|
Hey alll,
I am currently an undergraduate at UC Berkeley majoring in Bus. Admin. at the Haas School of Business. I don't really know what i'm doing with my life as yet so im trying to keep my options open and have run into masters of fin. economics and Msc. in Finance as possible routes for me post-Berkeley because I don't really want to jump into the job market quite yet cuz i wanna get a more polished profile and i havent had too much experience working as an intern, which tends to hurt my chances of getting a full-time hire. so if anyone could give me some help/ advice on what i could do to improve my profile for mfe/finance/ieor school, which one i would be more geared towards (financial economics or financial eng.), and tell me some schools i might be qualified for, that would greatly appreciated!
Undergrad: Junior in Haas School of Business (Graduating in May 2011)
Cum. GPA: 3.912
Coursework: Calc 1,2,3, Linear Algebra, Differential Eqs. (mostly ODEs with some apps to heat/wave PDE eqns), discrete math, mathematical stats, calc based probability, intermed. micro theory (math-based), intermed. macro theory (math-based), advanced econometrics for math/econ majors, financial accounting, corporate finance, game theory, numerical analysis
(GPA in all these classes is 4.0).
Work Experience (not really related to finance):
1. Cal Football Gameday Intern (ISP): helping maintain relationships with the Corporate Sponsorships and our Marketing Partner (ISP) on Gamedays and in preparation for them.
2. UC Berkeley Math/Stat Tutor: Essentially I tutor all the math/stat classes that I listed above, mostly probability though as the demand for that is high. I have been a TA for a basic stats class over the summer in Berkeley's Summer Sessions.
3. Research Assistant with a Behavioral Economics Professor (stefano dellavigna): Assist in a research project that is examining whether the election of Barack Obama has led to a change in economic behavior among African Americans, and also code some of his data on a field experiment in voting behavior.
Achievements: Eagle Scout (not sure if this really makes any diff. cuz it seems everyone is an eagle scout nowadays)
I have roughly 2 free semesters left. I was thinking of taking real analysis or a 2nd course in linear algebra (to see if i really enjoy theoretical economics), and maybe some more stats classes like time series. would i be at a major disadvantage at a terminal masters in econ. or ieor if i didnt take theoretical math classes like analysis or another lin. algebra course?? any advice or schools i might be suited for would be great as well! thanks for the help!
(edit: im not looking to PHD school at all)
Last edited by dunleavy005; 05-25-2010 at 02:15 PM.
|
Really strong profile in my opinion, you should aim high, I suppose being at Berkeley you will have strong letters of recommendation. Also I suppose you are taking the GRE/GMAT?
About real analysis, they recommend it for econ phds (at least professors told me it is the most useful math course) so maybe you may want to take it instead of other math course, just in case. Time series you should take it IMO.
|
yiyo: thanks for the reply! yes im going to take the GRE in the fall and aim for that elusive 800 on quant. does verbal matter cuz im taking classes to learn all these vocab as i suck at this analogy/vocab stuff lol. il have a letter of rec from a famous behavioral econ prof, a stats prof, and my tutoring leader/mentor whos written req letters for prospective math and stats phd students in our program. hopefully thatll be enough.
since i only want a masters in operations research or financial econ. etc.etc. would i need lin. algeb. 2 or real analysis? thanks for all the help!
151 views and no other posts, cmon guys im sure u have some advice haha!
|
verbal is not too importantanything around 60th percentile is fine. Can't find a reason why you shouldn't get into the M.S. programs ~
|
I can't imagine any M.A program would reject you.
|
Is your tutoring leader/mentor a professor in Economics? If not, it's probably not a good idea to have them as a letter writer.Originally Posted by dunleavy005
University of Minnesota, PhD Economics, class of 2015
Current interest: Macroeconomics, Monetary, International Macro
|
I don't think real analysis is strictly necessary if you are not going to do a PhD in economics or finance. The value of that course has to do with learning how to do proofs which I am not sure is a big part of masters programs in finance (though feel free to correct me if I am wrong).
|
Real analysis is important for financial engineering programs, which seems to be a field you're interested in.
In fact, if you want to understand the theory behind everything you study in a masters in financial engineering program, you'll need to know real analysis, measure theory (and measure-theoretic probability), and functional analysis, and you'll need to know them well.
The good thing is, all the people who know these fields well by the time they're applying for grad school are probably all going to PhD programs in math at Harvard (or MIT, Princeton, or Berkeley). Which is why MFE programs will be more than happy to take you even if you just have real analysis.
Of course, if financial engineering isn't your thing, you don't have to worry about real analysis too much. It might help your profile though (more than linear algebra 2, at least, I believe).
|
hey guys! thanks for the input! i think ima take real analysis just to be safe and maybe PNP it if im strugglin in it.
i have one final question: my major is business and not economics and i noticed on lse/oxford/cambridge websites they look for "undergrads with economics degrees" etc etc., does it hutr me that im not a econ. major even though my transcript has the primary econ classes one needs for grad school cuz i dont think i can change my major at this point in time. thanks again!
|
IMHO, a very strong profile. Good luck.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks