Work Experience for MSFE

[debsoon]

Hi,

I was just wondering what the chances of a fresh undergraduate directly entering a programme for financial engineering such as Columbia's MSFE are. I am currently an undergraduate for BA Economics in the University of Cambridge, and have also covered the mathematical prerequisites in my degree. I do have some work experience in the form of internships - in the Investment Operations and the Special Investments (i.e. investment in private equity, hedge funds) arms of a sovereign wealth fund.

Will this make up for the lack of professional work experience? Appreciate the help, thanks!

 

[bluechimp]

I had admits from Columbia, Cornell, Chicago, CMU and Princeton directly out of undergraduate. My work experience were actually similar to yours: it wasn't too much related to quantitative finance (I did private equity), but I think it was enough to show promise that I can handle myself career-wise.

So, it's definitely not that much of a hindrance for some of these programs. However, you need to be mindful that the admissions is a holistic process -- what you do lack in experience needs to be made up in other ways. In my case, I think I had ample mathematical background that was enough to compensate my coming directly from undergraduate.

N.B. Interesting.. an undergraduate interning at a SWF. Let me guess: GIC/Temasek? :p

 

[debsoon]

Haha yea you are right with GIC. Also, I just wanted to ask is the computer programming prerequisite really a must for these programmes? I don't have any problem with the Finance and Mathematics prerequisites of the course, but that of computing might pose a bit of a challenge.

 

[bluechimp]

No idea. Some programs might be harsher than others for prior programming knowledge. I had limited programming experience when I applied: about one semester of OOP in Java, and another semester in data structures + algorithms. Again, it's a holistic process. I know NYU, CMU, Princeton puts up the resumés of their students online -- check them out to get a better sense of what type of students they let into the cage.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Of the NYC programs, Baruch has the most restrictive requirement on the programming component. That is because it uses C++ almost exclusively throughout the program in several courses except the Structured Finance course where cash flow deal is efficiently done on Excel/VBA.
If you don't have programming experience or some light experience then it's required that you take C++ courses before the program AND/OR taking the extensive C++ refresher during the summer offered by Baruch.
Some program may admit you with some Matlab, VBA familiarity but for your sake, don't underestimate it. You do not know the job you end up taking because your programming skill or lack of.

 

[Stefan Zota]

Adding to what Andy is mentioning, I believe NYU and CMU are also putting more focus on computational side.
As for jobs, the idea is simple: very few jobs in quantitative finance field will not require in-depth knowledge of one OOP language (C++, Java)