Hi! I'm new and I come with questions!

[dave5]

Hi Guys,

I was wondering if you can help me out here.

Lately I've been doing a lot of research and thinking about going back to school and obtaining an MS in Financial Engineering/Financial Mathematics/Computational Finance. Baruch is obviously among my top choices of programs that I'm planning to apply to.

As far as my background goes....I went to Georgia Tech for Electrical Engineering for several years...did well in some classes (got A's in my computer science classes), just ok in my calc classes, and did poorly in others. I was unmotivated at the time, I played a lot of computer games...lol, and didn't know what I wanted out of my life. Looking back I know I could've done a lot better but I was immature and just didn't put any effort into it. After taking my first economics class I realized that I wanted a career in Finance/Economics.

After my stint at Georgia Tech, I transferred to SUNY Buffalo (yeah I know...complete 180 as far as weather goes)got my act together I received a BA and MA in Financial Economics with a 3.6 GPA. Some of my favorite and best classes were Risk Management which was taught out of John Hull's notorious Options, Futures, and other Derivatives textbook, Computational Econometrics which was taught with SAS, and Empirical Methods of Financial Economics. All of these classes really piqued my interests, I was intrigued by the mathematical and computer science aspects in finance/investing/economics.

Right now I work for a Bank on Wall St. doing portfolio return/risk reporting for institutional clients. While I don't mind the work and I'm getting great experience working directly with clients and coworkers...I find myself frequently bored with the work, I want more of a challenge where I can use some more of my technical skills. So naturally I figure a progression into the Financial Engineering field would be a good fit for me. I also want to throw in that I'm taking the CFA level 1 exam in June.

My ultimate goal in obtaining the MS is to eventually become a quant trader. As for the curriculum at Baruch, does it fully prepare a student to become a good quant trader?

Also my calculus is really rusty...which classes do you guys suggest I should take? I was planning on taking Calc II, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, and Probability at NYU. Are there any more classes you suggest? The reason I only picked 4 is because NYU's non degree program only allows students to pick 4 classes. Does Baruch let you take more than 4 classes as a non degree student? Do you think it would have more weight if I took Calc classes at NYU rather than say Pace (not to knock on Pace)?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 

[pardasani]

Electrical Engineering for several years.. I was unmotivated at the time, I played a lot of computer games...lol, and didn't know what I wanted out of my life. Looking back I know I could've done a lot better but I was immature and just didn't put any effort into it. After taking my first economics class I realized that I wanted a career in Finance/Economics.

kind of reminds me of my undergrad days :-- majored in electrical engineering, played a lot of aoe and commandoes (I still believe aoe 2 is the best microsoft product :P ) , had a first year class in economics which really influenced me and was never motivated by control systems or power networks !

My ultimate goal in obtaining the MS is to eventually become a quant trader. As for the curriculum at Baruch, does it fully prepare a student to become a good quant trader?

well I personally like the curriculum at Baruch a lot....

One of the best things is the stress on financial applications :- its one thing to know how to solve the heat equation PDE and solve it, and its another to know why BS is the same as the heat equation and then write codes (based on your PDE knowledge) to price out some derivatives... Along similar lines a typical MBA course in derivatives will tell you what the bionomial/ trinomial model is, but in our course you actually code out these (and extended) models in C++ ...

Another great thing about the program is the flexibility, you have nice electives to choose depending on the area you want to specialize in... and you always explore a lot about a specific area in your CapStone Project...

Also my calculus is really rusty...which classes do you guys suggest I should take? I was planning on taking Calc II, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, and Probability at NYU.

You might also consider taking the refresher courses which are offered before our program starts... the good thing about the refresher being that you learn things which are specifically required by the program and also get to know your faculty members....

Are there any more classes you suggest? The reason I only picked 4 is because NYU's non degree program only allows students to pick 4 classes.

well if you are rusty with your probability, I would definitely advise you to work on probability : we have 2 courses on Stochastic FInance and I think prior probability knowledge would be good there...

Also you might want to brush up Linear Algebra, though I would recommend the refresher for that :-short and relevant...

Hope this helps

 

[dave5]

Wow, thanks for the quick reply...I think you guys have a really good thing going here.

kind of reminds me of my undergrad days :-- majored in electrical engineering, played a lot of aoe and commandoes (I still believe aoe 2 is the best microsoft product :P ) , had a first year class in economics which really influenced me and was never motivated by control systems or power networks !

Yeah....CounterStrike was the poison that did me in :D .

You might also consider taking the refresher courses which are offered before our program starts... the good thing about the refresher being that you learn things which are specifically required by the program and also get to know your faculty members....

The refresher courses are for students that are already accepted right? I was asking more along the lines of the prerequisite courses that are required to help my chances in being accepted into the MFE program. Do you know how many courses I can take at Baruch as a non degree student?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

First, welcome to QN, Dave
.
I'm impressed that you are very honest and straight to the point. You will fit right in with the crow we have here

Wow, thanks for the quick reply...I think you guys have a really good thing going here.

Couldn't agree more. Whenever you see Pardasani takes time out to write a long reply, it's a great thing because he doesn't do it often enough (hint hint) and because most of us are extremely busy with school.

Yeah....CounterStrike was the poison that did me in :D .

