MFE Profile Advice

[ats]

Hello everyone,

I am planning to apply as an international student for MFE programs in the US from Fall 2026. I was going through a lot of forums and admissions websites and although I believe applying for Fall 2026 or Spring 2027 programs would be a good timeline for me, I still needed help on ways to better my profile so I can better my chances to get enrolled in a top MFE program.


Below is a summary of my profile:

Academics:
1 .BE - Electronics and Instrumentation (Top 5 in India): 6.93 CGPA (I know it's not good)
2. FRM: P1 and P2 cleared (charter pending because of work experience, I cleared both levels in parallel to my undergrad)
3. CFA: L1 cleared, L2 enrolled for August '25


Work Experience:
Full time -
1. Been working as a quantitative market risk analyst at a financial services/custodian bank since I graduated in 2024

Internships -
2. Interned as a business risk analyst in my final year - worked on an inventory problem with fuzzy logic
3. Used to be a part time research consultant at WorldQuant
4. Interned as a Quantitative Analyst at a small trading firm
5. Interned as a Developer for a real estate based fintech startup - worked at seed stage with a very small tech team


Other certifications:
2 Coursera certifications on Mathematics for ML and CS Fundamentals

Extra Curriculars:
1. I held a POR in the finance club of our college
2. I volunteered as a course instructor for Quantitative Finance courses during college (these courses were introductory and very primitive)

Projects:
1. Built Fama French factor models, options pricing models, and algorithmic trading strats independently
2. Worked with a professor on a regression analysis on Premier League standings based on multiple factors

Have some additional competition wins and awards but I think their materiality is not as much.


The Worry:
Although I believe my overall profile is okay-ish, my low CGPA can be a huge blot on my applications, in addition to that, I don't know if my transcript grades for some pre-requisites at Baruch qualify their criteria, eg - they want B, but I have B-; and the additional cost of redoing these pre-requisites will come out to be quite a bit.


I am looking for an overall review of my profile and any and all advice relating to pre-requisite curriculum, jobs, and certifications (CQF maybe?) on how to improve it to better my chances of getting into a top MFE program.
Thanks a lot!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Hey @ats
Welcome to QuantNet. You would not find another place better when it comes to researching top quant programs and breaking into the industry.
As it stands, your profile is similar to other applicants from India. Good thing is that you will get into some programs, bad thing is those won't be the top programs.
There are things to make your profile more competitive. They will take time, money or both.
To overcome your low GPA, you can take a look at how @Leggoo MFE did it.
Also see how @grxthy is planning for Fall 2026.
They both take a multiple years approach.
One thing I notice is that you have FRM, CFA. Now you consider CQF?
Do not waste time and money on those. They have marginal benefit when it comes to MFE admission.

Thread 'From Low CGPA to My Dream School: Columbia MAFN, NYU MFE, and More'

3/24/25

Hello QuantNet Community,

I wanted to share my journey to getting accepted into Columbia's MAFN program, NYU's MFE, NCSU's Mathematical Finance, and Nanyang Business School's MFE in Singapore. I'm still waiting on decisions from Columbia's MFE and GaTech's QCF. My hope is that this post helps those who feel limited by a low CGPA but are passionate about breaking into the world of quantitative finance.

My Biggest Drawback

• Low CGPA: I had a CGPA of 2.98/4.00 in both my undergrad and grad studies.
• Poor Math Grades: I had a B- in Mathematics 3 and a...

• Leggoo MFE
• Replies: 18
• Forum: Articles

• 
• 

 

[ats]

Hey @ats
Welcome to QuantNet. You would not find another place better when it comes to researching top quant programs and breaking into the industry.
As it stands, your profile is similar to other applicants from India. Good thing is that you will get into some programs, bad thing is those won't be the top programs.
There are things to make your profile more competitive. They will take time, money or both.
To overcome your low GPA, you can take a look at how @Leggoo MFE did it.
Also see how @grxthy is planning for Fall 2026.
They both take a multiple years approach.
One thing I notice is that you have FRM, CFA. Now you consider CQF?
Do not waste time and money on those. They have marginal benefit when it comes to MFE admission.

Thread 'From Low CGPA to My Dream School: Columbia MAFN, NYU MFE, and More'

3/24/25

Hello QuantNet Community,

I wanted to share my journey to getting accepted into Columbia's MAFN program, NYU's MFE, NCSU's Mathematical Finance, and Nanyang Business School's MFE in Singapore. I'm still waiting on decisions from Columbia's MFE and GaTech's QCF. My hope is that this post helps those who feel limited by a low CGPA but are passionate about breaking into the world of quantitative finance.

My Biggest Drawback

• Low CGPA: I had a CGPA of 2.98/4.00 in both my undergrad and grad studies.
• Poor Math Grades: I had a B- in Mathematics 3 and a...

• Leggoo MFE
• Replies: 18
• Forum: Articles

• 
• 

Hey Andy,

Thanks for your reply!

I looked at both the threads you mentioned, seems like I'll have to go for a multi-year plan where I get more good quality work experience and, connect with some professors from before to make up for my GPA.
I think for this year I should target getting a good GRE score with a near perfect quant score.

As for the pre-req courses, I think I should take online courses for Calculus and Linear Algebra from a good US University, UIUC or UND, any other recommendations would be helpful too!
I also think the pre MFE courses at Baruch are something I should enroll for, my question is, when should I do that? Fall 2026 maybe?

I was mostly eyeing CQF as a way to get into better quant roles before I apply for MFE, though I've still not decided on it.

Lastly, anything else that I'm not focusing on or should take into consideration?