have courses in DeFi, crypto so your experience will help.
Again, there are hundreds of applicants for every program so they expect you to at least meet the minimum requirement.

Understood. To be very honest, right now I am worried about how to reach the interview stage. I love reading and usually read finance/economics related books anyway.

I am very confused about whether to get some certificates or get a job anywhere related to Finance.

In that scenario, how would you order the following:

a. Math courses
b. Programming Courses
c. CFA
d. Anything else?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

A relevant finance job or internship is much more valuable than a bunch of certificates. Lots of people collect Coursera certificates so those have much less weight these days.
CFA is a huge investment in time which may not be necessary. Some programs like their applicants to do that but it's rather the exception than the norm.
I would do the programming courses first than the math courses and take care of whatever left.

 

[potatopeeler]

A relevant finance job or internship is much more valuable than a bunch of certificates. Lots of people collect Coursera certificates so those have much less weight these days.
CFA is a huge investment in time which may not be necessary. Some programs like their applicants to do that but it's rather the exception than the norm.
I would do the programming courses first than the math courses and take care of whatever left.

Awesome. Thank you very much for your time and insights. I appreciate it.

 

[yannten]

A relevant finance job or internship is much more valuable than a bunch of certificates. Lots of people collect Coursera certificates so those have much less weight these days.
CFA is a huge investment in time which may not be necessary. Some programs like their applicants to do that but it's rather the exception than the norm.
I would do the programming courses first than the math courses and take care of whatever left.

Andy, you mentioned that "certain programs" like their applicants to go through the CFA. Could you be more specific and precise which are these programs please ? I am assuming that it would mainly be the MFin programs such as Princeton, or MIT but I have also heard that the CFA could be beneficial for applicants at Berkeley as well.

I would greatly appreciate any feedback about the potential benefits (or not) of the CFA (level 1) for applicants of these programs mentioned and other top 10 MFE. Thank you !

 

[MikeLawrence]

Go to LinkedIn and search for profiles from these schools. Count the number of CFA's. Voila.

Andy, you mentioned that "certain programs" like their applicants to go through the CFA. Could you be more specific and precise which are these programs please ? I am assuming that it would mainly be the MFin programs such as Princeton, or MIT but I have also heard that the CFA could be beneficial for applicants at Berkeley as well.

I would greatly appreciate any feedback about the potential benefits (or not) of the CFA (level 1) for applicants of these programs mentioned and other top 10 MFE. Thank you !