Hi all,
I'm thinking about applying for Masters for Fall 2014.
My profile:
Work Experience: 1.5 Years as of now at a top shop (like GS, MS, BlackRock, Pimco). Two projects were statistics/scripting focused:
Built an R model to forecast loan default rates for a foreign central bank client using a logistic regression
Designed a process for emulating insurance liabilities using a portfolio of financial securities (basically a regression with the liabilities as the dependent variable iterated over different security types as predictors)
GRE: 167 for both Quant and Verbal
UG GPA: 3.5 at a well-reputed business school (like Wharton/Stern/Haas/Sloan)
Coursework includes:
Regression/Forecasting Models: A
Financial Engineering: B+
Forecasting Time Series: A
Multivariate Regression: A-
Calc I Honors: A-
Calc II: B+
I suspect my academic background is my weakness (I have a 3.5 and the average at Stanford is 3.9), but I hope that my work experience compensates for it.
Not sure how much the personal statement matters, but I do believe I have a decent reason: did statistics-focused projects at work, grew more interested in statistics, and sometimes wondered what else I could have done better if I had more education in statistics.
I plan on fortifying my academic background with Linear Algebra in the summer and Real Analysis in the fall. Does the prestige of the school I take these at matter? I would prefer to get this done cheaply.
Should I get 2 academic recommendations and 1 professional one, or 1 academic and 2 professional ones? My professional references know me better and are more familiar with what I can do.
Should I send 4 LoRs to Stanford (2 and 2)? They say they do take 4, but prefer 3.
I will be applying to other schools as well, but Stanford and UC Berkeley are my top choices. Do I have a realistic shot?
Lastly, does actually visiting the department matter?
Thanks in advance for any responses.