internationals vs us citizens in admissions

[jeff]

just wondering if when considering candidates for american mfe programs if there's any "extra consideration" or anything given to people with american citizenship or if it just like doesn't matter... my impression is that the big thing that all the top programs focus on is job placement, and it seems like sort of common sense that US employers would prefer to hire qualified americans instead of foreigners to be able to avoid having to deal with all the red tape involved with visas and everything...

it seems like most of the top programs still have more than half of their accepted students coming from abroad, but is this just because they get so many more international applicants from china/india and whatnot than from the US, and that therefore "if more qualified american students began to apply, the programs would start accepting them over the foreign nationals who may run into issues that americans wouldn't in terms of jobs, it's just that as of now most applicants are international, and therefore so are most of the people that get admitted"??

i'm asking this because i'm an undergrad at an american university right now considering applying to MFE programs but have been looking through "accepted student profiles" and am sort of surprised that there dont' seem to be many american students in these things at all even though they're american programs, and am kind of trying to size up my chances of admissions as a "regular american kid coming out of a regular american undergraduate program when up against people with PhDs from BeijingU, IIT, and god knows where else from outside the US"...

 

[bluechimp]

I don't know, man. I think the admissions committee has it in their best interest to build a class that is as strong as possible. Further, I believe that once you have a class full of bright students and a well-structured program, the job placement record will follow accordingly. The concern about visa and whatnot pertains more to the job search process, not graduate school admissions.

Also, it's tough to tell if the prevalence of internationals in the top MFE programs can be solely attributed to the fact that you have more international applicants. You'd need to control for the possible fact that an international applicant is on average more well-prepared than your average American applicant. Those École Polytechnique kids are very well trained in mathematical disciplines.

Look, at the end of the day, I feel your nationality counts for little in the admissions process. Just prepare well, and you'll get into the schools you deserve. Don't expect that you'll get plus points for being American. If anything, later on in real life you'll be competing with these very same international geniuses -- there's no cutting corners, for lack of a better term.

 

[Subramaniam]

As of now, the classes are extremely diverse, balanced and are not skewed towards any nationality. There are a lot of students from USA as well as students staright out of undergrad institutions in the USA. An applicant is evaluated as a whole.
Yes, you are right in the sense that American employers prefer American citizens esp firms that get TARP money.
However, such skills are needed outside USA and will potentially be useful in many markets.

 

[Stefan Zota]

It all depends what you consider as "a lot of international students". I can tell you that in an MFE program you will have less than a Computer Science PhD on average and more than an MBA.

As an American you have a couple of advantages. First and foremost you are fluent in English. This is an important criteria for most programs. Next the quest to find a good job at the end is slightly easier for career services. Also some parts of quantitative finance (e.g. structured finance) require a broader set of finance skills where you can develop faster.
In the end, my feeling is that the job market needs also more complete analyst.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

We are not at the point of where, because the TARP restriction, programs would give stronger considerations to domestic students. The modus operandi (at least for the top programs) up to now is to admit the best students and the job situation will sort itself out.
That said, I wouldn't be surprised that some small unknown programs in disadvantaged locations would choose the easy way out.
From the applicant's point of view, there is nothing you can do about. You apply to the best programs you can and hope they do things in your best interest.