Skip to content

Berkeley Haas

  • Current MFE Students
  • Home of "Current MFE Students" Section
  • Alumni
  • Current Students
    • Academic Matters & Policies
    • Employment & Internship
    • Part-Time Students
    • Cost & Financial Aid
    • Technology Support
    • Campus Resources & Support
    • FESA
    • Program Contact
  • Incoming Students
    • Before You Arrive
    • After You Arrive
    • Orientation
    • International Students
    • Finances, Housing, Resources
    • Contacts
    • Recordings
  • About Haas
    • About Haas Overview

    • The Haas Difference

      • Our Culture
      • Our Location
      • Developing Leaders
      • Diversity & Inclusion
      • Sustainability
    • The Student Experience

      • Academic Approach
      • Career Development
      • Learn from Business Leaders
      • Corporate Recruiters
    • Speaker Series

      • Dean's Speaker Series
      • New Thinking at Berkeley Haas
    • At a Glance

      • Our History
      • Our Campus
      • Acclaimed Alumni
      • Commencement Speakers
    • Our Leadership

      • Dean Ann Harrison
      • Haas School Board
      • Contact Haas
  • Programs
    • MBA
      • Full-Time MBA
      • Evening & Weekend MBA
      • MBA for Executives
      • Compare the MBA Programs
    • Other Graduate
      • Master of Financial Engineering
      • PhD
    • Undergraduate
      • Bachelor of Science in Business
      • Berkeley M.E.T. (Management, Entrepreneurship, & Technology)
      • Global Management Program
      • Robinson Life Sciences Business and Entrepreneurship Program
    • Certificate Programs
      • BASE Summer Program for Non-business Majors
      • BCPA Accounting Summer Program
      • Berkeley Haas Global Access Program
      • Michaels Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business
    • Pre-College
      • [email protected] Haas
      • Berkeley Business Academy for Youth
    • Executive Education
      • Executive Education
      • All Programs
  • News
      • Newsroom
      • Research & Insights
      • Magazine
      • Media Contacts
      • Faculty Experts
  • Faculty Research & Centers
    • Faculty Research & Centers Overview

    • Faculty Directories
      • Faculty Directory
      • Academic Groups
    • Research
      • Research Institutes & Centers
      • Faculty Initiatives
      • Case Studies
      • Research Labs
      • California Management Review
    • About Our Faculty
      • Nobel Laureates
      • Teaching Awards
      • Visiting Executives & Scholars
      • Faculty in Public Policy
      • Faculty Recruitment
      • Faculty Directory
  • Alumni & Giving
    • Alumni Home

    • Alumni Network
      • Alumni Network
      • Chapters, Groups, & Networks
      • Slack Alumni Workspace
      • Alumni Directory
      • Email (@berkeley.edu)
      • Student-Alumni Connections
    • Professional Resources
      • Professional Resources
      • For BS, MA, MFE, & PhD Alumni
      • For MBA Alumni
      • Hire Haas
    • Lifelong Learning
      • Lifelong Learning
    • Events
      • Worldwide Alumni Events Calendar
    • Volunteer
      • Volunteer
    • Give
      • Give to Berkeley Haas
      • The Haas Fund
      • Haas Leadership Society
      • How to Give

    Give to Haas


    Your investments drive excellence

    Give Now

Current MFE Students

  • Home of "Current MFE Students" Section
  • Alumni
  • Current Students
    • Academic Matters & Policies
    • Employment & Internship
    • Part-Time Students
    • Cost & Financial Aid
    • Technology Support
    • Campus Resources & Support
    • FESA
    • Program Contact
  • Incoming Students
    • Before You Arrive
    • After You Arrive
    • Orientation
    • International Students
    • Finances, Housing, Resources
    • Contacts
    • Recordings

MFE Preparation Resources

All candidates (admitted/hold/waitlist) should register and pay for the Berkeley MFE pre-program courses. You should enroll and pay for the courses no later than the first day of class. Please note that grading in the courses is on a pass/not pass basis, successfully completing means receiving a pass grade and the certificate.

Admitted students may take the pre-program courses at a discounted rate. The information will be emailed directly to students and should not be distributed to anyone. It is important that students use the discount code when registering to prevent being charged the wrong fees.

The three pre-program courses, Math, Statistics, and Python  are offered online. Visas are not offered for these courses–international candidates must take them online. For more information and updates, check our main website. There you will find information on the schedule, fees, registration links, syllabus, etc…

The following is a list of approved courses. These courses will satisfy different areas of the prerequisite requirements. If you are interested in taking a course that is not on this list, please email [email protected] the course description and link for review. Courses not on this list or approved by the MFE Admissions Team will not be accepted.

Successful completion of a course means receiving a grade of B or better from an accredited institution or obtaining the certificate of completion from approved MOOCs.

All prerequisite courses should be taken for a letter grade or certificate. Course availability is subject to change.

Topic Resource
Math
  • NetMath at UIUC (PDE)
  • Datasim PDE
  • Athabasca University (PDE) – must achieve 80% or better
  • Athabasca University (Linear Algebra) – must achieve 80% or better
  • Harvard Extension(Linear Algebra)
  • edX Advanced Linear Algebra
  • Coursera- (Numerical Analysis)
  • Coursera (Numerical Analysis)* – available in French with subtitles
  • Athabasca University (CALC III) – must achieve 80% or better
  • Baruch College (Numerical Analysis)
  • UCBerkeley Extension (Math courses online)
Statistics
  • Coursera – Advanced Statistics for Data Science Specialization
  • Coursera -Econometrics
  • NetMath at UIUC ( Adv Stat)
  • Coursera – Duke University
  • EdX -UC San Diego
Finance
  • UC Berkeley Extension (International Finance)
  • UC Berkeley Extension (Risk Management and Financial Derivatives)
  • UC Berkeley Extension (Investment Portfolio Management)
  • Coursera (Financial Markets)*
  • CFA
Macroeconomics
  • Harvard Extension – Econ E-1012
  • UC Berkeley Extension
  • Edx (Professional Certificate in Macroeconomics)
C++
  • UCB Extension (C++)
  • Coursera (C++, Part A)*
  • Coursera (C++, Part B)*
  • C++ Programming for Financial Engineering
  • Accelerated Computer Science Fundamentals Specialization
Python
  • UCB Extension (Python)
  • edX (Python)*
  • Coursera (Deep Learning)*
  • Udacity (Programming for Data Science with Python)
Machine Learning Take this course:

  • Coursera (Machine Learning Specialization)

If you choose not to take the above Coursera Machine Learning Specialization, you will need to complete 2 of the 3 below:

  • Udacity (Deep Learning Nanodegree)*
  • Udacity (AI with Python Nanodegree)*
  • EdX Machine Learning*
Decentralized Finance
  • Edx (Blockchain Fundamentals)
  • Edx (Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies)
  • Coursera (Decentralized Finance (DeFi): The Future of Finance)
  • Coursera (Blockchain Revolution Specialization)
  • Coursera (Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies)
  • Udemy (Ethereum Blockchain Developer Bootcamp With Solidity)
  • Udemy (Ethereum and Solidity: The Complete Developer’s Guide)

 

*You must obtain a certificate of completion for Coursera/edX/Other MOOC course

The following list of books and financial news articles are required for all candidates. These are essential readings which helps prepare candidates prior to the start of the Berkeley MFE in March. It is recommended that you read the books several times and follow the financial news on a daily basis. Additionally, all students should further develop their coding skills via LeetCode and HackerRank.

  • Heard on the Street: Quantitative Questions from Wall Street Job Interviews by Timothy Crack
  • A Practical Guide to Quantitative Finance Interviews by Xinfeng Zhou
  • Cracking the Finance Quant Interview: 51 Interview Questions and Solutions by Jean Peyre
  • Vault Guide to Advanced Finance & Quantitative Interviews
  • Quant Job Interview Questions and Answers
  • Frequently Asked Questions in Quantitative Finance
  • Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives by John Hull
  • Principles of Corporate Finance by Brealey, Myers, and Allen
  • Macroeconomics by Charles Jones
  • Wall Street Journal
  • Financial Times
  • Economist
  • Algorithms Specialization (online course)
  • Convex Optimization (online course)
  • LeetCode
  • HackerRank
  • Kaggle
  • Web3 University

It is important that we monitor your progress towards completion of the conditions. The items that the admissions committee has asked you to complete are areas which will better prepare and enhance your profile. A solid preparation is key to success in the Berkeley MFE.

We will reach out to you on a monthly basis to check-in regarding your progress. If you are submitting your progress outside of the monthly email, please visit your application status page here.

In addition, we ask that you continue to send updates whenever you make changes to your employment status, your contact information, or your educational status (that is, if you have finished a degree program or enrolled in classes to prepare for the MFE). Please email [email protected] with the information, make sure you include your full name.

Please click here to download the checklist

Office hours:
Monday through Friday, 9:00am – 4:00pm PT

Phone:
(510) 642-4417
(510) 642-6983

Email: [email protected]

Mailing Address:
Master of Financial Engineering Program
S545 Haas School of Business, MC 1900
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-1900

Street Address:
2220 Piedmont Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94720-1902

Next: Institute for Business & Social Impact

  • MFE Preparation Resources
Berkeley Haas

Haas School of Business
University of California, Berkeley

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Youtube
  • Instagram

Resources

  • For Companies
  • For Recruiters
  • For Visitors
  • Business Library
  • UC Berkeley Directory
  • Contact Haas

Internal Sites

  • bMail (Berkeley Mail)
  • For Current Students
  • For Faculty
  • For Staff
  • For Alumni
  • Emergency Information
  • Give to Haas
Copyright © 2023 UC Regents
  • UC Berkeley
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility
  • Nondiscrimination
Back to Top
Read the latest campus information on coronavirus (COVID-19).