Bridge to MFE? (Financial Engineering Certificate)

[cleverdonk]

I am currently considering the option of MFE as a gateway into a career in quant finance. My undergrad is not math heavy, so boosting this part of my application seems like a good idea. I have come across FE Certificates such as this one from Columbia and this one from Stevens. Of course, Baruch has some courses hosted here on QuantNet as well, but I feel as though I may need more than that to be a strong candidate for MFE programs.

Anyways, I was wondering if anyone had any experience with these certificate programs, and if they would be a good bridge to MFE. Perhaps a postbacc would be more appropriate? I am a bit lost on what to do here so any information/advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[inspector_javert]

There is a course on edX by MIT titled Mathematical Methods for Quantitative Finance, which is not bad.

 

[cleverdonk]

There is a course on edX by MIT titled Mathematical Methods for Quantitative Finance, which is not bad.

From my understanding, colleges are looking for coursework that is accredited from an institution, not taken on something like coursera or edX

 

[blrichard]

From my understanding, colleges are looking for coursework that is accredited from an institution, not taken on something like coursera or edX

it'll work for prep purposes most likely, but for admission purposes, you could take courses in math as a non-degree student at a local school or something. it would probably be cheaper and better quality than certificates. if you're working, you might be able to do 2 courses a term, you should have enough math if you can get through calc 3, lin alg 2, ODEs, and some stats and probability, or something stats adjacent, that usually covers the minimum requirements based on what I've seen on admission pages. Takes you a 1.5-2 years on 1-2 courses a term if you start from the bottom. Real analysis, PDEs, complex analysis, measure theory, topology, combinatorics, etc would certainly help but would take extra time and might be overkill.

NCSU compared to other programs is more lenient about math background, you could check them out.

 

[cleverdonk]

it'll work for prep purposes most likely, but for admission purposes, you could take courses in math as a non-degree student at a local school or something. it would probably be cheaper and better quality than certificates. if you're working, you might be able to do 2 courses a term, you should have enough math if you can get through calc 3, lin alg 2, ODEs, and some stats and probability, or something stats adjacent, that usually covers the minimum requirements based on what I've seen on admission pages. Takes you a 1.5-2 years on 1-2 courses a term if you start from the bottom. Real analysis, PDEs, complex analysis, measure theory, topology, combinatorics, etc would certainly help but would take extra time and might be overkill.

NCSU compared to other programs is more lenient about math background, you could check them out.

Yes I did more research and I also came to the conclusion that, if I’m going to take this route, non-degree seeking course taking is the way to go.

I did not know that about ncsu. I’ll check them out. Thanks for the well-thought out response, I really appreciate it.

 

[blrichard]

Yes I did more research and I also came to the conclusion that, if I’m going to take this route, non-degree seeking course taking is the way to go.

I did not know that about ncsu. I’ll check them out. Thanks for the well-thought out response, I really appreciate it.

NCSU's main downside is they very largely place into risk management, not so much into quant research or trading, which is where the big money is and that's what attracts people. But it is still a great program with good reviews for a reason.

Also, CMU only has one hard requirement I believe, which is a calculus based probability class. They have very strong placements, so it could be worth looking into