Graduate Studies Blog

MSC FINANCIAL ENGINEERING

The MFE experience by Jackson Gan

I graduated with my Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s degree from NUS, and worked in Semiconductor Manufacturing Industry for approximately 4 years. I decided to further my study after leaving the school for 4 long years, with the main motivations were for career switching and further development. Particularly I was looking at finance industry. I spent significant amount of brain juice deciding between MBA and MSc Financial Engineering (MFE) programmes from local universities (NTU, NUS, SMU). With my technical engineering background and my affinity for Mathematics, MFE appeared to be a better match. The roadshows and exhibitions were definitely very useful in my view in giving out information about the programmes.

Why NBS? To be honest at the start, I had little to no knowledge and zero comparison between the various local Biz schools. However, I attended multiple roadshows and exhibitions during the decision making process. That was when I gain more information about NBS. The programme staffs and professors were helpful in giving the right advice, i.e. if you have better opportunities on hand, they would point you to those directions instead of hard selling the programme. The pre-programme prep course was another attractive point that is useful for people that have left school for some time.

The highlight of my experience throughout the programme was the rapport and learning opportunities with programme managers, professors and the friendships with a group of awesome individuals. I may have been awarded the “Best MFE Student” that year, but truly I think that award should be changed to “Best MFE Group”, and honour my study and project group. We have programming king, excel queen, meticulous prince, where we leverage each other’s strengths to overcome obstacles after obstacles. The experience in CMU was another awesome adventure that I believe every one of us cherishes.

The experience with career is simple – I got my internship and full time job using the resume designed and reviewed by NBS career office.

Takeaway – school is temporary, learning is never ending. NBS and MFE in particular, has the professors that continue to discuss, share and teach the alumni, 1 year, 2 years or 5 years after you graduated.

For all my juniors, you should be excited when the professors keep telling you the programme is difficult. That shows both the quality of the programme, and your quality the moment you are admitted.

For more info, visit our page to learn more about our programme!