You guys had way too much time undergrad
Closest I got to gaming is my PS2 which I modded so it can play multi-region games and the likes. Never a big fan for PC Game. I like racing game and fighting especially Tekken Tournament. I believe I beat all my friends who played against me in that game. Haven't touched a game for the last 4,5 years.

The refresher courses are for students that are already accepted right? I was asking more along the lines of the prerequisite courses that are required to help my chances in being accepted into the MFE program. Do you know how many courses I can take at Baruch as a non degree student?

The refresher at Baruch are for admitted students only. You can take all the courses you mentioned at NYU or Pace, whichever more convinient for you. I believe it's employer-expense so cost does not matter.

Post any question you have and Pardasani will answer :D
If you are free, come visit us at Baruch for some round of Tekken \\:D/

 

[Erica]

taking classes as a non-degree student

Hi Dave,

My circumstances are similar to yours, in that I am collecting prerequisites for entry into a Master's program. For what it's worth, Baruch is at the top of my list. I would advise you to go to one of their open house sessions and you will understand why this program is special.

With respect to the core prerequisites:

Regardless of where you go to take these courses, I suspect you will have a problem getting a seat. Upper-division math classes tend to be offered infrequently, relative to say Calculus 1; therefore student demand is high. As a non-degree, you are last in line for enrollment(seniors,juniors, sophmores,freshmen, then you) The courses you want to take are(more or less) sequential, so you really do want an assurance that you will have a seat.

My way of getting around this problem was to enroll as a second degree undergrad. Your credits will transfer, making you a senior, whereby bumping you to the head of the line. The other advantage in this is lower tuition rates, if you employer is not willing to sponsor.

BTW, coming back to school after having spend several years in the working world has, thus far, been a tremendously satisfying experience.

Best of luck

 

[dave5]

Hi Dave,

My circumstances are similar to yours, in that I am collecting prerequisites for entry into a Master's program. For what it's worth, Baruch is at the top of my list. I would advise you to go to one of their open house sessions and you will understand why this program is special.

With respect to the core prerequisites:

Regardless of where you go to take these courses, I suspect you will have a problem getting a seat. Upper-division math classes tend to be offered infrequently, relative to say Calculus 1; therefore student demand is high. As a non-degree, you are last in line for enrollment(seniors,juniors, sophmores,freshmen, then you) The courses you want to take are(more or less) sequential, so you really do want an assurance that you will have a seat.

My way of getting around this problem was to enroll as a second degree undergrad. Your credits will transfer, making you a senior, whereby bumping you to the head of the line. The other advantage in this is lower tuition rates, if you employer is not willing to sponsor.

BTW, coming back to school after having spend several years in the working world has, thus far, been a tremendously satisfying experience.

Best of luck

Erica,

Thank you so much for the advice. I didn't know I can enroll as a second degre undergrad. This would definetly be beneficial for me....that I way I also can take more than the 4 courses that I'm allowed to take as a non degree student.

Do you think it would carry more weight (increase my chances of being accepted into an MS program) if I took the courses at a more "prestigious" school like NYU rather than a school like Pace? Or it really doesn't matter?

I agree with you wholeheartedly about going back to school after being in the working industry. I truely miss being in school, if I could I would just go to school forever, unfortunately my economic situation just wouldn't allow that....I really enjoyed the learning environment and the repoire I had with other classmates.

If you are free, come visit us at Baruch for some round of Tekken \\:D/

Andy,

Although I'm not the greatest in Tekken, I'll take you up on that offer. If I win then you have to hook me up with some extra browning points with Professor Stefanica. ...lol.

If you win...then I'll buy you lunch or something.

Deal?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Do you think it would carry more weight (increase my chances of being accepted into an MS program) if I took the courses at a more "prestigious" school like NYU rather than a school like Pace? Or it really doesn't matter?

I don't think it matters. Those are pretty much the same everywhere. It's not like you will have a whole degree from them.
You may be interested in the special courses that Baruch just introduced that specifically prepares people for our program.

For Undergrads interested in a career in quant:

To prepare for these careers, the Mathematics Department is offering a new concentration within the mathematics major, the mathematics of finance. This concentration is the best way for undergraduates to get a head start on their careers in quant, as this major "will prepare you above and beyond what the MS program requires for admission" said Dan Stefanica, director of the MS in applied mathematics for finance. The mathematics of finance concentration has a different set of electives than the other mathematics concentrations. Students should take the following five electives:

MTH 4110 Ordinary Differential Equations
MTH 4120 Introduction to Probability
MTH 4125 Stochastic Process
MTH 4135 Methods of Monte Carlo Simulation
MTH 4500 Introduction to Financial Mathematics

You can contact the Dept to find out how and when. These are new and I'm not too familiar with.

Andy,

Although I'm not the greatest in Tekken, I'll take you up on that offer. If I win then you have to hook me up with some extra browning points with Professor Stefanica. ...lol.
If you win...then I'll buy you lunch or something.
Deal?

Well, let me take a look at this deal. My payoff is some lunch and your payoff is browning points with Prof. Stefanica ?

So you were hoping I think this deal is fair, right ? :D

I can take this deal only when you agree that I may not guarantee your payoff. Browning points with Prof. Stefanica are very hard to get. I don't have any with him either

How about this deal:
If I win, you'll buy me lunch for a week.
If you win, which I highly doubt, I'll answer any questions you have about Baruch MFE program.

Deal or No Deal ?