Which is more important for admissions? An 800 quant on the GRE or Straight A's in math?

[malexgreen]

I'm thinking about applying to the Baruch College MFE Program. But I'm very concerned about what appears to be a focus on scoring a perfect 800 on the quant--maybe this is not something I get from reading information about the program, but it's what I gather from reading forums on global-derivatives.com and even from posts here. I'm wondering in general do MFE programs automatically reject most applicants that have a less than 90 percentile quantitative score?

If so, what about people who get all A's in their college math classes? I'm speaking about myself: I am an electrical engineer who achieved A to A+ in all of my math classes, but didn't necessarily telegraph this ability via my GRE quantitative score. I've taken the GRE several times over the past month and am having trouble getting a 90% quantitative score; however, I am very confident that I can handle the math based on my past experience in college and getting very high grades in all of my math courses that were a part of my curriculum.

Thanks your feedback.

 

[Vic_Siqiao]

i saw our director felt surprised to see one applicant's quant gre is not 800

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I'd like to think there is a high correlation between having A's undergrad and scoring high in the GRE Q. That 800 is so achievable that having 800 is like second thought for most qualified applicants to most top programs. 780, 790 are also good scores.

However, there are plenty of people who got admitted despite not having 800Q. If your experience, background are excellent, you will get in.
Just apply and don't get hung up with the score. If you took the GRE several times and that's the score you get, it is what it is.

 

[malexgreen]

I'd like to think there is a high correlation between having A's undergrad and scoring high in the GRE Q. That 800 is so achievable that having 800 is like second thought for most qualified applicants to most top programs. 780, 790 are also good scores.

However, there are plenty of people who got admitted despite not having 800Q. If your experience, background are excellent, you will get in.
Just apply and don't get hung up with the score. If you took the GRE several times and that's the score you get, it is what it is.

Yes, I'm one of those people that doesn't fit the correlation. I didn't score anywhere near a 90 percentile quantitative score--maybe in the ballpark--but I consistently achieved A to A+ in all of my math classes, including probability theory, differential equations, and multivariate calculus.

I really like what I've read about the Baruch College's MFE Program.

 

[Aravind]

These are my views about most MFE programs; not sure if this would be in consonance with others' opinion:
- Not to go much with the percentile scores as the GRE website clearly mentions that all the percentiles are computed based on relative performance of the batch of students. A percentile frankly doesn't make any sense to me since 2 ppl having same scores can have different percentiles.
- Scores 790 + are equivalent. Because the GRE Aptitude math are pretty trivial and hence it wouldn't reflect that one is more intelligent than the other or well qualified just because he/she has a score of 790 vs. 800. Of course it would hold good with a 750 or 700 BEWARE! Silly mistakes acceptable given other strong points of course.
- Given a comparison of 780-800 in GRE, Math courses are much more important and your excellent performance there clearly indicates that you can handle the amount of Math involved in pricing derivatives etc... etc....A person scoring 800 in Quant needn't really mean that he is very good in Math required for the coursework.

 

[alain]

This is all “Smoke and mirrors”. Unless any of you is in the admission committee of any of the MFE program, you are just guessing (I have another phrase for it but Andy will ban me).

Again, the best advice I have for any prospective applicant is to apply. There is no ranking, no magic number or magic GPA or grade in order to get in. Remember, all applications are different.

 

[Aravind]

Yes its all a mix of opinions and guesses! [:D]. Of course no one can be sure about it unless and until he/she is an experienced person from the admission committee.

 

[dstefan]

I'm thinking about applying to the Baruch College MFE Program. But I'm very concerned about what appears to be a focus on scoring a perfect 800 on the quant--maybe this is not something I get from reading information about the program, but it's what I gather from reading forums on global-derivatives.com and even from posts here. I'm wondering in general do MFE programs automatically reject most applicants that have a less than 90 percentile quantitative score?

If so, what about people who get all A's in their college math classes? I'm speaking about myself: I am an electrical engineer who achieved A to A+ in all of my math classes, but didn't necessarily telegraph this ability via my GRE quantitative score. I've taken the GRE several times over the past month and am having trouble getting a 90% quantitative score; however, I am very confident that I can handle the math based on my past experience in college and getting very high grades in all of my math courses that were a part of my curriculum.

Thanks your feedback.

We do not focus on 800 GRE Quant test scores. If you have a solid math background, and got A's in your math classes, the GRE Quant scores could be regarded as a bad day when taking the test.

Good luck!