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CTG1983 · 01-11-2008, 12:44 AM

Hi all,
I am doing an MS in mathematical Finance at UNC-Charlotte.
My GMAT: 770 Q51 V42 AWA 6
GRE: Will take in jun/jul and hope to get around 1550

Course works:

Undergrad- BBA GPA 3.9/4, 2nd highest in the class of 200 students at the top-most university in Bangladesh
Undergrad Coures:4/5 courses in finance, 2 in Econ, 2 on Stat, 1 on Calc, 5/6 on Accounting.

MS: Had to take Calc II, Cal III, linear algebra as prereqs. Will take Differential Equations in Summer. These all courses don't count towards my MS in Math-Finance, but just prereqs and preparation for PhD in Finance.

MS Coursework:
Math: Partial Derivative Equations, Stochastic Calculus, Numerical Methods
Econ: introductory and advanced econometrics, economic forecasting
Finance: 2 courses.
Electives: Analysis I and a finance course.

So far I hv GPA 4 in MS and hope to retain that.

My stat courses in undeergrad were not from a Math/Engineering dept but from Business Studies faculty. They were also not calculus-based. Do you think I should take a calculus-based Stat course?

I am doing MS with full-funding but I guess the University of North carolina at Charlotte is not well-reputed. Does that lower my chances of getting admission into top university like Chicago, berkeley, Wharton, harvard? I may get an Econometrics term paper published, but not certain and no other research experience. Hope to get good recos.

Plz evaluate my profile. I have still one more yr in hand. So if you think there is some lackings in coursework, i can fill that. Thanks.

EE570 · 01-11-2008, 01:42 AM

UNCC is not that well known, but I think that their MS program is actually very good. I think that the brand name should not hurt you and your profile seems ideal for a phd at a top program.

BTW, I was accepted to the very MS program you are taking in 2006. I turned it down, but still thought it would have been a good program to attend. Out of curiosity, how are the job prospects from that program these days?

Good luck.

CTG1983 · 01-11-2008, 05:43 AM

EE570, thanks for your reply. Actually I came here for funding. I didn't get full funding anywhere else though I made it to some top schools. As for the job prospect, the Bank of America and Wachovia are here to recruit even before graduation. The program has very good coordination with these banks. So job prospects look very good. But the compensation is not anywhere near the top schools. The starting salary is around $90,000. That's it.

desimba · 01-11-2008, 06:05 AM

CTG1983: I think you have a very strong profile. In terms of the math requirements and econ courses, you seem to have your bases well covered. Your GMAT score of 770 is probably the highest that I have seen on these boards so congratulations for a super duper GMAT! I frankly think you have a very good chance at a number of top programs.

What can really strengthen your profile is 1) a publication & 2) closely working with 2-3 profs on research projects who can then serve as your recommenders as well. I think it makes a big difference if your recommenders are people that you have undertaken independent research with beyond classes and obviously the additional research is something you can talk about in your SOP too. Good luck!
SB

CTG1983 · 01-12-2008, 04:45 AM

desimba, thank you very much. I appreciate your suggestions. But the problem is that I don't see any professor here who does good research in my field. Though, I may get a paper published, it's in Econometrics, not in finance. What do you think?

EE570 · 01-12-2008, 04:54 AM

You don't need to be published, just showing that you have an aptitude for research is good enough. If you have a paper that may appear in an econometrics journal, that is certainly not unrelated to methods that are used in Finance...

I think that you have a close to perfect profile, you only need to depend on your references to write good letters and then you wait and see. Try to do a research project or something with one of the profs this summer, I am sure that someone must be doing some decent research at your school?
If not try to hook up with someone at UNC-CH or Duke as a research assistant for the summer.

desimba · 01-12-2008, 03:28 PM

I second EE570's response. Frankly in a lot of the quant-heavy disciplines such as Econ and Finance, they are often more impressed by your research if it is in a more technical field rather than say, an empirical paper on asset pricing. And Econometrics being a rigorous sub-discipline, you would benefit considerably from having a paper in that field rather than a field in Finance. Often the feeling is that the student can pick up knowledge of Finance during the program whereas it becomes more difficult to pick up knowledge of the quantitative tools used in research such as calculus, analysis, etc.

Teazer · 01-13-2008, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CTG1983

My stat courses in undergrad were not from a Math/Engineering dept but from Business Studies faculty. They were also not calculus-based. Do you think I should take a calculus-based Stat course?

If you get the chance, this'll help. Probably not so much in acceptance/applications, but with the other coursework @ UNCC and in a finance phd.

Also, the MF program isn't designed to promote individual research, but its worth asking if you can do an additional individual study course over the Summer to research some econometric aspect under supervision of one of the faculty. What area are you interested in?

Quote:

Originally Posted by EE570

If not try to hook up with someone at UNC-CH or Duke as a research assistant for the summer.

I've got the feeling that UNC-CH is not particularly endeared to UNCC graduate programs !

asa_sl · 01-13-2008, 04:18 AM

your profile is perfect to me.man how could you get such a high gmat score as you are international student as well? Its only a dream to me score 42 in verbal.

CTG1983 · 01-13-2008, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EE570

You don't need to be published, just showing that you have an aptitude for research is good enough. If you have a paper that may appear in an econometrics journal, that is certainly not unrelated to methods that are used in Finance...

