Advice for MFE Program

[Rambooo]

Hi everyone!

I'm a final-year undergraduate student pursuing a dual degree in Electrical Engineering and Data Science at IIT Madras (India), a tier 1 university in India. I am interested to pursue MFE and would like to have some insights on how to strengthen my profile. My GPA is 9.2/10 (around 3.79/4).

My Coursework includes various levels of undergrad and advanced graduate courses on Probability, Linear Algebra and Statistics.

At the time of applying, I'll have one year of Experience as quant analyst in a Tier 1 IB.

I'm planning to take the GRE in Sept/Oct (under the new shorter scheme).
(Dream programs are Baruch, MIT, Princeton, UCB, CMU)

I'd like to seek some advice about these:

1. How much value does CFA L1/L2 exam add to an MFE application? Is it worth pursuing to boost my profile?
2. Are there any specific skills or knowledge areas that appear weak on my profile for the MFE admissions committees that I should focus on developing?

I would greatly appreciate any advice, suggestions, or personal experiences you can share. Thank you in advance for your time and support!

Looking forward to hearing your insights and recommendations.

Thanks

 

[marcusaurelius]

I'd start with pointing exactly where you want to end up after the MFE, then reverse-back engineer which program to apply to. Each of these programs are going to have different strengths and profiles they cater to!

Some programs like MIT's will say that the CFA are an add-on, while most other top ones will say it's not. Speaking to quite a few people in the industry, it's actually seen as a negative*. They want people with strong maths + coding, and no preconceptions of how the markets work. A lot of academic theory does not translate into real dynamics, and firms will prefer giving their own training (in which your 1 year of experience at the IB will kick in).

* again, depends on whether you are applying for soft asset management (wealth mgt let's say), or hardcore quant. But on average, I'd still argue you're better focusing on other stuff.

 

[Rambooo]

I'd start with pointing exactly where you want to end up after the MFE, then reverse-back engineer which program to apply to. Each of these programs are going to have different strengths and profiles they cater to!

Some programs like MIT's will say that the CFA are an add-on, while most other top ones will say it's not. Speaking to quite a few people in the industry, it's actually seen as a negative*. They want people with strong maths + coding, and no preconceptions of how the markets work. A lot of academic theory does not translate into real dynamics, and firms will prefer giving their own training (in which your 1 year of experience at the IB will kick in).

* again, depends on whether you are applying for soft asset management (wealth mgt let's say), or hardcore quant. But on average, I'd still argue you're better focusing on other stuff.

What other skills I need to be focusing on? I aim to get into quant trader profiles in prop-trading shops/ hedge funds.

 

[marcusaurelius]

So what I'd do is to check out several profiles, and read every single message they have written on the forum. I have done so, and taken screenshots. I haven't had time to distill my notes however.

Off the top of my mind, go check the following by going into the search bar, then type the name of the account, and then read all the messages from that said person. [at] == @.
[at]QuantCoach
[at]Igna
[at]MRoss
[at]bigbadwolf
[at]MauroMeneses
[at]AppliedMath
[at]Qui-Gon
[at]Onegin
[at]Michsund
[at]tips

Ultimately, you want to get into the business of making money and of coming up with ways to acquire information others have not thought about. Getting information on quant trading should be child's play. Be creative. This is the first lead. Hope you appreciate me helping you out, I'm on a time-crunch to finish the advanced c++ course.

Cheers and all the best

 

[Rambooo]

So what I'd do is to check out several profiles, and read every single message they have written on the forum. I have done so, and taken screenshots. I haven't had time to distill my notes however.

Off the top of my mind, go check the following by going into the search bar, then type the name of the account, and then read all the messages from that said person. [at] == @.
[at]QuantCoach
[at]Igna
[at]MRoss
[at]bigbadwolf
[at]MauroMeneses
[at]AppliedMath
[at]Qui-Gon
[at]Onegin
[at]Michsund
[at]tips

Ultimately, you want to get into the business of making money and of coming up with ways to acquire information others have not thought about. Getting information on quant trading should be child's play. Be creative. This is the first lead. Hope you appreciate me helping you out, I'm on a time-crunch to finish the advanced c++ course.

Cheers and all the best

Hey man, thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to reply!! Really appreciate it.