Which programs should I apply to now?

[PNike]

Hello everyone from Quantnet. I need some desperate help from you guys since many of the international student final deadlines are approaching.

My main interest is equity investment management and I have 3 years of experience (during UG - this is not work ex) in the same. During these 3 years I have found that investment management does not involve a lot of maths/quant. Because of this, I am looking for a generalist Masters in Finance Program as compared to a concentrated MFE program.

I had applied to 10 programs out of which I have got 7 rejects (probably because of my CGPA - 5.9/10).

The programs I applied to are:
Duke - Masters in Management Studies : Rejected
MIT - MFin : Interviewed but Rejected
Tulane - Masters in Finance : Rejected
UIUC - Masters in Finance : Rejected
University of Maryland - Masters in Finance : Rejected
Vanderbilt - Masters Finance : Rejected
Washington St. Louis - Masters Finance : Rejected

Purdue - Masters Finance : Interviewed and Pending
Rochester Simon - Masters Finance : Pending
UT Austin - Masters Finance : Pending

I thought applying to 10 programs would be enough, but recent events (got 4 rejects in a single day) have made me think otherwise. Obviously, I have to reevaluate my strategy. I am now open to applying to even financial engineering programs as long as there is a chance for me get placed in asset management. Also, I am open to applying to programs that are not based in the US (at first, I did not want to look beyond USA).

Some of the programs I am going to be applying to are:
University of Texas at Dallas - MS Finance
University of Virginia - MS Commerce Financial Services Track
Boston College - MS Finance Cohort
Northeastern - MS Finance (not sure about this, in regards to if its worth the money)

I would appreciate if you guys could suggest other finance programs I can apply to that meet my criteria (I eventually want to work in asset management) and will be worth my while.

Kind of in a bad position right now and any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tianyu Li]

First of all, I think you should take a second look at your PS and resume. Anything to improve here? Because if your "hardware"(GPA, working experience, etc) is good enough, you shouldn't have so many rejections unless your "software" has some problems. Or if you got rejections after interviewed, you should think about what you did wrong during the interview.

Answering your questions, besides the MSF programs you mentioned, I think you can also take a look at some MFE programs with a "less quant" curriculum. For example, Rutgers' MQF and Fordham's MSQF, there are many out there. But since you have not seriously prepared to be a quant, I won't suggest you apply for an MFE. By large chance you will be rejected again.

 

[PNike]

First of all, I think you should take a second look at your PS and resume. Anything to improve here? Because if your "hardware"(GPA, working experience, etc) is good enough, you shouldn't have so many rejections unless your "software" has some problems. Or if you got rejections after interviewed, you should think about what you did wrong during the interview.

Answering your questions, besides the MSF programs you mentioned, I think you can also take a look at some MFE programs with a "less quant" curriculum. For example, Rutgers' MQF and Fordham's MSQF, there are many out there. But since you have not seriously prepared to be a quant, I won't suggest you apply for an MFE. By large chance you will be rejected again.

Hi Tianyu Li,

Thank you for the reply.

My GRE is above avg but my GPA is actually not very good (5.9/10) and in terms of work experience I only have 3 months of internship experience during my UG program (1.5 months in the technology field and 1.5 months in the debt market field).

My strengths are that I have been managing a personal portfolio from the past 3 years and have achieved a compound annual growth rate of 33.24% (beating the index by 27%) and I recently appeared for the CFA-1 Exam.

Yes, I could definitely reevaluate my PS. But, resume? I have pretty much stated everything I have done in the past 3.5 years. By reevaluating my resume, do you mean weeding out the unimportant stuff and making it more concise?

I have mentioned my learning disability though. Maybe in future apps, I should not mention this?

 

[Tianyu Li]

Hi,

I would not say your success personal portfolio is a very "big" achievement unless you can explain clearly your investment strategy, and it proves to be "constantly useful". Anyway I think your GPA is clearly a weak point and your working experience is too short to show something. Mean no offense but in this situation, reaching top MSF program such as MIT or WUSTL is a little hard for you.

IMO resume should be well structured and easy to attract the viewer. From the resume I have to clearly know what and how good is your achievement in either your academic life and professional life. Show your resume to your friends and get suggestions from them, and visit the website of some top programs to check their current students' resumes, you should have more ideas on how to write yours.

 

[PNike]

Hi,

I would not say your success personal portfolio is a very "big" achievement unless you can explain clearly your investment strategy, and it proves to be "constantly useful". Anyway I think your GPA is clearly a weak point and your working experience is too short to show something. Mean no offense but in this situation, reaching top MSF program such as MIT or WUSTL is a little hard for you.

IMO resume should be well structured and easy to attract the viewer. From the resume I have to clearly know what and how good is your achievement in either your academic life and professional life. Show your resume to your friends and get suggestions from them, and visit the website of some top programs to check their current students' resumes, you should have more ideas on how to write yours.

Thanks a lot.

That is a very insightful reply, and gives me a lot to ponder over.

Yes and that's what I thought at first, but I did get an interview call from MIT. And, since only 50% of the interviewees are accepted, I thought that my investment performance must have been the reason for which they invited me.

 

[Tianyu Li]

Yes, maybe. So I suggest you explain more about it and make it a real highlight in your profile.

Thanks a lot.

That is a very insightful reply, and gives me a lot to ponder over.

Yes and that's what I thought at first, but I did get an interview call from MIT. And, since only 50% of the interviewees are accepted, I thought that my investment performance must have been the reason for which they invited me.

 

[drunknwild]

You should also look at IE Madrid, HEC Paris, LSE, Barcelona, EDHEC, ESSEC
All of these offer the generalized Master in Finance you are looking for.

Also I would say that despite your GPA, you got a great shot f you can put together a convincing application.

This admission thing is as predictable as the US Economy. You can never be too sure.

I mean I got accepted to HEC Paris MiF and MIT Sloan MFin but got rejected by Washington Olin Msc. Finance.
So you never know!! Try exploring the Non-US Demographic too.

 

[PNike]

drunknwild
Thanks. I shall look into those programs.

Quite surprising you got rejected my Olin with your profile. Maybe they just though you'd have better options lol.

 

[PNike]

Most college applications have a supplemental essay section where you can explain low academic performance/unexplained gaps in work. I made full use of this supplement explaining how I have a learning disability (dyslexia) and how it was difficult for me during the first 2 years to cope in a large class where individual attention wasn't possible. However, as I progressed I learned to adapt and my grades increased in an upward slope.

But, after the 7 rejects, I am seriously wondering if this has been held against me? Should I stop mentioning this in future applications?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I doubt they would get to that part. Most likely your applications didn't even past the initial filters due to your 5.9/10 GPA. Unfortunately, that's how a lot of admission screening works.

 

[PNike]

I doubt they would get to that part. Most likely your applications didn't even past the initial filters due to your 5.9/10 GPA. Unfortunately, that's how a lot of admission screening works.

Woah really? I would expect them to at least read my essays when I am paying a 80$ application fee. Oh well.....

And, I am quite sure this is not always the case otherwise I would not have got an interview invite from Purdue and MIT.

But yet, the question stands. Should I or should I not be mentioning this in future apps?

 

[diegosanaz]

Maybe you should also try some MBA programs. My employer is an MBA. Depending on the program, you can have a wide variety of electives to choose from so you can focus on investment management.

 

[Tianyu Li]

I disagree with you. Never enter an MBA program without actual working experience. It is a waste of time.

Maybe you should also try some MBA programs. My employer is an MBA. Depending on the program, you can have a wide variety of electives to choose from so you can focus on investment management.

 

[diegosanaz]

But PNike has 3 years working experience. I never suggested that MBAs are good without WE.

 

[Tianyu Li]

He has 3 years exp on personal investment, not working exp. He only has a total 3 month internship. Check his later post.

But PNike has 3 years working experience. I never suggested that MBAs are good without WE.

 

[PNike]

But PNike has 3 years working experience. I never suggested that MBAs are good without WE.

Sorry. I have 3 years personal portfolio mgmt experience. 0 work ex. will change in opening post.

 

[PNike]

Quick question regarding Europe Applications: Many of the European schools have 3 rounds. In most US schools the 2nd round is the final round for which international students are eligible. No such deadline for international students seems to be mentioned for international students. Does this mean I am eligible to apply for round 3 (march)?

 

[Tianyu Li]

Unless the program clearly sets an international application deadline, you can apply whenever you want. But keep in mind that international student should leave some time (at least two month after getting admission) to apply for U.S. visa.

Quick question regarding Europe Applications: Many of the European schools have 3 rounds. In most US schools the 2nd round is the final round for which international students are eligible. No such deadline for international students seems to be mentioned for international students. Does this mean I am eligible to apply for round 3 (march)?

 

[PNike]

Admitted to Purdue. Thank you guys for the help and support.

Next question: How good is Krannert and is it worth the money

 

[alain]

Sorry. I have 3 years personal portfolio mgmt experience. 0 work ex. will change in opening post.

P&L? Sharpe?