As more and more students apply to U.S. graduate schools, the bar for many popular programs keeps rising. In fact, besides GPA, GRE, essays, and recommendation letters, an increasing number of graduate schools and programs are now paying close attention to the undergraduate courses students have taken.
If students haven't taken relevant courses for some graduate programs or have achieved poor grades in them, their chances of admission are slim. Today, CheersYou（清柚教育） will walk you through the recommended undergraduate courses for current popular graduate programs~
Financial Engineering / Financial Mathematics
Financial Engineering and Financial Mathematics are now darlings among graduate applicants; almost all students in math and finance departments regard admission to top Financial Engineering and Financial Mathematics programs as their ultimate goal. Naturally, the bar for these programs keeps rising.
To get into a top-10 program, you'll need at least a 3.7 GPA and a very strong quantitative background.
Recommended undergraduate courses:
Linear Algebra, Probability Theory, Statistics, Stochastic Processes, Mathematical Finance (Introduction to Options and Futures Pricing), Econometrics, Time Series Analysis, Python or C++
Requirements on NYU Tandon's Financial Engineering Program Website
Accounting
Many students majoring in Economics plan to apply to accounting programs at business schools for graduate studies. This is where you need to pay special attention: most accounting programs at business schools require students to have completed several specific accounting courses during their undergraduate studies.
Recommended undergraduate courses:
Introductory Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Statistics, Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, Corporate Finance
Requirements on NYU Stern's Accounting Program Website:
Note:
Prerequisite course requirements vary by school; please check the program’s official website for details.
Master of Computer Science
A Master's in Computer Science is a highly technical program, and the salaries for software engineers after graduation are quite high. Therefore, students applying to MCS programs should ideally major in CS or at least have taken many CS courses during their undergraduate studies to have a chance of admission!
Recommended undergraduate courses:
Linear Algebra, Data Structures, Object-Oriented Programming, Discrete Mathematics, etc.
Requirements on Cornell University's M.S. in Computer Science Program Website:
Data Science / Business Analytics
Data Science has also become a hugely popular program in recent years, with more and more students wanting to pursue graduate studies in Data Science or Business Analytics. To apply to these programs, you need a certain level of quantitative background (though not necessarily extremely strong), a statistics background, and proficiency in at least one programming language.
Recommended undergraduate courses:
Statistics, Linear Algebra, Calculus, at least one programming course
Requirements on NYU's Data Science Program Website:
