Hi Puys, I am starting a thread for all the aspirants who are looking forward to Masters in Finance or Masters in Financial Engineering program starting 2011. Hope to connect with all the like minded people here… People having info abo…
Hi Puys,
I am starting a thread for all the aspirants who are looking forward to Masters in Finance or Masters in Financial Engineering program starting 2011.
Hope to connect with all the like minded people here... People having info about such programs could help us too as there isn't much about such courses on PG forums as of now
Cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)
Hi Puys,
I am starting a thread for all the aspirants who are looking forward to Masters in Finance or Masters in Financial Engineering program starting 2011.
Hope to connect with all the like minded people here... People having info about such programs could help us too as there isn't much about such courses on PG forums as of now
Cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)
I would be applying specifically for the Masters Program in Finance for '11.
How is the competition in US and UK for getting into top B-Schools for the MS/MSc Programs ?
I would be applying specifically for the Masters Program in Finance for '11.
How is the competition in US and UK for getting into top B-Schools for the MS/MSc Programs ?
Hi vikas_blue1
As per my initial search , following are some of the differences I have found between US & UK masters In finance programs.
1. US masters are very varied, some are masters in finance, some masters in computational finance, some with economics, etc.
UK schools are more towards masters in finance(more generic)
2. A lot of US schools offering such courses ask for GRE score & do not infact consider GMAT score. Some schools are stanford, University of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon, etc.
UK schools on the other hand accept both GRE & GMAT in general.
3. Almost all the top schools in US offering such courses have academic fees hovering around 70,000 USD, whereas it's a lot less in UK( though still very high compared to Indian perception)
4. My initial glance at the placement stats of schools offering such courses in US & UK showed a good number of similar companies recruiting from these colleges. Though I am pretty sure that the profiles wud definitely vary.
5. Work-ex requirement doesn't seem to play much role in most of the colleges( be it in US or UK).
6. A few good US schools offering masters in Finance or Masters in FInancial engineering tough requires outstanding quantitative background. examples, Berkeley, Sloan , etc.
7. I believe ROI wud be rather better in UK than in US, atleast for masters in Finance type of courses, the situation might be different for an MBA aspirant tough.
8. but, if someone's intention is to probably get into hardcore research post Mfin, I think , w/o a thought , he/she shud focus on US.
Wud keep adding more precise information as and when I get..
Hi vikas_blue1
As per my initial search , following are some of the differences I have found between US & UK masters In finance programs.
1. US masters are very varied, some are masters in finance, some masters in computational finance, some with economics, etc.
UK schools are more towards masters in finance(more generic)
2. A lot of US schools offering such courses ask for GRE score & do not infact consider GMAT score. Some schools are stanford, University of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon, etc.
UK schools on the other hand accept both GRE & GMAT in general.
3. Almost all the top schools in US offering such courses have academic fees hovering around 70,000 USD, whereas it's a lot less in UK( though still very high compared to Indian perception)
4. My initial glance at the placement stats of schools offering such courses in US & UK showed a good number of similar companies recruiting from these colleges. Though I am pretty sure that the profiles wud definitely vary.
5. Work-ex requirement doesn't seem to play much role in most of the colleges( be it in US or UK).
6. A few good US schools offering masters in Finance or Masters in FInancial engineering tough requires outstanding quantitative background. examples, Berkeley, Sloan , etc.
7. I believe ROI wud be rather better in UK than in US, atleast for masters in Finance type of courses, the situation might be different for an MBA aspirant tough.
8. but, if someone's intention is to probably get into hardcore research post Mfin, I think , w/o a thought , he/she shud focus on US.
Wud keep adding more precise information as and when I get..
Thanks NarBhakshi for such an informative post.
I have , from my end, been doing some research on the B-Schools primarily in Europe who offers Masters in Finance.In UK , i feel Cass , Manchester and Cranfield are the best bet considering the FT Rankings of these Schools as well as the ROI. LSB and LSE are not in my list as they require prior Finance related experience , which i don't have
US is no doubt a good bet , but it's a circumspective environment at the moment there , i feel.
Please provide your comment , if any , on these B-Schools listed
hi
glad to find a thread for 2011 MFE programs. I too am an aspirant for 2011 but mainly eying US. I think UK job prospects are bleaker than those in US, though US has been fearing a double dip recession .. so not sure now. I gave my GRE yesterday - 1330 (800 Quant, 530 verbal ).
I would like some suggestions on whether verbal score matters for Tier 1 programs ? I am not too keen on tier 2 programs due to unhealthy job prospects everywhere around the world ... and dont want to get under a huge loan amount which I wud be unable to pay back ...
so shud I take the GRE again or go ahead and apply for these programs ?
Any advice regarding the same would be highly appreciated. 😃
Thanks NarBhakshi for such an informative post.
I have , from my end, been doing some research on the B-Schools primarily in Europe who offers Masters in Finance.In UK , i feel Cass , Manchester and Cranfield are the best bet considering the FT Rankings of these Schools as well as the ROI. LSB and LSE are not in my list as they require prior Finance related experience , which i don't have
US is no doubt a good bet , but it's a circumspective environment at the moment there , i feel.
Please provide your comment , if any , on these B-Schools listed
Hi Vikas,
I haven't done my study on the mentioned colleges, but I am aware of their good standings as per the FT rankings. All I know is that they a good reputation amongst UK colleges, so getting a job there might not be a problem.
LSB & Judge school( cambridge's) have a strict guideline for work-ex of 2 years in hardcore finance domain.... So I think one shud be careful about applying to these 2 colleges atleast.
I agree with u on that point about "circumspective environment".... job, I am sure wud not be a problem in europe. It's just that sitting here in India, we tend to think a lot about the downward side......
My only take wud be that the brand value of the college shud be good, rest depends on us.....
hi
glad to find a thread for 2011 MFE programs. I too am an aspirant for 2011 but mainly eying US. I think UK job prospects are bleaker than those in US, though US has been fearing a double dip recession .. so not sure now. I gave my GRE yesterday - 1330 (800 Quant, 530 verbal ).
I would like some suggestions on whether verbal score matters for Tier 1 programs ? I am not too keen on tier 2 programs due to unhealthy job prospects everywhere around the world ... and dont want to get under a huge loan amount which I wud be unable to pay back ...
so shud I take the GRE again or go ahead and apply for these programs ?
Any advice regarding the same would be highly appreciated. :)
Dude, welcome on board,
MFE programs are very very inclined towards quant score... Though I can't say much about GRE scores, but cent percent in quant means a lot.....
My take wud to not waste time in appearing again for GRE..... may be try to prove ur quant side more to the admin......
ur take on the TIER-2 college is very true and I too share the similar views on the same..
By the way what all colleges are u eying ... Looking forward to know more about your inputs on the colleges that u have pinned or are planning to pin.
Dude, welcome on board,
MFE programs are very very inclined towards quant score... Though I can't say much about GRE scores, but cent percent in quant means a lot.....
My take wud to not waste time in appearing again for GRE..... may be try to prove ur quant side more to the admin......
ur take on the TIER-2 college is very true and I too share the similar views on the same..
By the way what all colleges are u eying ... Looking forward to know more about your inputs on the colleges that u have pinned or are planning to pin.
thnx a lot for the reply.
am mainly looking for NYU, Columbia, Cornell, BAruch - all these have a pretty gud reputation for MFE programs. They do heavily rely on the Quant background of the applicant, but still, the applicant pool here maybe having higher Verbal scores too. I don't have a relevant Quant work ex to compensate for my profile weakness .. so apprehensive whether to go ahead and apply or drop the idea. 😞
If I could be of any help, I would like to answer any queries here. I had an admit from HAAS MFE for batch starting 2010. After paying up initial deposit, I did not go because of some personal reasons. When I was applying, there were no threads on MFE on PG and hence it was difficult to network with people around.
This time around, I would like to help any aspirants in same boat.
hi Ankit
could you plz share ur profile with us ... I have heard MFE Haas takes in applicants most of which either have relevant work ex of a few yrs or a PhD or have cleared CFA L1.
Also, it would be great if you could plz comment on my chances for tier 1 mfe programs ... I scored 1330 (800 Quant, 530 verbal ) . Will the verbal score be a hinderance for schools including Columbia, CMU, Cornell, NYU. I understand that the overall profile is what matters, but still the avg verbal score for these programs is around 570 .
So here is a lil about my application back then.
I had initially applied in Sept 2008 for the class starting in 2009. However, I applied in R4 and given the fact that HAAS has only 60-65 seats it was expected most of them would be filled by then. I was shortlisted for interview and was then wait listed, which I could never clear.
However, I reapplied in Apr 2009 for 2010 batch and was accepted without an interview.
