Will clearing CFA help getting admit in MSFE programs?

[myampol]

http://www.cfainstitute.org/about/membership/process/Pages/work_experience.aspx

 

[utkarsh dalmia]

I think it depends on a lot of things. FRM is a definite plus if you want a career in risk management. I have attended a few online chats of CMU, MIT, etc and they like if a candidate has CFA/FRM (even a fresher) as long as you can justify why you're doing it. You have good grades, it'd help if you are from one of the premier institutes. and 161 on GRE might be a little less. I'd say 165+ is safe (more the better always applies) if you have a good profile, below that it gets tricky and you would not know if GRE was the reason for rejection. Don't know how much help interning at reuters will be of. which dept in Reuters? Paper on what? Basically, there are a lot of variables involved, if you think you can make it, you should give it a shot.
PS: you might wanna apply to Boston, Rutgers to hedge your options. NYU and Baruch are highly selective and difficult to get into.

 

[ygmwy]

Your Quant GRE score is a little low for the top schools. What is your paper on? You stand a decent shot, but now you need to meld that together with a really good statement of purpose and interview. If anything is going to stop you, it's going to be that, or your 161 Quant score.

 

[ygmwy]

And by the way, most quant grad schools are not that interested in CFA or FRM as an admission requirement. It is a plus, and makes you more marketable as a candidate, which means it is easier for the school to find you a job. However, in terms of getting in, the CFA or FRM designation is second to your ability to handle tough graduate level mathematics courses in rapid succession, and learn the framework for being a quant in only one short year. (Or 1.5 years, or 2 years). In my class, there are many with CFAs, and many without CFAs. Our program director even mentioned that CFAs are really not that important to being a quant, and that this is something typically done after going through the quant norms for those quants that want to be investors. Not saying that is hurts, but this is definitely not something you should be focusing on for admission.

 

[utkarsh dalmia]

@wayoung, couldn't agree more!