My profile ; what are my chances ?

[Unknown referenceid]

This is my profile :
GRE 1480 (800 Q; 680 V)
GMAT 740 {51 Q (99% ile) ; 38 V (84%ile)}
(which should I report ? I feel GMAT as GMAT math is much tougher than GRE math)


An average gpa of 3/4 in math courses
I have extensive programming background in VBA and fortran and C (not C++ though)

*B.Tech Civil Engg. (Thesis in numerical Hydrological/meteorological modelling) CGPA= 7.1/10

*8 months work experience as a Business Analyst at Pune, India : Involved in CRM, Incentive Compensation, Sales forecasting and optimization of Client's business structure.

*MS in a US university in Spatial Modelling (3.4/ 4). Thesis using regression modelling, correlation analysis and monte carlo simulations in weather prediction. Spatial trends forecasting in real estate prices.

Here is my relevant interests in wall street that started about 1.5 yrs ago while doing a project on real estate valuations:

*Stock/derivatives/ETF/Forex daytrader for the last 1.5 years. I have converted an initial capital of $3.5k to $15k (thats > 350%/yr return !) over 850 trades last year .

Guys, intially I was somewhat reluctantly planning on an MBA after 2-3 years to get into Ibanking and such but deep inside I am a geek the more I read about MSFE at Baruch the more I feel this is meant for me as the course content is directly market oriented and will equip me to someday start a hedge fund of my own.
Please let me know what areas I have to stress or bolster to improve my chances...
Your feedback is appreciated,
Thanks.

[Andy]

MFE is calling you. I would say just go ahead and apply. Either GRE or GMAT is good enough so just pick one.
There are exactly 3 months left so i don't think you have much time to improve much. Maybe your personal essays.
Unless you plan to apply for 2009.

By the way, i'm curious about your username. Is it referring to something ? We have some guideline when signing up on Quantnet regarding using real name so it just raised my eyebrows when I see weird usernames like this.

[Unknown referenceid]

Sorry Andy, I did not notice the username guidelines, and just picked an error message that used to bug me when running my game server :). But I am a bit uncomfortable about posting my personal details on a public forum. Would my interaction on this forum account for any part of the evaluation process ?


I'd be applying for 2008. I got to know about the FE program only a couple of months ago and I feel this is the right thing for me. I've read the profiles of some of the students and I dont know what kind of view the committee will have on mostly my trading experience.

[Andy]

In most case, being active here will be looked at favorably by the Quantnet community but I don't think it is a factor at all for the Baruch admission committee. Most of the applicants signed up here after being admitted to the programs.

[Andriy]

I have converted an initial capital of $3.5k to $15k (thats > 350%/yr return !) over 850 trades last year (I believe this many trades eliminates any bias of luck and is significant given that I have done this in the midst of the turmoil afflicting the markets this past year all by myself as a retail trader).

If you can make 350%/yr return and you claim that you have done this without any bias of luck then in 3 years you will have almost $500 000. Why you need to spend time in Baruch?

[Unknown referenceid]

Nice question, 500k looks a very pretty extrapolation but I feel the law of diminishing returns will catch up much sooner as your portfolio size increases. I've already lost a bit since I posted that : ( - the price for touting my own horn (and being wrong on GOOG) I guess.. Who knows, they say you are only one trade away from going broke.
see this guy - I yrs profit lost in 2 days when the DOW crashed last week..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-AAc2bukQA&watch_response
I need to make my trading more technical than fundamental and I need tools to do so..besides, to get a good job in this field you need a related degree and being an international student complicates such career switches without a relevant degree. Besides I had almost an entire free semester for trading, something that is impossible if I have to take an unrelated full time job.

[woody]

I agree with Andy. you should apply to a few programs that you think are a good fit. I'm sure you know how MFE and MBA/Finance differ (if not, there are other threads here that discuss it). Worst case scenario you will be asked to improve in specific areas and have a year to do it and apply again.

(which should I report ? I feel GMAT as GMAT math is much tougher than GRE math)


Submit whichever the program you are applying to prefers.