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Would taking actuarial exam(s) help?

allendoe

Joined
2/13/14
Messages
3
Points
11
Hi,
My background: Ugrad with EE and Msc in Physics ~3.3GPA with dissertation (keyword: modelling/astrophysics/HI mass/large data/text mining..)

Currently a cfa lvl 2 candidate with 2yrs+ working exp. in insurance firm (risk management).

1. Given my low GPA, would taking exams like Stochastic Processes (Exam ST), Financial Risk and Rate of Return (Exam 8) or Financial Mathematics (FM) help in my application?
2. Would adding a personnel investment trading results (~60k usd) helps? (still in red, short squeezed in case you asked)
3. No GRE/GMAT yet.
4. Btw, besides MIT, where else would you suggest to apply? (Cornell/CMU)?

I haven't decided on this two domain job (Equity: fundamental driven/ Fixed Income: quant) but would like to keep my options open. And MIT would allow me to explore given that they allow student to take courses from other dept.
 
Last edited:
allendoe said:
Hi,
My background: Ugrad with EE and Msc in Physics ~3.3GPA with dissertation (keyword: modelling/astrophysics/HI mass/large data/text mining..)

Currently a cfa lvl 2 candidate with 2yrs+ working exp. in insurance firm (risk management).

1. Given my low GPA, would taking exams like Stochastic Processes (Exam ST), Financial Risk and Rate of Return (Exam 8) or Financial Mathematics (FM) help in my application?
2. Would adding a personnel investment trading results (~60k usd) helps? (still in red, short squeezed in case you asked)
3. No GRE/GMAT yet.
4. Btw, besides MIT, where else would you suggest to apply? (Cornell/CMU)?

I haven't decided on this two domain job (Equity: fundamental driven/ Fixed Income: quant) but would like to keep my options open. And MIT would allow me to explore given that they allow student to take courses from other dept.
Click to expand...

When you say you do "risk management for an insurance company," are we talking the asset side (investment risk), or the liability side (insurance risk, effectively implying that you're an actuary, not an investments guy)? If you're doing investment risk, are able to explain it in a way that makes it sound reasonably quantitative, are doing CFA (FRM too probably wouldn't hurt if you knock out L2 in June and have to wait the entire year for L3), do well on the GRE quant, are a domestic applicant, and get solid recommendations, I'd say that you might already be in pretty decent shape for admissions... after a few years of working, undergrad GPA tends to matter less.

Mentioning personal trading could be helpful in your admissions essay, but only if you explain it right and turn it into some kind of compelling narrative reflecting your interests.

There's no need to decide what specific type of quant you want to be before applying, as long as you're able to convincingly explain your general interest in the field.
 
considering I have many things to cover (GRE GMAT etc) by the end of this year, I guess I have to take PRM (instead of FRM), and revisit C/C++ materials
any thoughts?
 
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