Aloha!

[Kiran George]

Hello everyone,

Stumbled across Quantnet while Googling various FE searches, nice community you guys got going on here!

I'm Kiran, just graduated from the Birla Institute of Tech and Science (BITS) , Dubai with a B.E (Hons) in Electronics and Instrumentation. After much thought I've decided to pursue a career as a "Quant".I've been doing a bit of research on the job oppurtunities and various career paths and functional roles available for a FE and it's definitely piqued my interest.

I've started preparing my apps for Fall' 08 and am currently in the process of shortlisting universities. Unfortunately most of the people I've talked to have'nt got the slightest clue as to what Financial Engineering is and many of them have actually gone to the lenghts of warning me off a career in FE and actually sticking to my stream of expertise :wall

Would be great if you guys tell me if I can get some kind of an online certification course that would enchance my profile, for example I hear the Haas School at Berkeley reccomends an online certification programme for the students interested in doing a MFE there.

Another query, how good is the MFE programme at the Polytechnic Uni in NY.A friend was urging me to go coz he thinks their merger with NYU would be a great for Poly students.

Look forward to hearing from you guys!
Cheers

 

[Yuriy]

Another query, how good is the MFE programme at the Polytechnic Uni in NY.A friend was urging me to go coz he thinks their merger with NYU would be a great for Poly students.

Cheers

As I heard from graduates of the Polytechnic's FE program, their program is a bit disorganized and does not give as much math and CS as other similar programs. They don't have strong courses in Stochastics, PDEs, Programming, Statistics - a must haves of an FE program. They mostly have courses that will give you a clue about various things that you can do in finance. (I am very sorry to say these things being an Alum of Poly)

I'm not sure how their merger with NYU will wenefit FE students. NYU has its own program in the same area. So I don't really know what will happen.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I don't have first hand experience with UCB online cert program but it isn't the cheapest or most assured way to gain entry to the MFE program there. If you can afford to pay there, probably should take a look.

There are few threads about Polytech on QN. You can search it up. Have you looked at the Quantnet wiki ?
Poly merges with NYU ? Nobody knows what will happen with respect to Poly MFE and NY MF programs. If anything, it will takes years. These things don't happen overnight.

http://media.www.nyunews.com/media/...h.Merger.Passed.By.Nyu.Trustees-3023468.shtml

The arrangement would result in NYU becoming the 153-year-old engineering school's sole shareholder.

The university would then appoint a board to run Polytechnic as a separate entity until it gradually became integrated with NYU's other schools, NYU president John Sexton has said.

The interim period will allow Polytechnic to build its strength as a university to "match NYU," Hultin said.

While officials from both schools have lauded the academic benefits of the merger, Polytechnic's Alumni Association has been especially vocal about its opposition to the deal.

The association has been particularly concerned that the merger would serve more as an acquisition, with NYU acquiring Polytechnic's $137 million endowment and real estate holdings.

 

[Kiran George]

Thanks for the replies guys!

I've all but struck off Poly from my list.In addition to all the negative feedback and I also hear that the chances of getting placed after completion of the FE program isnt all that great.

Baruch seems to have one helluva FE program but I don't think I'd make that cut with the acceptance rates coming down to 14%.

Andy,I was'nt talking about UCB's online certification for FE, I was referring to an online certification in some Finance program as a pre requisite for their MFE program and was wondering if anyone had heard about it coz I'd like to check it out and perhaps complete it before I send out my apps.

 

[Yuriy]

I don't know much about placement of Poly's FE graduates. I don't even know if their FE program is actively involved in job placement. What I know for a fact is that Poly's Career Service office has been doing a great job in placing undergrads.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Andy,I was'nt talking about UCB's online certification for FE, I was referring to an online certification in some Finance program as a pre requisite for their MFE program and was wondering if anyone had heard about it coz I'd like to check it out and perhaps complete it before I send out my apps.

That's the one I was talking about. The impression I got from others who applied to UCB is that they ask some students to take and pass those online courses before giving final decision. i don't know what happens if you voluntarily pay and take those courses. It may or may not help but it isn't cheap.