All candidates (admitted/conditional/waitlist) should register 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, and successfully completing means receiving a pass grade and the certificate. To pass the course, you must receive a grade of 70% or higher. For admitted students, not achieving this benchmark can affect your standing in the MFE class.
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. 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.
Please keep in mind that if you have had preparation courses assigned to your portal, then existing courses that you have already taken have been deemed as insufficient. Additionally, our interviewers sometimes feel more preparation in certain areas is important prior to starting the MFE program.
Transcripts that you have already provided on your application as well as course syllabi are not acceptable to complete pre-requisites. If you would like to ask if a course you have taken will count, please email the syllabus to [email protected] for approval. Note that approval is not guaranteed, as additional preparation is usually required.
MOOC/Certificate Courses: Make sure to complete the entire certification path. When you complete the entire certification path, you will receive a course certificate that shows all modules completed. This is what needs to be submitted, not the individual module certificates. We will not mark this requirement complete until we see the final course certificate provided.
All prerequisite courses should be taken for a letter grade or certificate. Course availability is subject to change.
*You must obtain a certificate of completion for Coursera/edX/Other MOOC course
All students should further develop their coding skills via LeetCode and HackerRank. In addition, students should consider the following online courses for further preparation in key areas.
- Algorithms Specialization (online course)
- Convex Optimization (online course)
- Akuna Options 101 Course
- LeetCode
- HackerRank
- Kaggle
The following books are required for all candidates. These are essential readings that help prepare candidates prior to the start of the Berkeley MFE. It is recommended that you read the books and follow the financial news including reading Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Financial Times on a daily basis.
- 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
- 150 Most Frequently Asked Questions on Quant Interviews
- Frequently Asked Questions in Quantitative Finance
- Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives by John Hull
The decision to require a GRE/GMAT retake is a strategic investment in your future success within the Berkeley MFE. Our curriculum is exceptionally rigorous; reaching the 70th percentile in Verbal and 90th percentile in Quant ensures you have the foundational skills to thrive in this environment. Additionally, many top-tier firms use these scores as a benchmark during internship recruiting, so strengthening your results now sharpens your competitive edge in the job market.
While both exams are accepted, we often recommend the GMAT Focus Edition to raise your quantitative score, as many find its streamlined math focus and scoring methodology to be a more straightforward path to high percentiles. You are welcome to switch to the GMAT even if you previously took the GRE. Since we take the highest score from each section, you can focus your prep exclusively on the area that needs improvement; a new score will not negatively impact a section you have already satisfied. Finally, we offer flexibility regarding deadlines—if you need additional time to complete the exam, please reach out to [email protected] so we can work with you.
In addition to securing internships or unpaid project work, students can build experience through participation in competitions. Samples include:
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.
Office hours:
Monday through Friday, 9:00am – 4:00pm PT
Phone:
(510) 642-4417
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