Here are my stats:Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines)BS Management EngineeringBA Economics - HonorsGPA 3.25GREQuant - 800Verbal - 740Work Experience:Credit Suisse First Boston - Summer InternI am applying to:1. Princeton MSF2. Columbia FE3. NYU MathFin4. USC MathFin5. UC Berkeley FEWhat are my prospects at these schools?

forget going back to school, go create somthing..think of another way of making money..

I'd say you certainly have a chance. How many math courses have you taken, and what were they? What kind of work experience do you have?

No chance at all .... console yourself by staring at this for a few hourshttp://www2.b3ta.com/mind-control/

I have taken the following related courses:Principles of Modern Math - B+Mathematical Analysis - BLinear Algebra - BElementary Probability Theory - C+Statistical Applications - BEconometrics - AMathematical Economics - AMicroeconomics - AMacroeconomics - AOperations Research - C+Financial Management - BEquity Investment Analysis - B+

Well, any program is going to ask for several more math courses than that. I'm talking about math, not economics.

Oh.. =(So with these credentials, do you think I have a slim chance of getting in? I was thinking that maybe admissions officers will just assume that my lack in certain math subjects may be compensated by my other subjects...Are subjects like C++ or differential equations really mandatory for these masters? I was thinking maybe I could just learn it when I get there.

from what you listed, you have a fairly decent chance of getting into USC . They arent all that selective, there is only one guy who is good and basically managing the program there, Dr Cvitanik. Their business school is very good but then how many courses in bschool will you take as a fin math student?The others are fairly difficult to get into - You dont have enough math undergrad courses and the ones that you have, they are not A. I think your GRE/GMAT scores will be important, but even then, you can kind of rule out Princeton (theoretical approach and better as a training to start PhD), Columbia (almost a masters in statistics), NYU (most selective in your list, they admit only 15 students or so - just like princeton- but receive many more applications than princeton). Berkeley, I dont know much about. I would recommend adding Boston University to your list too. Its probably better than USC and tad bit harder to get into. On another note, why do you want to get into Math Fin? Since you have the background, Why not try and get a MS in Finance (and not Math Finance) ? You seem to be going the other way. If you want to be an analyst or a similar position, thaats a better thing to do. (Unless of course, you want to come up with models etc)QuoteOriginally posted by: krystle920Here are my stats:Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines)BS Management EngineeringBA Economics - HonorsGPA 3.25GREQuant - 800Verbal - 740Work Experience:Credit Suisse First Boston - Summer InternI am applying to:1. Princeton MSF2. Columbia FE3. NYU MathFin4. USC MathFin5. UC Berkeley FEWhat are my prospects at these schools?

Agreed with most of what Atlas23 stated, with a few additions/modifications:Columbia FE is within the engineering school, and isn't equivalent to a masters in statistics. The masters in math with a specialization in math finance (i.e. Columbia's math finance program) essentially competes with the FE program, and is co-sponsored by the statistics department. It has a few statistics courses, but other than time series (stochastic processes is also taught within the stats department, but isn't a standard stats course as such) you can pretty much choose from a number of courses within Columbia as a whole.NYU aims for a full-time enrolled class of about 20 per year. So they admit more than this number (take your pick of their yield - they might admit 30 to 40). Princeton enrolled 8 this past year, and 10 the year before. From what I've heard, NYU was admitting about 10%, and Princeton was a little under that (closer to 5%). But it's basically the same - they are both quite tough to get into.

Would certainly agree that you need more maths modules - especially in differential equations and preferably more statistics. Most MSc's in financial maths don't take Economics or Business graduates unless they have taken a majority number of maths modules that is up to their discretion. However, your Econometrics and Financial management modules will look favourable for part of the synopsis.Your GRE looks good, but not so sure about the GPA 3.25 as when I was looking at USA and UK MSc programmes they wanted a 1st at NYU (so not sure what that equates to in GPA ~ 3.6 or something???)Good luck!

Actually if anyone knows what the GPA and UK class is equivalent that would be most useful - pressumably comparing top 10 UK universities with Ivy league.

assuming that you are just getting your BS (and that you're not looking for work in academia), you would be better off looking for work first straight out of university, to get a feel of the industry. by then, if you're really sure that you want to get in an MS program, you'll have some solid experience to leverage your applications with.

QuoteOn another note, why do you want to get into Math Fin? Since you have the background, Why not try and get a MS in Finance (and not Math Finance) ? You seem to be going the other way. If you want to be an analyst or a similar position, thaats a better thing to do. (Unless of course, you want to come up with models etc)I've tried looking into the Masters in Finance at Boston College, but their placement record does not seem that good. I think most of their grads go to the buy-side investment houses in the Boston area, but I would prefer to work as an analyst in corpfin or M&A in an investment bank.Would you recommend any Masters in Finance programs that have good placements for analysts in investment banks? I've tried applying to be an analyst but it seems that my credentials are not enough since they usually want to hire people from top undergrad schools. I was thinking that getting a Masters would put me at par with those from the top undergrads.

Quoteassuming that you are just getting your BS (and that you're not looking for work in academia), you would be better off looking for work first straight out of university, to get a feel of the industry. by then, if you're really sure that you want to get in an MS program, you'll have some solid experience to leverage your applications with. I'm actually also looking for a job right now, but most analyst classes for 2004 seem to have been already filled. What other companies do you think would be good alternatives to the top investment banks? I was thinking maybe the World Bank or the IMF..

QuoteOriginally posted by: krystle920Quoteassuming that you are just getting your BS (and that you're not looking for work in academia), you would be better off looking for work first straight out of university, to get a feel of the industry. by then, if you're really sure that you want to get in an MS program, you'll have some solid experience to leverage your applications with. I'm actually also looking for a job right now, but most analyst classes for 2004 seem to have been already filled. What other companies do you think would be good alternatives to the top investment banks? I was thinking maybe the World Bank or the IMF..World Bank and IFC are much harder to get into than any investment bank. IMF, even harder. These organizations usually hire PhDs or MBAs from Harvard (or similar universities).