First, the application background requirements
1. To apply for MSF and MFE, you need to meet the requirements of prerequisite courses (or you need to have the corresponding professional background of undergraduate course).
(1) general professional background:
Major in finance, business and engineering (proven good knowledge of mathematics).
(2) Common requirements for preparatory courses/courses:
Microeconomics, macroeconomics, statistics, probability, calculus, international finance, finance.
2. Hardware requirements:
GPA, GMAT or GRE, TOEFL or IELTS (please note that some MFE courses only accept GRE or GRE priority).
3. Software requirements:
Internship (bank, securities company, fund company, investment bank, internet financial platform, etc.). ), activities inside and outside the school, personal experience.
(It should be noted that whether the course requires work experience, such as mandatory working years, such as some professional financial projects, may lead to the failure of fresh graduates to apply).
Second, the application documents
attempt
There will be short essays in the application materials for master of finance, and even some schools do not have PS, only short essays, which shows the importance of short essays. The topic of the thesis is decided by the school itself, and they only examine what they care about, such as leadership, problem-solving ability, teamwork ability and so on, so the thesis is the most direct channel to identify whether the applicant is interested in his school. Whether you are an applicant with a plain background or an applicant with rich internship experience, the writing of the thesis must be combined with your own learning activities and work experience, with clear main lines and proper logic, reflecting your own characteristics.
Recommendation letters
There are three letters of recommendation. If you are a freshman, one of them must be your academic professor. The first principle of recommending candidates is that there is a direct relationship between the applicant and the recommender, which can be a teacher-student relationship or a superior-subordinate relationship, but it must not be a relationship between relatives and friends. At present, 99% schools suggest submitting letters of recommendation online. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure the accuracy of the recommender's mailbox and avoid receiving emails by mistake.
Personal statement
The content of PS is wider, mainly including:
Your personal background;
Your academic and professional experience;
Why are you suitable for this project?
Why a university? ...
When writing a personal statement, you should focus on your career planning and how our school can help you complete your career planning. It needs to know clearly whether applying to their school is a decision made after careful consideration. A mature applicant is more likely to find a good job and become their outstanding alumnus after graduation. Now I begin to conceive my own career plan and accumulate material for an excellent personal statement.
biographical notes
Some people call it resume, while others call it CV, which actually means the same thing. It mainly includes personal information, education background, award-winning experience, internship experience, work experience, paper publishing, professional skills, personal hobbies and so on. Your resume should be a document that can show your overall background to the admission Committee, so it is required that your resume be detailed, clear at a glance and avoid repetition.
Second, the application direction of the Master of Finance
The Master of Finance (MSF) focuses on the research in the financial field, including financial analysis, investment management and corporate finance.
Suitable for the crowd: students who want to become financial professionals.
Core courses: investment analysis, corporate finance, financial management or management accounting, etc. Basic courses will learn some economics, accounting, measurement and so on.
Employment direction: securities management, financial securities management, financial model construction, mergers and acquisitions, practical options.
Suggestion:
Undergraduate students majoring in finance, economics or other business can apply for MSF. It is best to have a certain mathematical foundation, and some colleges and universities will also require work experience or internship background.
Unlike MBA, MSF rarely involves management disciplines, but quantitative analysis is more than financial engineering.
Financial engineering
Financial engineering, financial engineering is a discipline formed by the intersection of finance and mathematics. In the United States, it is also called quantitative finance and financial mathematics. And it is the most professional project in the Master of Finance.
Suitable for the crowd: people who have good math scores and want to engage in securities trading and venture capital in the future.
Core course: Compared with MSF, it pays more attention to the application of stochastic calculus, quantitative methods and simulation techniques.
Employment direction: In the future, the best way to engage in expert work such as financial securities analysts and traders is to go to investment banks.
Suggestion:
Students applying for financial engineering should be excellent in mathematics, physics and other subjects. Although most colleges and universities in the United States do not require liberal arts for students majoring in financial engineering, in fact, these schools prefer to recruit science students.
Master of Business Administration in Finance
Financial MBA is one of the main forms of setting up financial specialty in American universities. Financial MBA is one of the least professional majors in management and finance.
Suitable for the crowd: people who have good math scores and want to engage in securities trading and venture capital in the future.
Core courses: Because they are set under the MBA program, such courses should learn MBA-related management courses. Compared with MSF, its subject range is wider and more diversified, but its financial specialty is not deep enough.
Employment direction: engaged in management positions in the financial industry.
Suggestion:
Basically, the best business schools will offer this course, usually for two years. Although there is basically no requirement for mathematics, undergraduate applicants must have work experience when applying.