Admission Questions for MFEs

[coinddukssang]

Hi, I'm a senior (domestic asian male) from a T50 school in the U.S. I major in mathematics and data science and have two years of research experience (with hopefully publications coming out by graduation). I have a 3.98/4.00 GPA with all A's in math/data science courses. I've taken multivar-calc, linear algebra, real analysis, measure theory, probability theory, mathematical statistics. I'm proficient in R and Python although have not studied C++.

My GRE score is 325 with 167Q and 158V and 4.0 writing.

I've been recently interested in studying financial engineering, and hopefully landing a job in quant post-grad. However, I'm worried that my lack of internship experience would hurt my profile in top schools. I'm only planning on applying to top schools, since I'm applying to PhD programs in other disciplines as well (stats/biostats). It's kind of a hit-or-miss strategy for MFEs.

To help my profile, I'm planning on taking financial mathematics and maybe accounting next semester.

My questions are:
1) How qualified am I for applying to top MFE schools such as Columbia, Princeton, MIT, UC berkeley, etc. What are some other programs that you recommend that have good job placements post-grad?
2) How much does work experience matter for applying to masters programs?
3) How can I translate my research experiences into applying for a MFE? (my researches has been related to applying ML methods in ecology, public health, and aerospace).

 

[MikeLawrence]

Don't take accounting. Financial math is good if you've got no other fin experience. It should be options stuff, if it's just time value of money... maybe don't.

1. You are very qualified, and should get into one of these. Add Baruch and CMU to the list, and Uchicago for backup- Uchicago gives incredible scholarships and I'd guess you get 60% off stated tuition.
2. For academic masters it matters less, but for MFE's it matters quite a bit. It isn't make or break, but it is very important. It lets them know that they can place you upon graduation, and if it's a well known company it signals you'll make the program look good.
3. I'm not as much help on this, but there isn't really much to it. No schools except for Princeton and Baruch have interviews as part of the admissions process- for these you need to have your methods and theory down pat. If you mention it, be able to work it- at the least, be able to explain it well. Otherwise, if the work led to a publication or something then put it in your resume.

 

[coinddukssang]

Thank you for the insights @MikeLawrence! Based on the course description for financial math, it covers: Mean-variance portfolio theory and its principal results, Capital Asset Pricing Model, measures of investment risk, Monte Carlo simulation, forwards and futures, call and put options, option strategies, put-call parity, binomial pricing models, lognormal distribution, Black--Scholes option pricing model, Option Greeks, and hedging.

Despite the lack of internship experience, would you say I have chance to get into one of the listed ones for MFE (Columbia, Princeton, MIT, UC Berkeley, Baruch, CMU, Uchicago)?

Lastly, would self-studying C++ (maybe a coursera) help a lot for admissions in the MFEs?

Thank you so much in advance!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Lastly, would self-studying C++ (maybe a coursera) help a lot for admissions in the MFEs?

Since C++ is one of the top skills that will serve you a long time, I would do it the right way from the beginning.
Take the QuantNet C++ course. It's the toughest one that teaches C++ from the ground up. It is highly recommended and has been taken by thousands of MFE applicants so its quality is well-known and time-tested.
It is not inexpensive but in the big scheme of things, it is one of the few things that has a very high ROI.

 

[MikeLawrence]

Lastly, would self-studying C++ (maybe a coursera) help a lot for admissions in the MFEs?

Absolutely. Like @Andy Nguyen says, take the C++ course offered here. It is top-notch and colleges recognize it.

Can't believe I forgot to say that in the first response.