At the time of my initial application in Sept 2008, I had about 1 year of work ex, a 700 on GMAT and was working with ICICI Bank treasury. I am a Btech Graduate from Ip Univ delhi(2nd grade). I had no masters...no PhD...no CFA..no FRM when I applied and did not even plan to appear for any of these in future.
I would say that most of the quant schools will look for your quant score. My GMAT verbal was 34 (69 percentile). However, it always helps to have your score as close as possible to the average score. You are not too much away from the average Verbal scores and thus I wouldnt bother too much about it.
It would be difficult to comment on your chances for these schools as I never went beyond B schools to apply for MFin/MFE. I had only applied to HAAS,Oxford and LBS. I wanted to apply to CMU too, but after I had a WL from HAAS, I decided to drop the application.
Columbia, Stanford and Cornell are some of the top programs which accept only a GRE score. Only on the basis of your GRE score, I dont know what to recommend you. However, I would stress on the importance of writing gooodddddd essays. If you look at my profile, I had nothing extra-ordinary to show as such. But, I believe my essays really got me in.
thnx a lot ankit for the reply
I too have recently graduated frm BVCOE, IP :)
your profile looks good as it had fin related work ex. Your post surely did encourage me to go ahead with my application for these schools
Below is a brief abt my profile : kindly comment with some pointers
Completed Engineering this year in May (Information Tech major )
did my summer internship from IIM Calcutta in 2009 ( 2 months )
worked as a sub broker dealing for clients in Indian markets (3 months )
working as a part time tech writer at a firm - involves analysis of stocks in NASDAQ, NYSE
would be joining TCS (Software programming job )full time within a month (awaiting joining )
apart from that did my Undergrad major project on Stock Market Analysis using ANN.
1 financial certification from National Stock Exchange, India
undergrad % age - 73 %
If I could be of any help, I would like to answer any queries here. I had an admit from HAAS MFE for batch starting 2010. After paying up initial deposit, I did not go because of some personal reasons. When I was applying, there were no threads on MFE on PG and hence it was difficult to network with people around.
This time around, I would like to help any aspirants in same boat.
Hi ankitgarg20...
Good to have an experienced individual like you here on board with us.. In fact the very reason that we did not have any forum for MFE, made me create one , and have experts like you who cud put in their valuable exp for us and others..
I was getting a little apprehensive about applying to Haas as I had heard they they really really require people like PHDs.etc....
cud u help me a bit in assessing my case and may be advising me on the improvement(whereever u feel)..
My GMAT is 710 with Q(51) & Verbal (34)...
undergrad from IIT with many minor courses in quants.. scored either 90 or a 100 in all....
1.5 yrs work ex in actuarial analytics ( hard core quant job)... 1 yrs( till present) working in a start-up in strategy & business devlop,
I am currently writing PRM exam , hopefully by the time I apply, wud clear at least 2 levels out of a total of 4.
handled complete financial aspects at national level tech fest at IIT for 2 consecutive years...
can expect good recos from IIT,
ur feedback and encouragement can do wonders as till now I was wary of applying to Haas.....
Hope to see u more in this forum..... thanx in advance man!!!!
Lets take your case step by step.
First of all, do remember that HAAS has its course starting in March(Spring) when compared to other schools which start their course in Aug/Sept(Fall).
As a result, you are probably late to apply for 2011 batch at HAAS. Just check their deadlines and see if you can make it. I remember in 2008, 1st Oct was the R4 deadline.I took my GMAT on 6 Sept and IELTS on 28 Sept and submitted my appli on 30 Sept :)
Your GMAT is fairly nice and a 51 in Quant will only help.
IIT brand name will work for you. Though, it does not mean that you will certainly get the admit, it does help if you are from IIT. When I was applying with a Btech from BVCOE, I was more than just apprehensive in applyin to HAAS. If you see the class profile of HAAS, you will notice almost all engineers, yes I mean ALL of them have an IIT background. Having said so, I did make it...so that shows not having an IIT degree can be challenging but not detrimental to your admit.
Minor courses in quant are a part of btech and everyone with a btech background will have them on their course list. Nothing to distinguish you too much there.
Work ex: Good. Actuarial science based job is pretty quant in nature. So you should have stories to tell from there. Make sure you are able to relate your past exp, with your current status, with your future goals and explain how does MFE fit in the big picture in your essays.
Your current work ex seems a little disjoint from the smooth career path, unless you can show you still do a lot of quant, finance, maths or stats based work.
