Illinois Institute of Technology Master in Finance

MSF (Concentration Risk Management and Trading)

What do you think is unique about this program?
I think it is a great program and has really good professors. But again it all depends on how much effort you put in. The professors are knowledgeable and you can get a lot out of them. Something to keep in mind is the high number of Chinese students that come here to just get their diplomas. There is a huge number of classes to choose from . You can take the easy ones and get a good GPA and not learn anything. I took the tougher ones, worked hard enough and go a good GPA. Some highlights of the program are:-
1. Good experienced Faculty
2. Huge Number of Classes to choose from.
3. Professors are well connected within the industry so are good contacts to have.
4. The career services are on the way up so a lot of firms have started coming in to hire.

What are the weakest points about this program?
The weakest points would be :-
1 . Weak selection criteria results into a large Number of incompetent unmotivated rich kids who just take easy classes to get a good GPA.
2. Labs need a renovation. They need new computers.

Career services
Its getting much better. I got hired on Campus. I interned with the firm for 4 months and finally got hired . I think it is all a function of the amount of effort you put in. I have not seen anyone who put in the effort and did not get hired. I am really optimistic about the career services as they have done a lot of good things over the past 2 years.

Student body
The student body is active and organizes some good events. There are good talks and speakers in the school every other week. Students are primarily Asian. With people from other parts being a minority. All in all I would recommend this program for someone who is motivated to learn and strives for excellence because you can learn and do a lot here.

I studied full-time in the program from 8/2010 to 5/2012

Can you tell us a bit about your background? How did you know about this program and why you chose it?
Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Economics from a global top 50 University. GPA 3.6, GRE 1300 with no previous Work Ex.
How I came to know about this program:
- Family members & friends who knew about the university
- internet research (including this particular website (Quantnet.com) and various other blogs)
- contacted alumni to get more information

Admitted to University College, London however the IIT MSF program was a better fit for me.
Living costs/tuition fees were 2 other issues which I took into consideration when making the decision.

Please discuss pre-program offering, main courses selection, teaching quality, programming component, etc
The university offers refresher courses but I did not need to take them as I was fresh from undergrad and already had a Quant Finance/Economics background. Many students were able to waive core courses because of their academic backgrounds.

Course selection is the main reason why I chose the program in the first place. Wide variety of courses to choose from. The program director John Bilson aims to keep the courses as practical and industry relevant as possible. However keep in mind that in general, the top professors in the faculty teach the quant finance courses.

Quality of teaching depends on what subjects you take. There are two outstanding professors Geoffrey Harris and Mike Rybak who are definately amongst the best professors I've ever had at the university level.
There are other excellent proffessors in Rick Cooper, Brian Boonstra, Michael Ong etc who have excellent industry credentials and combine both theory and practicality effectively when teaching. There are some excellent adjunct faculty who work full time and teach in this program part time.

All the professors I've had are extremely accessible and devote loads of time for students.

I've never approached any TA's so I have no idea what they are like.

All the major programming languages are used: VBA, Matlab, Python C++ etc...
Most of the elective courses require major group projects which are quite practical in nature and can be shown off at interviews. The financial engineering courses donot have 'major projects' but have weekly assignments which (90% programming based) are very practical and challenging.

Please comment on career service
Historically, the IIT career management center was quite poor. One of the things I did not realise until I reached the USA was the fact that companies go directly to the campus (or have a list of target universities if the company is outside of the USA) to recruit grads for internships/full time jobs and don't consider grads from other universities unless they know someone inside the company. Whilst the big banks/institutions have taken IIT MSF students, there was no active campus recruiting going on.

However, that being said, the CMC has hired a new director Luigi Pecararo who is doing a fantastic job and is really making an effort in getting the IIT name out there. As a result, I see some good things happening in the future in terms of career management.

Currently, Alphametrics and Factset seem to recruit a fair amount of quant analysts from IIT.

What do you like about the program?
Very very practical courses. Wide selection of courses which will definately make you industry ready. The instructors have a combination of both excellent industry and academic experiences. Alot of the professors are well known in Chicago finance as a result of holding top positions at large institutions.

The professors are very very friendly and do take the time to clear doubts and make the learning experience very rewarding and memorable.

In terms of education and quality of teaching, you will get your moneys' worth.

What DON’T you like about the program?
If you're looking for an 'American Pie' college experience or hope to experience the cultural side of the usa through this program, this isnt the school for you. There is next to 0 social activities and people generally hang out in their own cultural groups.

The program lacks cultural diversity with only 1 or 2 nationalities dominating the program. The directors should aim to improve the cultural diversity within the program.

The school seems to be overly generous in handing out scholarships which I think cheapens the brand image.

The program isnt given enough credit and still does not have the recognition it deserves to have given how good the subjects/materials/instructors are.

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
A small Internship at a startup company.

Other comments
I believe this program is best suited to those with a Finance background, have prior work experience, is comfortable with networking in order to secure employment and is highly quantitative. Alot of the premier/top courses in the program (and the courses employers expect the MSF grads to have completed) are the highly quantitative ones.

Keep in mind recruiting at the top IBanks is generally quite difficult (but not impossible) comming from a school like IIT unless you do alot of networking and meet the right people at various finance related events.

There are alot of mixed opinions (from both extremes as well) about the program so keep in mind that this is the opinion of 1 student out of 300.

I studied full-time in the program from Fall 2006 to Spring 2008

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
B.S. in Engineering from top 25 US university.

Started my career as a risk analyst for a re-insurer. Later, worked 4 years as a currency options trader for a European bank.

