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Institution: National Technical University of Ukraine (top 1-2 in country) Major(s): BS Economic Cybernetics which is equal to Mathematical Economics/Econometrics in EU Minor(s): N/A (we don't have major/minor system) GPA: 94/100 local system; approx. 3.96/4.00 US GPA scaled; 5.75/6.00 Swiss scaled; 1.45 German Type of Student: International White Female GRE General Test: Q: 160 V: 148 W: N/A (no results yet) Languages: English - CAE Certificate (199/grade B); German - Goethe C1 Zertifikat (71/100) Programs Applying: Statistics/Quant Finance/Data Science MS Research Experience: several published research papers in native language, 1 in English related to Quant Finance combined with DS methods Awards/Honors/Recognitions: diploma with honors (highest recognition you can get in Ukrainian universities), top 10-15% of class Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 3-month internship, followed by position in Data Science field (current) Letters of Recommendation: I understand that the reputation of professors from my country should be taken with a grain of salt, but their LORs are likely to be strong. 1st LOR should be from my bachelor thesis mentor and 2nd one from my bachelor/master courses with high reputation in data science/stats field. Math/Statistics Grades: Grading system and subject names are different from US/European ones, but I can try covert them into those standards if needed. Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: A vast amount of DS/ML courses taken on Coursera (yeah, I know, kind of questionable), Kaggle contributor/expert (good for DS program, not sure about Stats). Planning to continue research in Quant Finance field. My experience is not strictly Statistics oriented, but also including Data Science, Econometrics and Quant Finance. My bachelor program had strong Stats/Math/Econometrics and mediocre Computer Science/Data Science subjects, however I am still not sure how those subjects will be evaluated by those universities. Applying to master programs at: Target: ETH Zurich (most desirable) UZH/University of Zurich (desirable too) Safety: LMU Munich TUM Munich The main question is, should I retake GRE? I have high GPA, but I got it in mediocre university (in terms of world reputation), so this might not be enough. How will such weak verbal GRE score affect my chances of admission, even though I have sufficient proof of English (and even German which is not mandatory) by standards of mentioned universities. There is still time for me to retake GRE, but I am not sure if it is necessary. I also should point out that target country for me is Switzerland because of family relocation plans, whereas Germany seems to be less desirable, but safer option. ETH Zurich Stats MS is top 1 option for me, but any other master program mentioned above at ETH would be satisfactory too. Which areas should I improve in my case? Can I boost my chances by getting more research experience? Any help would be appreciated🙂

Is anybody here doing the program? What is your opinion about it? Besides, I'm curious about the date of the interview and reference procedure. Thanks in advance！

Out of all the admits I have, I've narrowed it down to these two but am finding it hard to make a decision. Points in favour of UZH: MUCH cheaper, as they have no tuition fees, better and bigger city (I'm a city person :P), Less specialised program could leave me with more options after graduation. Points in favour of Uppsala: Potentially better program (I'm getting a Theoretical Chemistry specialisation there), Seemingly more lively community and culture (Uppsala being a student town plus I've received countless follow-up mails after getting the admit, makes me feel like they want me more and more welcoming?) I'm really inclined towards Uppsala, but it would turn out to be twice as expensive as UZH :(

Is anybody applying to "Master of Science UZH ETH in Quantitative Finance" course at University of Zurich and (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich)? Need some help on motivation letter about the theme? Let's use this forum to further discuss the application and admits.