MFE information session

I did not get a chance to write about my visit to Berkeley and the MFE information session. Well, I got out of work at 11.00A.M. to drive upto Berkeley. After finding parking and walking up the hill to reach Haas, I realized that I was late by 10 minutes. Fortunately, the session had not started, so I proceeded to talk to some other prospective students.

The admissions director Linda Kreitzman talked about the MFE program in great detail. The session started with most of the prospectives introducing themselves. The pool was incredibly talented and highly accomplished, which made me wonder about the actual class itself. In addition, a wide range of age and industry was also represented (In fact, one person was a partner at a Big 4 firm).

The main points highlighted in the session:

• MFE faculty is composed of profesors from not just Berkeley, but also UCLA and UC Irvine.
• Curriculum is very targetted, finance-oriented. There was some discussion on differences between MBA and MFE programs.
• Internship after 75% of coursework.
• There are numerous practical finance seminars (1 or 2 per week).
• Accepted students are asked to prep themselves in advance for the program - by reading Wall Street Journal, books like "Heard on the street", take basic corporate finance courses from UC Berkeley extension, etc.