I think you wanted to say FRM and not PRM. If not, I am sorry I have no clue what is a PRM so cant comment. FRM will again be a hygiene factor, but it does help in most cases to show your continued interest in finance.
Tech fest based work could be nice too. Since you graduated less than 3 years ago, you can show a little of it. However, dont over stretch or spend too much time on it.You should have enough to talk from your wrk ex.
Recos: try taking at least 1 reco from professional work. I took one from ICICI and one from my engg college to round up my application. Both acad reco wont be good for you as you have spent almost 2.5 years outside IIT.
Let me know if this helps and if you have any more questions.
Good Luck.
HI Ankit,
Thanx for all the inputs.... u have been very precise in answering all the queries..
Though the last application for 2011/2012 session is practically over( sep 1 was the last).. there website says that U may check about the availability in nov further..... do u suggest applying at that point in time???....
Also..... how is oxford and LBS??... cud u share your experiences of those schools as well??.......
thanx!!!!
Dude...you are my super junior 😁 ...I graduated in 2007, IT, BVCOE. I too had an offer from TCS(and Infy,Eval) but joined ICICIto pursue my interest in finance.
wow ! even the same branch
I did apply to some cos for fin or quant work ex .. . but cudn't get through any .... my IT background made it appear that I lacked financial knowledge ... wud be grt if u could guide me regarding getting into ICICI Treasury and similar jobs.
The major major challenge for you, as I see in your profile, will be explaining your work ex and WHY MFE/Mfin at this point in your career.
I think I can explain them my interest in MFE with some good points.
Btw, What wud be your take ... Should I go ahead with applying to tier 1 programs ... with a GRE score of 1330 ? Also I am planning to take GRE subject Maths test this Nov ... wud that help ?? My grades in Maths in engg were average. 😞 , although I think am not weak at Maths, was just due to lack of preparation.
2 websites that have a lot of information about Masters program are
Global Derivatives
Quant Network - Education Resource from the Financial Capital
If someone knows other websites that gives such information.... please share with us here !!!!
hi Ankit
could you plz share ur profile with us ... I have heard MFE Haas takes in applicants most of which either have relevant work ex of a few yrs or a PhD or have cleared CFA L1.
Also, it would be great if you could plz comment on my chances for tier 1 mfe programs ... I scored 1330 (800 Quant, 530 verbal ) . Will the verbal score be a hinderance for schools including Columbia, CMU, Cornell, NYU. I understand that the overall profile is what matters, but still the avg verbal score for these programs is around 570 .
Hi achilles_stud,
was just wondering, the colleges that u have mentioned above, does any of them accept GMAT scores.....
Hi achilles_stud,
was just wondering, the colleges that u have mentioned above, does any of them accept GMAT scores.....
hi NarBhakshi
some of the schools do accept GMAT like MIT, Princeton, Haas - mainly those that have their MFE programs in their B-schools. Others like Columbia, cornell have MFE in their engg schools and wont accept GMAT. You can check with their websites, I don't remember clearly , but most of them accept GRE only. For UK , I guess most of them prefer GMAT. Thats why I am not too keen on applying to any UK program.
hi NarBhakshi
some of the schools do accept GMAT like MIT, Princeton, Haas - mainly those that have their MFE programs in their B-schools. Others like Columbia, cornell have MFE in their engg schools and wont accept GMAT. You can check with their websites, I don't remember clearly , but most of them accept GRE only. For UK , I guess most of them prefer GMAT. Thats why I am not too keen on applying to any UK program.
Haas deadline is over i guess.... but their website says, if seats still left one may apply again in november....
does it make sense to apply now, or rather wait for the next round....
If I could be of any help, I would like to answer any queries here. I had an admit from HAAS MFE for batch starting 2010. After paying up initial deposit, I did not go because of some personal reasons. When I was applying, there were no threads on MFE on PG and hence it was difficult to network with people around.
This time around, I would like to help any aspirants in same boat.
Hi Ankit,
Could you please let me know the tentative GMAT Score required for Masters Program in Haas .
I have close to 4 years of experience in Top IT MNC companies
Hi Ankit,
Could you please let me know the tentative GMAT Score required for Masters Program in Haas .
I have close to 4 years of experience in Top IT MNC companies
Hi vikas_blue1
If I cud be of any help to you then check this link
Class Profile, Master of Financial Engineering Program - Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
They generally focus on the quant part.... 93rd. percentile is the average for quant.... for GMAT it comes to getting 50 on the raw scale....
by the way just to mention, application deadline for 2011/2012 session is over...