I think that you have a close to perfect profile, you only need to depend on your references to write good letters and then you wait and see. Try to do a research project or something with one of the profs this summer, I am sure that someone must be doing some decent research at your school?
If not try to hook up with someone at UNC-CH or Duke as a research assistant for the summer.

Thank you very much. Your comments are like eye-opener. As for the research assistantships, I would try to hook up with someone but I am not sure about the compensation. In technology/scince-based projects, the assistant gets a fair amount of money but in finance/econ-based projects, I am not sure whther that is the case.

01-11-2008, 12:44 AM	#1 (permalink)
CTG1983 TestMagic Guru Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,572	PhD in finance in 2008 Hi all, I am doing an MS in mathematical Finance at UNC-Charlotte. My GMAT: 770 Q51 V42 AWA 6 GRE: Will take in jun/jul and hope to get around 1550 Course works: Undergrad- BBA GPA 3.9/4, 2nd highest in the class of 200 students at the top-most university in Bangladesh Undergrad Coures:4/5 courses in finance, 2 in Econ, 2 on Stat, 1 on Calc, 5/6 on Accounting. MS: Had to take Calc II, Cal III, linear algebra as prereqs. Will take Differential Equations in Summer. These all courses don't count towards my MS in Math-Finance, but just prereqs and preparation for PhD in Finance. MS Coursework: Math: Partial Derivative Equations, Stochastic Calculus, Numerical Methods Econ: introductory and advanced econometrics, economic forecasting Finance: 2 courses. Electives: Analysis I and a finance course. So far I hv GPA 4 in MS and hope to retain that. My stat courses in undeergrad were not from a Math/Engineering dept but from Business Studies faculty. They were also not calculus-based. Do you think I should take a calculus-based Stat course? I am doing MS with full-funding but I guess the University of North carolina at Charlotte is not well-reputed. Does that lower my chances of getting admission into top university like Chicago, berkeley, Wharton, harvard? I may get an Econometrics term paper published, but not certain and no other research experience. Hope to get good recos. Plz evaluate my profile. I have still one more yr in hand. So if you think there is some lackings in coursework, i can fill that. Thanks. _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.---Mr. Know-all CTG1983

01-11-2008, 05:43 AM	#3 (permalink)
CTG1983 TestMagic Guru Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,572	EE570, thanks for your reply. Actually I came here for funding. I didn't get full funding anywhere else though I made it to some top schools. As for the job prospect, the Bank of America and Wachovia are here to recruit even before graduation. The program has very good coordination with these banks. So job prospects look very good. But the compensation is not anywhere near the top schools. The starting salary is around $90,000. That's it. _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.---Mr. Know-all CTG1983

01-12-2008, 04:45 AM	#5 (permalink)
CTG1983 TestMagic Guru Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,572	desimba, thank you very much. I appreciate your suggestions. But the problem is that I don't see any professor here who does good research in my field. Though, I may get a paper published, it's in Econometrics, not in finance. What do you think? _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.---Mr. Know-all CTG1983

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01-11-2008, 01:42 AM	#2 (permalink)
EE570 Within my grasp! Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 110	UNCC is not that well known, but I think that their MS program is actually very good. I think that the brand name should not hurt you and your profile seems ideal for a phd at a top program. BTW, I was accepted to the very MS program you are taking in 2006. I turned it down, but still thought it would have been a good program to attend. Out of curiosity, how are the job prospects from that program these days? Good luck.

01-11-2008, 06:05 AM	#4 (permalink)
desimba Within my grasp! Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 248	CTG1983: I think you have a very strong profile. In terms of the math requirements and econ courses, you seem to have your bases well covered. Your GMAT score of 770 is probably the highest that I have seen on these boards so congratulations for a super duper GMAT! I frankly think you have a very good chance at a number of top programs. What can really strengthen your profile is 1) a publication & 2) closely working with 2-3 profs on research projects who can then serve as your recommenders as well. I think it makes a big difference if your recommenders are people that you have undertaken independent research with beyond classes and obviously the additional research is something you can talk about in your SOP too. Good luck! SB

01-12-2008, 04:54 AM	#6 (permalink)
EE570 Within my grasp! Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 110	You don't need to be published, just showing that you have an aptitude for research is good enough. If you have a paper that may appear in an econometrics journal, that is certainly not unrelated to methods that are used in Finance... I think that you have a close to perfect profile, you only need to depend on your references to write good letters and then you wait and see. Try to do a research project or something with one of the profs this summer, I am sure that someone must be doing some decent research at your school? If not try to hook up with someone at UNC-CH or Duke as a research assistant for the summer.

01-12-2008, 03:28 PM	#7 (permalink)
desimba Within my grasp! Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 248	I second EE570's response. Frankly in a lot of the quant-heavy disciplines such as Econ and Finance, they are often more impressed by your research if it is in a more technical field rather than say, an empirical paper on asset pricing. And Econometrics being a rigorous sub-discipline, you would benefit considerably from having a paper in that field rather than a field in Finance. Often the feeling is that the student can pick up knowledge of Finance during the program whereas it becomes more difficult to pick up knowledge of the quantitative tools used in research such as calculus, analysis, etc.

01-13-2008, 04:18 AM	#9 (permalink)
asa_sl Within my grasp! Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 140	your profile is perfect to me.man how could you get such a high gmat score as you are international student as well? Its only a dream to me score 42 in verbal.

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