NANYANG Financial Engineering

TWO MFE CANDIDATES SHARE TIPS ON EMBARKING ON A DEGREE IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC

In 2019, Ben Dong and Li Enwen enrolled in the Nanyang Business School’s (NBS) MSc Financial Engineering (MFE) programme. They are slated to graduate in 2021.

Their learning journey can be defined in two significant phases: pre-pandemic and pandemic times.

Part of the university’s plans to manage the COVID-19 outbreak include upholding the strictest hygiene standards and ramping up welfare initiatives to keep the morale of students up. Enwen says, “It’s important that the university makes us feel safe and comfortable. This gives us a sense of normalcy while we continue with our studies.”

The biggest, most inevitable change for candidates, however, is the shift to online learning. Here, Ben and Enwen share three tips on making the MFE journey fruitful despite the pandemic.

1. Stay open-minded on the benefits of online learning

The transition from the classroom to online learning takes some getting used to, and thus the MFE online lessons have been made more efficient to accommodate hiccups or delays in between classes. Enwen says she appreciates the more compact nature of the online classes, where a lot of time is now saved. The recordings from the online classes also allowed her to review learning points long after the lessons are over.

Meanwhile, she goes on Zoom and Microsoft Teams regularly now to discuss projects and assignments with her course mates. “I find online meetings way more convenient than offline ones,” she says. “Things are just more efficient.”

For Ben, online learning is not new in his own journey, and he expects it to be the norm. He has participated in a few such courses over the years. “Online learning was already a trend before COVID-19, and I’ve been supportive of it,” he says. “So it’s not a problem for me when our Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) segment was switched to the Zoom format.”

He adds that most of the MFE assignments are about programming, which means his working routine has not been affected much by the pandemic: he still spends time on the computer concentrating on problem-solving. “Before the pandemic, when I had questions, I would email my professors or course mates. This hasn’t changed too,” he says.

2. Keep the focus on your learning goals

Ben says that the pandemic will hardly be a problem for anyone whose goal is to pursue further studies. “Honing one’s self-learning skill is important,” he says. “As long as one wants to study, nothing – not even a pandemic – will change his mind about it.”

Ben and Enwen are indeed keen learners. Enwen has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and financial mathematics from Chengdu, but her interest in the field deepened in her working life – so much so that she decided to embark on a master’s degree. “I now satisfy my thirst for knowledge with courses such as Stochastic Calculus and Interest Rate Derivatives,” she says. “The professors are accommodating and humorous, and they bring mathematics to life while simplifying concepts for us.”

Ben agrees: “The faculty’s impressive knowledge and their lively personalities are a powerful combination. These professors show me what it means to be well-rounded and admirable.”

His bachelor’s degree from Beijing is in finance-related economics; yet the lifelong learner in him isn’t going to stop at that. “Financial engineering is the future,” Ben says of our technological era. “I’m interested in exploring deeply how mathematics, finance, and computer science can come together. That is the goal I’m focusing on while pursuing the MFE, and I chose Nanyang Business School because its curriculum is as rigorous as any Tier 1 MFE college.”

3. Use the global brand of your degree to your advantage

Enwen notes that upskilling is not all about satiating a learner’s curiosity,  it also leads to tangible benefits, such as securing better employment prospects in the desired field. “While it is worth pursuing a degree during COVID-19, it is also a time where internships and jobs have become scarcer,” she says.

That is why, more than ever, candidates need to carefully choose a highly reputable, global degree, so that they can remain attractive to broader, international opportunities, and openings. NBS, for example, takes the best from the west in the form of a CMU collaboration and integrates it with perspectives from the east. The faculty doesn’t just pride itself on being diverse; the educators are also passionate about sharing their years of experience that have made them industry leaders on the international stage.

At the same time,  reliable universities are committed to expanding career opportunities for students. Enwen says, “Physical job fairs have to be reduced, so I’m thankful that our mentor from the university’s career services team works continuously to explore and highlight job opportunities to us.”

Now that classes have gone online, future candidates may also enjoy the convenience of career-scouting or working in their own countries while attaining the Singapore-based NBS MFE. Enwen says, “My advice for Chinese candidates is that they can remain open and even secure an internship in China if they’ve found one, and then do their learning for their degree online. In uncertain times, being flexible is perhaps the most crucial attitude we can have.”

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