The MS QCF Program

Prerequisites, Application, and Admission


Prerequisites

  1. Applicants should have received a four year Bachelor's degree from a recognized institution and graduated in the upper half of their class.
  2. As part of the application, the candidate will supply
    • one copy of the official transcripts of Bachelor's study and all other previous academic study;
    • GRE test scores (Verbal, Quantitative, Analytic) for Mathematics and ISyE, or GMAT test scores (Total, Verbal, Quantitative) for Management;
    • three letters of recommendation (submitted electronically); and
    • TOEFL score (for international candidates whose first language is not English and who have not studied in the US for at least one year).
  3. Applicants should have a working knowledge of calculus. This includes differential and integral calculus of one variable, multivariate calculus, fundamentals of linear algebra and linear systems of equations, and differential equations. This normally requires 4 semesters in a Bachelor's program. Applicants should also have taken calculus-based probability and statistics in 1 or 2 semester courses.
  4. Applicants should have basic knowledge of a programming language such as C, C++, JAVA or FORTRAN.
  5. The MS QCF program requires significant mathematical ability, which is indicated through strong performance on mathematics coursework during the candidate's Bachelor's degree program and a strong performance on the Quantitative-Analytical portions of the GRE or GMAT test.
  6. There may also be prerequisites for admission from the academic unit of Mathematics, Management or ISyE before the candidate can be admitted into that academic unit as Home Unit. For example, this might involve GRE or GMAT score requirements or TOEFL score requirements. In particular, candidates choosing Mathematics or ISyE as their Home Unit should take the GRE test, and candidates choosing Management as their Home Unit should take the GMAT test.

Computer Policy

It is a policy in the MS QCF Program that every student admitted into the MS QCF Program will be strongly encouraged to have their own computer with software that includes a current version of Windows, Microsoft Office (97, 2000, or XP), and Mathworks MatLab (5.3 or later) with the Financial Toolbox.

Each QCF student will be admitted to one of the three Home Units of Mathematics, Management or ISyE. It is expected that the QCF student will use the student computer laboratory facilities of the student's Home Unit (e.g., for email, word processing, etc.), but the student is permitted to use the student computer lab facilities in all of the three Units of ISyE, Management and Mathematics.

The MS QCF program has its own QCF Laboratory/Trading Area with state-of-the-art PC's and workstations that provide data feeds, and financial, statistical, mathematical, and general purpose software applications for use of the QCF students.