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zra200 · 06-05-2008, 02:29 PM

Hello,

I've recently decided to go full force into a phd program in Finance by applying for the Fall '09 semester. I have an undergrad degree from NYU Stern (3.3/4 GPA), a MBA in Finance from Pace University (3.6/4), and a MS degree in Applied Math from Columbia University with a concentration in Financial Engineering (3.3/4). I also have 5 years of work experience as a quantitative research analyst in asset management where I've worked extensively on researching tax-aware strategies, various investment styles, the real-estate market, asset allocation, portfolio choice, asset valuation, and emerging markets (which we were working on publishing to scholarly journals and presenting at conferences). I have teaching experience in a community center which I have been volunteering at for 10+ years now. Furthermore, I also have research experience in studying metallurgy and neural networks. I don't have any formal academic research nor any published papers though. Also, my GRE score in math is decent (740) and my verbal is not so decent. My LOR will be 1) my manager (I'm sure this will be an outstanding letter), 2) an applied math professor (well known in the field, which will also be good), and 3) potentially a finance professor from either undergrad or grad (still working on getting someone to sign on for this). My question is, do I stand a chance in one of the top 50 schools? Also, do you think they will weigh my graduate work more than my GRE scores in evaluating my profile? Should I take my GREs again knowing perhaps that there is the chance of scoring lower than the 740 in math and perhaps higher in verbal? My grades and GRE scores could have been higher, it's just that I've been working full-time ever since Freshmen year of undergrad to support my family which was always a drag on my "school work" time. Will this work against me?

desimba · 06-05-2008, 02:37 PM

My 2 cents-
1) Take the GRE again. 740 in math is too low at least for the top 25. Verbal doesn't matter. People get into places like Stanford with verbal GRE scores of 370 (and of course spectacular profiles otherwise).
2) Try and take all of your recommendations from your previous professors. You can provide the recommendation from your manager as a fourth recommendation when only 3 are required, but it would be desirable that the main 3 letters are from people in the academic world. The exception is those schools that ask you to provide one recommendation from someone at the work place.

asianeconomist · 06-05-2008, 04:03 PM

I second the advise of desimba. Try to manage an LOR from your UGrad institution. Seeing that your GPA is sub-optimal for top 25 programs, it would be very useful if you can make at least one of your recommender to explain it in their LOR and basically state that your actual competency is not adequately reflected by your GPA.

zra200 · 06-05-2008, 05:00 PM

Thanks for the advice! That was very helpful!

Just to follow up, do you think my graduate degrees count for anything? Is this something that the admissions committee would value above perhaps students coming straight from an undergrad program?

Also, I'm applying to quite a few schools (11 top 25 and 5 < 25 in ranking and 2 int'l schools). Do you think this is a good mix considering I do bring my GRE score up?

Finally, do you think my lower quant score on my official GRE report will look negatively upon my application? Mind you, these GRE scores are from July '06.

Thanks again!

desimba · 06-05-2008, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zra200

Just to follow up, do you think my graduate degrees count for anything? Is this something that the admissions committee would value above perhaps students coming straight from an undergrad program?

Also, I'm applying to quite a few schools (11 top 25 and 5 < 25 in ranking and 2 int'l schools). Do you think this is a good mix considering I do bring my GRE score up?

Finally, do you think my lower quant score on my official GRE report will look negatively upon my application? Mind you, these GRE scores are from July '06.

Thanks again!

Your graduate degree from Columbia should count for a lot given that a) it is in a field which is relevant and b) well, it's from Columbia. Even though you did not have a very high GPA from that school, you may have a good rapport with any professor/ maybe someone in whose class you excelled and s/he could be a great recommender for you.

On your selection of schools, I think 11 schools in the top 25 may be a few too many. I would suggest more schools in the 25+ range and within that, I would suggest a finer tiering. e.g. 2 in the 25-40 range, 2 in the 40-60 range and 1 in the 60+ range. At least that is how I had worked on my application strategy this admissions cycle.

Your lower GRE score will be a non-issue. Virtually all schools look at the highest scores that you have had. But as I said, 740 Q is probably too low for several of the good places.

zra200 · 06-06-2008, 12:39 AM

Do you think it's worth taking the GMAT or is a good GRE quant score sufficient?

Prawler · 06-06-2008, 12:52 AM

You can take the GMAT if you believe that you can score higher than %90 percentile in Quantitative part of the exam. You also have to do good in the verbal to exceed the cut off point - which some schools use - 700.

Russ_econ · 06-13-2008, 03:42 AM

Prawler; 700 is the cutoff for verbal? are you sure? I think it is too much

Prawler · 06-13-2008, 01:14 PM

I'm talking about GMAT not GRE.

zra200 · 07-09-2008, 03:23 PM

Hi,

Since my last post, I've retaken the GREs and scored a 790 on the quant section. I've also spoken to three professors who are senior professors at top schools in finance, applied math, and financial engineering/industrial engineering and are going to write me favorable recommendation letters. Furthermore, I've also secured a good recommendation letter from my manager who is not a phd himself, but was a phd student and also manages phds in a quant research group at a major wall street firm. We've been working together for the last 5 years on various research initiatives one of which is a paper we are looking to publish in an academic journal. I also have a recommendation letter coming from another senior finance professor from a lesser known school. The professor isn't very published in academic journals, but is well known in the financial services industry and has written books. I have also reached out to another finance professor from the same lesser known school who is a graduate of a top 10 program and is published, though not well known.

