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The Application Process for Admission
Admission to the Financial Engineering MS Program at Baruch College is available
to qualified applicants who have the potential to become successful graduates of
our program. Applicants should have strong undergraduate quantitative
credentials that demonstrate mathematical ability, as well as interest and
commitment to the field of finance. The applicants may have earned degrees in
any discipline, provided that they demonstrate by way of test scores,
undergraduate transcripts, and letters of recommendation that they are prepared
for a demanding course of quantitative study. All applicants must have a
baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited four-year college in the
United States or its equivalent in another country.
The application for admission is available on the Embark system and must be
completed online. Click
here for the
application form.
Test scores required are the General Test of the Graduate Record
Examination (GRE) or the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). (We
prefer that students take the GRE test) Students whose native language is not
English must submit TOEFL scores. Standardized test scores (GMAT, GRE, and TOEFL)
must be sent directly to Baruch College using the following codes
 For GRE/GMAT test: 2012
For TOEFL test: 8272
The Application Evaluation Process. The standard for admission into the
Financial Engineering MS Program is the same for applications for part-time and
for full-time study, as well as for applications from international and US-based
applicants. The standard for is set before the application evaluation process
begins, and the same one is applied to every application until the end of the
admission process. The admission standard is increased every year based on the
strength of the prior year's applicant pool.
Our program does not have a target number for enrolled students. We are
committed to admitting and educating as many students who meet our admissions
standard.No application is denied because of a lack of seats in the program, and
no applicant is accepted to the program to fill a quota.
Each year, around thirty new students enroll in the Financial Engineering MS
Program at Baruch College, of which half are full time and half are part time
students. While we expect this number to increase for the Fall 2007 cohort,
based on the level of interest shown by prospective candidates, it should be
noted that our admission standards are rather strict. The acceptance rate for
Fall 2006 admission was 14%. Click here
for more details on the admission figures.
We only offer admission into the Financial Engineering MS Program in the Fall
semester. The reason for not having Spring admission is that every student is
expected to take at least one core math course in the first semester of study,
and that is only possible in the Fall semester. See the
Program link for more details.
Application deadline for Fall 2008 admission : April 30, 2008.
Applicants are encouraged to submit their application as early as possible.
Admission decisions are made on a rolling basis. The first round of application
evaluations will be at the beginning of December, followed by another round at
the end of January, and then by evaluations every two weeks. Every application
is evaluated by at least three members of the Admissions Committee.
While all the applications are evaluated based on the same admission standard,
applying before March 15 should be considered optimal. This would allow enough
time for the candidate to be contacted by the MFE Admissions Committee should
further details be required to clarify certain areas of the application.
All applications for admission to the Financial Engineering MS Program at Baruch
College that are completed by April 30 will be evaluated by May 10. All
applications postmarked by April 30, which are completed by May 10, will be
evaluated by May 15. Any applications that are not complete by May 10 will not
be evaluated.
Personal Essay. Applicants should touch upon the following topics:
Why are you interested in Financial Engineering?
Why do you want to study in
the Financial Engineering MS Program at Baruch College?
What career path do you
envision after graduating from the MFE Program?
Prerequisite Courses. Applicants are required to have taken a minimal set
of courses in finance, mathematics, and computer science, before being admitted
into the MFE program, as follows:
Knowledge of Finance, as demonstrated by one undergraduate class
or work experience
Calculus (two semesters)
Probability (one semester)
Linear Algebra (one semester)
C++ programming skills at the level of one undergraduate class, or
by completing a certificate degree
In order to qualify as a prerequisite, each course must have been passed with a
grade of B or better.
Some applicants with a strong background in other areas such as practical
knowledge of finance may be admitted into the program without having met all the
prerequisites via conditional admission. They will be required to complete the
prerequisite courses before enrolling in the program, and take the summer
refresher courses.
Letters of Recommendation. Every applicant should include three letters
of recommendation with the application. The recommenders should be individuals
who can comment on the relevant skills that would make the applicant successful
in the MFE program. There is no requirement that at least one letter come from
an academic recommender. If the applicant has significant work experience, it is
advisable that at least one letter touch on that.
Refresher Courses. The mathematics department offers refresher courses in
C++, Advanced Calculus, and Linear Algebra during the summer before the
beginning of the Fall semester. These courses focus on topics to be examined in
greater detail in the MFE program, and cover a number of challenging financial
applications.
All students admitted into the Financial Engineering MS Program are required to
take the refresher courses before the start of the program. For those admitted
students (and, in particular, for the international students coming from abroad)
who want to opt out of some of the courses, assessment tests for each of the
courses will be administered in May. Provided that one scores well enough on a
test, the corresponding refresher course requirement will be waived. (An
automatic waiver is provided for the C++ refresher course to any C++
professional programmer.)
The refresher courses are closed to people not admitted in the MFE program.
The C++ course is a month-long course offered in June, meeting twice a week in
the evenings. The Advanced Calculus and the Linear Algebra courses are offered
at the end of July and at the end of August, respectively, on a two-week
Monday-Thursday evening schedule. The Probability course is offered in the first
two weeks of August, meeting twice a week in the evenings.
For more information on the refresher courses, please follow this
link.
Requests for more program information should be directed to:
Office of Research and Graduate Studies
Weissman School of Arts and Sciences
Baruch College
One Bernard Baruch Way, Box B8-211
New York, NY 10010-5585
Tel: (646) 312-4490
E-mail:
Wsas_Graduate_Studies@baruch.cuny.eduBaruch College is an Equal
Opportunity/Affirmative Action institution. The College does not discriminate on
the basis of age, sex, sexual orientation, alienage or citizenship, religion,
race, color, national or ethnic origin, disability, or veteran or marital status
in its student admissions, employment, access to programs, and administration of
educational policies. Questions concerning this policy may be addressed to the
affirmative action officer. The Board of Trustees of The City University of New
York reserves the right to make changes of any nature in the academic programs
and requirements of The City University of New York and its constituent
colleges. All programs, requirements, and courses are subject to termination or
change without advance notice.
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