yehrf

[yehrf]

Dear AdmissionsConsultant[],

I have serious questions about getting a degree of Master in Finance
from Princeton U. The reason is because I really liked risk management work and analyzing stock pricing.

I graduated from a good 1st Tier undergraduate university (US News low end of top 25) with a degree in History and am pursuing my law degree at a little-known 4th tier law school. My undergraduate gpa was about 2.9, and my gpa at the law school is about 2.5.

My questions are these:

1) When I say that my undergrad gpa is 2.9, I did not include about
60 credit hours of work of average gpa 3.45 at another college before transfer to the university that I got my diploma.

When the graduate school admissions committee look at this, how will
they consider my undergraduate gpa? Will they a. mix both gpa and get
a overall gpa evaluation? b. consider gpa at both universities
separately?

What then should “overall gpa” be in their consideration for the purpose of my graduate school application

2) How will the admissions committee evaluate my undergraduate gpa and graduate gpa?

3) The reason my graduate gpa is only 2.5-2.6 is because my 4th tier
law school keeps a very low medium and mean for student’s gpa.
They try to keep everybody around 2.75 (most popular gpa figure in my law school), which is very low compared with most other law schools’ grading scales. Not to mention that many law schools’ gpa are on 0-4.3 scale. My law school’s gpa standard is on a 4.0 scale.

How Will the graduate school admissions committee recognize this factor, that some schools’ gpa systems do not inflate like others?

If not, how will I explain this matter to them?
Is this a very disadvantage factor for me?

4) The degree of Master in Finance has a lot to do with background Math courses in undergrad.

Princeton’s website states that, “You can submit your GMAT scores instead of GRE’s….Our entering classes have had a median GRE score of 790 on the quantitative part (you may take the exam more than once, in which case we consider your highest score). We pay particular attention to your mathematics background (courses taken in college, scores on the quantitative parts of the tests, etc.).
The single most common reason applicants are not admitted is that their math background is not strong enough to allow them to benefit from the program.”

I have taken some mathmatics courses during my undergrad, but I don’t think my math ground is strong enough to meet their reqirements. My undergraduate university offers undergraduate students who have graduated to finish “another major” as guest students.

Should I take the chance to finish a undergrduate major in finance mathmatics in order to make me competitive enough to get into this program? I figured that there are about 9 courses I have to take to get a undergrad major in finance mathmatics.

Would it be worth while to spend the money to take these 9 courses? When I say “Worth while”, I mean would it greatly assist me, as a necessary factor, in getting admitted into the Master of Finance Program at Princeton?

As I mentioned before that my undergrad GPA and my law gpa is no where near the level of competitiveness. Will the graduate school committee look at the “major gpa” more important than the “overall gpa”? If I have an above average “major gpa” by getting the undergraduate major in finance math, will they pay close
attention to that more than the overall gpa?

5) Most, if not all, of the Master in Finance Programs in the country, have specified some sort of gpa figure
for their entering class. On Princeton’s FAQ site, they don’t mention it.

Does this mean that the admissions there will place less weight on GPA than standardized test of GMAT/GRE?

6) Lastly, I have not yet taken GMAT, but am in preparation of it.
On working experience. Princeton website states, “While the program does not require formal work experience as a requirement for admission, prior work experience can be a definite plus.
At a minimum, we expect applicants to have completed one or more internships (for instance over the summer while in college).” Since I am an international student in US, working experience is definitely difficult for me to come by especially in the finance section becuase of legal restriction for non-citizen workers.

What best advice can you offer me or recommend me now if I want to achieve my goal in getting a Master of Finance degree from Princeton? or Is this even possible for me to pursue the graduate admissions at Princeton[?]

Thank you so much for your time[8D]

[Author]

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