Do you think I need all these recommendation letters? If I include all these recommenation letters in my application, will schools just automatically ignore them as overkill or consider them as well, or worse yet, look on them unfavorably as providing too much information? Finally, does a 3.3 from a top US program look better than a 3.7 from a lesser known program? Thanks for the advice I appreciate it! You guys have been a big help on giving me a better perspective on the application process.

06-05-2008, 02:29 PM	#1 (permalink)
zra200 Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 13	Graduate Degrees versus GRE scores Hello, I've recently decided to go full force into a phd program in Finance by applying for the Fall '09 semester. I have an undergrad degree from NYU Stern (3.3/4 GPA), a MBA in Finance from Pace University (3.6/4), and a MS degree in Applied Math from Columbia University with a concentration in Financial Engineering (3.3/4). I also have 5 years of work experience as a quantitative research analyst in asset management where I've worked extensively on researching tax-aware strategies, various investment styles, the real-estate market, asset allocation, portfolio choice, asset valuation, and emerging markets (which we were working on publishing to scholarly journals and presenting at conferences). I have teaching experience in a community center which I have been volunteering at for 10+ years now. Furthermore, I also have research experience in studying metallurgy and neural networks. I don't have any formal academic research nor any published papers though. Also, my GRE score in math is decent (740) and my verbal is not so decent. My LOR will be 1) my manager (I'm sure this will be an outstanding letter), 2) an applied math professor (well known in the field, which will also be good), and 3) potentially a finance professor from either undergrad or grad (still working on getting someone to sign on for this). My question is, do I stand a chance in one of the top 50 schools? Also, do you think they will weigh my graduate work more than my GRE scores in evaluating my profile? Should I take my GREs again knowing perhaps that there is the chance of scoring lower than the 740 in math and perhaps higher in verbal? My grades and GRE scores could have been higher, it's just that I've been working full-time ever since Freshmen year of undergrad to support my family which was always a drag on my "school work" time. Will this work against me?

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06-05-2008, 02:37 PM	#2 (permalink)
desimba Within my grasp! Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 248	My 2 cents- 1) Take the GRE again. 740 in math is too low at least for the top 25. Verbal doesn't matter. People get into places like Stanford with verbal GRE scores of 370 (and of course spectacular profiles otherwise). 2) Try and take all of your recommendations from your previous professors. You can provide the recommendation from your manager as a fourth recommendation when only 3 are required, but it would be desirable that the main 3 letters are from people in the academic world. The exception is those schools that ask you to provide one recommendation from someone at the work place.

06-05-2008, 04:03 PM	#3 (permalink)
asianeconomist Loving the game Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Cambridge, UK Posts: 1,017	I second the advise of desimba. Try to manage an LOR from your UGrad institution. Seeing that your GPA is sub-optimal for top 25 programs, it would be very useful if you can make at least one of your recommender to explain it in their LOR and basically state that your actual competency is not adequately reflected by your GPA.

06-05-2008, 05:00 PM	#4 (permalink)
zra200 Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 13	Thanks for the advice! That was very helpful! Just to follow up, do you think my graduate degrees count for anything? Is this something that the admissions committee would value above perhaps students coming straight from an undergrad program? Also, I'm applying to quite a few schools (11 top 25 and 5 < 25 in ranking and 2 int'l schools). Do you think this is a good mix considering I do bring my GRE score up? Finally, do you think my lower quant score on my official GRE report will look negatively upon my application? Mind you, these GRE scores are from July '06. Thanks again!

06-06-2008, 12:39 AM	#6 (permalink)
zra200 Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 13	Do you think it's worth taking the GMAT or is a good GRE quant score sufficient?

06-06-2008, 12:52 AM	#7 (permalink)
Prawler Within my grasp! Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 328	You can take the GMAT if you believe that you can score higher than %90 percentile in Quantitative part of the exam. You also have to do good in the verbal to exceed the cut off point - which some schools use - 700.

06-13-2008, 03:42 AM	#8 (permalink)
Russ_econ Eager! Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 59	Prawler; 700 is the cutoff for verbal? are you sure? I think it is too much

06-13-2008, 01:14 PM	#9 (permalink)
Prawler Within my grasp! Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 328	I'm talking about GMAT not GRE.

07-09-2008, 03:23 PM	#10 (permalink)
zra200 Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 13	Hi, Since my last post, I've retaken the GREs and scored a 790 on the quant section. I've also spoken to three professors who are senior professors at top schools in finance, applied math, and financial engineering/industrial engineering and are going to write me favorable recommendation letters. Furthermore, I've also secured a good recommendation letter from my manager who is not a phd himself, but was a phd student and also manages phds in a quant research group at a major wall street firm. We've been working together for the last 5 years on various research initiatives one of which is a paper we are looking to publish in an academic journal. I also have a recommendation letter coming from another senior finance professor from a lesser known school. The professor isn't very published in academic journals, but is well known in the financial services industry and has written books. I have also reached out to another finance professor from the same lesser known school who is a graduate of a top 10 program and is published, though not well known. Do you think I need all these recommendation letters? If I include all these recommenation letters in my application, will schools just automatically ignore them as overkill or consider them as well, or worse yet, look on them unfavorably as providing too much information? Finally, does a 3.3 from a top US program look better than a 3.7 from a lesser known program? Thanks for the advice I appreciate it! You guys have been a big help on giving me a better perspective on the application process.

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