Commerce Student... any chance of even being considered?

[Jarrod]

Hi,

I'm a second-year business student majoring in finance. I'm just wondering if it's even realistic for me to think about applying for a MFE when most of the applicants have a graduate degree in engineering or something more math related.

I'm going to take the required math courses (calc IV, pde, numerical analysis, linear algebra, probability) and probably some related finance courses like fixed income securities, and finance engineering.

I don't have any more credits left to take a C++ course (nor does my school offer a course that teaches C++, they expect you to learn it yourself). Is it possible for me to read a book and learn it myself? How do I show that to the admissions commitee? What's the best book for teaching myself C++?

I just regret my decision in applying for business school. It's the hardest faculty in my university to get in, and even though I'm going to major in finance... it's harder to me to get into a graduate finance degree than a non-business major...

Although I'm more interested in a PhD because I like research. But I heard that Finance PhDs are notoriously hard to get in. Is a MFE and MFin a good stepping stone for a top 10 finance PhD school?

Thanks. I know it's a ton of questions.

 

[Eugene Krel]

An MFE is meant to prepare you for a job, although some MFE grads go on to do phd degrees.

I would suggest you learn c++ as your school expects while taking that class. In fact it's probably better for you to take a c++ course than something like "fixed income securities" as long as you are able to coherently describe what a bond is and why the price goes down when the yield goes up.

 

[marilapi]

You won't have a disadvantage. As long as you do well in the prerequisite coursework your application should be just as competitive as anyone who majored in engineering. Also, as Eugene said, learn C++. It is one of the most important languages used by quants and it is great to have some background before you take a class based around it.
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