希望大家在申请或者问问题前先看看，仅针对美国MFE申请。
Q: Can I get support, i.e. the financial aid, to study in the F.E. program?
A: No, unfortunately not. You have to prepare the money to support yourself.

Q: How long can I finish the study and how much money should I prepare?
A: Usually you need 3 semesters, for example: Fall--Spring--Summer or Fall--Spring--Summer Intern/Summer Fun--Fall. You are required to take 12 courses which is 36 credits-->about $30,000 in Columbia. Plus the living expense, prepare at least $40,000--$50,000 before coming.

Q: What if I don't have that much money?
A: Then I would not suggest you to apply. If you have strong background and would like to spend a few years, you can consider applying the PhD in O.R. or the PhD programs in other schools, because most of the PhD programs cover the tuition and pay a monthly stipend.

Q: What if I can pay the tuition but have trouble with the living expense, can I find some work to do on campus to cover that?
A: Sometimes you can do a grader--somebody calls it ATA, assistant for teaching assistant, mostly involving grading the homework--in the department. It doesn't pay that high--$10/hour, suppose you work 7 hours a week, that's just $300/month. You can also do some administrative work for Professors, work in the library or computer lab, but the pay won't be higher and it may cause conflict between study and work. So basically I don't suggest you to come without solving the financial support first.

Q: Is there spring admission?
A: Yes. But you may encounter problem taking the courses as the curriculum is designed for the students coming in Fall.  

Q: What're the important factors that can help me get admission?
A: I'm not so sure about the F.E. admission, but below are the important ones that I think.

Mathematical background
GPA (esp. Math and O.R. related courses)
GRE (Q&A, not V)
Personal Statement
Working experience
Interest and enthusiasm
Confidence in yourself
Ability to present yourself
Q: What background should I have?
A:  Engineering, Science, Finance, Business, Economics, etc.

Q: What's the minimum requirement for GPA?
A: Maybe 3.0, I don't know.

Q: What's the minimum requirement for GRE and TOEFL scores?
A: Not sure, probably something like 1900 (Q+A>1400) and 550.

Q: I don't have very good Math background, but I got work experience, does that help?
A: Sure it does. But be aware that you really need to learn a lot of Math after coming here.

Q: What can I do after getting an F.E. Master?
A: A lot. Mostly in financial services or consulting firms--as far as I know.

Q: What's the job future?
A: So far is very good--not true in the current (2002) market :-((. I know many F.E. graduates got jobs in the financial services (Morgan Stanley, J. P. Morgan, Citibank, Salomon Smith Barney, CSFB, American Express, to name a few) and consulting firms (PriceWaterhouseCooper, Andersen, etc.).

Q: What kind of preparations could I make before coming to study?
A: If you're not familiar with Linear Algebra and Probability, a review on them will be worth. Word, Excel, Matlab are some software you may use a lot here, at least learn the basics before coming. If you get more time, grasping a high-level language other than C (I suppose you know it already), such as C++ or JAVA, will be great.