Mechanical Engineering > Master in Financial Engineering/FinMath/etc....

A bit of a crosspost from Quant Net. 

Hi all, I'm looking for an honest review of my profile and some sanity checks. 

Undergrad: BSc - Mechanical Engineering (Top 3 Canadian School, English based), 3.6-3.7 graduating GPA, Jan 2021
GRE: 169 Q, 161 V, AWA 4
Internship Experience:

-Machine Learning Research Assistant - Built various neural network models in Python (Tensorflow/Pytorch focused) (Computer Vision) working with the professor. 2-3 published work including conference/poster abstract/paper etc, 1 first author on conference/poster abstract, 1-2 second author on papers, not sure if this helps at all.
-Big Oil/Supermajor internship - Optimization type of role. Some data science projects but nothing extremely quant/programming like above. Some project cost/evaluation NPV etc but not really "real" investment work.
-Public Sector Project Financing - Typical finance modelling etc but nothing super spectacular or out of ordinary.

CFA L1 anticipated in Dec 2020.

My goal is to end up in Quant Strategy, Portfolio Management, etc preferably in a machine learning approach based role. I really genuinely like working with optimization problems, programming and statistics.

Currently, this is my breakdown of programs that interest me:
CMU MSQF, MIT MFin, Columbia MSOR/MFE, Cornell MFE(I technically don't meet one of the stat requirements but I am happy to take the prereq if accepted). UChicago FinMath

Am I being reasonable here? I constantly feel like I am reaching far too much and I have no business applying to these elite schools. Are there any other programs that I should consider? I do want to be a bit more aggressive here as I would rather to go to US than consider Canadian schools. Furthermore, I am applying to more standard machine learning/EE type of programs in graduate studies in the US. 

Thank you so much for you guys' time and stay safe in COVID.

 

1 Comments
 

Ullam recusandae reprehenderit sit earum nesciunt. Sed quo dolores eius corporis quis ab et pariatur. Ut iusto necessitatibus libero dolores. Ipsam ut harum quisquam cum quas laborum. Enim tempora iure pariatur nam quaerat officiis tenetur. Quidem iste consectetur qui eaque deserunt laborum. Fugit ut velit animi et repellendus. Mollitia aut est quis voluptas non quia repellendus.

Et facilis quae vitae commodi deleniti necessitatibus. Expedita dolores eum necessitatibus in quis in non.

Et laboriosam facere veritatis quia porro aut exercitationem. Ratione nihil qui rem debitis nulla doloribus tempore. Iure distinctio nihil repellat nihil labore rem cumque. Temporibus laboriosam quae veniam voluptatem. Ad fugiat consequuntur voluptatem at laborum magni. Facere ut distinctio ex quidem repellendus.

Et doloremque maiores unde. Quaerat repellendus similique dignissimos cum. Aut accusamus dolor quos suscipit occaecati veritatis. Voluptate blanditiis dolor enim perferendis voluptatem. Omnis minima dignissimos aut nostrum illum ea et.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 03 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (53) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (27) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (15) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”