GRE: around 1300. It was near 90th percentile in 2006

Did you get admitted to other programs?
Yes, Univ of Chicago, Kent State

Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
First, I was working in downtown Chicago which made it easy to get to classes because i started out part time. Second, my firm had hired a guy from this program and he was very bright. Third, the school offered a wide (and practical) array of courses.

What alternative sources of info you used to learn more about the program?
School's website was main source of info. Also talked to program director John Bilson.

Tell us about the application process at this program
no interview, easy. a few essays, test scores, etc...it was easy.

Does this program offer refresher courses for incoming students? What do they offer and how much it costs?
Yes, I did not take any but I think they are same price as regular courses. They are basically mathematics refresher courses (lin alg and calculus I and II)

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
Financial modelling in Excel/VBA
Financial Economics I (which wasn't an economics course at all but a great finance crash course)
Numerical Methods for Option Pricing in MATLAB
Fixed Income Modelling
Monte Carlo Simulation
Time Series Analysis

Tell us about the quality of teaching
Mixed bag. Ironically, I enjoyed the adjunct faculty's courses as they work in the field and don't get bogged down in theoretics as much.

There are two full time faculty members Geoff Harris and Greg Chaudoin who were outstanding instructors. The concepts they taught as well as projects/homeworks were indispensible during interviews.

Had some good adjunct faculty (Russell Wojcik, Andy Kumiega, and others) as well.

The TA's are basically graders. Not really helpful with homeworks.

Materials used in the program
Brandimarte- Num. Methods in MATLAB.
Hull (of course)- 6th edition
Luenberger- Investment Science
Jorion-Value at Risk
Ruey Tsay- Time Series Analysis
Glasserman - Monte Carlo
Greg Lawler- Intro to Stochastic Processes

Loads and loads of professor's notes in .pdf form

Programming component of the program
Tons of C++ classes. Ben Van Vliet is on the faculty and has written a lot of books on C. Lots of people go here to learn to program algo- trading strategies. MATLAB and VBA used heavily. Mathematica, S Plus and R a bit.

Projects
Most projects were individual. Several students pitched their C++ projects to prop firms/hedge funds. Almost every class had some project required, but there was no master's thesis required. I wasn't interested in doing a heavy piece of research, but I heard students who did had a hard time finding mentors/advisors. IIT won't be a great choice for you if you love doing academic research.

Career service
I didn't rely heavily on it, but did not hear good things. This school is a good one, but everyone had better be aware that the school doesn't cultivate connections in Chicago very well. So if you attend, you will have to do some leg work on your own to find employment/internships. The school is in huge need of a marketing whiz to come in there and get it where it generally deserves to be.

What do you like about the program?
Chicago is probably the best city in the US in which to live (winter aside). It's also a global financial giant because of CBOE/CBOT/Merc. Faculty were generally pretty good. Cost was moderate. Curriculum was very practical and hands on; I think a lot of people are too hung up on solving ODE's and SDE's and forget that you are more likely to be asked about a concept like duration, or gamma in a job interview.

What DON’T you like about the program?
No diversity. Literally 80-85% of the students are from India, China or Korea. Classes too big because they admit way too many people. Most students have sky-high mathematical abilities and GRE scores but no work experience which, (for me) detracted from the experience. Administration of program seems to be running it too much like a cash cow.

Suggestions for the program to make it better
Admit fewer people. Admit people with work experience. Eliminate some of the 'recycling' of homeworks, exams and quizzes and projects which was rampant among a lot of students. Hire someone to overhaul career services. There are hundreds of small trading firms in Chicago, but few actively recruit people from here, which is a shame since those firms are infinitely better to work for then a 'top tier' investment bank.

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
Employed. Bulge bracket investment Bank.

Other comments
WARNING TO ALL STUDENTS WHO ARE NOT AMERICAN OR GREEN CARD HOLDERS!!! This school might not be honest with you about employment prospects after graduation. The US economy (particularly financial services) is in terrible shape at the moment. Small firms will likely pass on you if they need to sponsor your H1B Visa. A lot of of my classmates have had very tough times finding US employment (at least in Chicago), and have had to return to countries of origin. You will have to be pretty good to get picked up by a firm in the current environment. Don't expect careers services at IIT to place you. If you can legally work in the US, and have some work experience, you will likely get a lot out of this program. Some of my classmates are doing well.

I studied full-time in the program (Financial Engineering concentration) from 08/2009-05/2011

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
B.A. Mathematics, Philosophy; Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Did you get admitted to other programs?
No

Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
In Chicago, where I was living

Tell us about the application process at this program
GRE/GMAT, timely responses, good scholarships, online process

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
Very Mathematical, a lot of statistics, a wide choice of programming languages, excellent trading courses

Tell us about the quality of teaching
Mostly by practioners in finance. Many teachers from University of Chicago who have made a living in finance and returned to teach.

Materials used in the program
Standard books (Hull,etc.); teacher research, self-written books

Programming component of the program
C++, Matlab, Python; various courses for programming--if you choose this specialty you will do a lot of programming for financial markets and algo trading

Projects
N/A

Career service
Great connections with industries in Chicago

What do you like about the program?
Very practical, excellent teachers (with industry experience), proximity to the industry in Chicago, good selection of specialties in finance

What DON’T you like about the program?
Better career services, more selection of courses--they fill up quickly

Suggestions for the program to make it better
More class offerings as they fill-up quickly

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
Full-time student

I studied full-time in the program (Financial Engineering concentration) from 9/2009-5/2011

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
I have a BS in Computer Engineering and Minor in Mathematics. I had worked as a Business Analyst and an Application developer for a bank and an IT company for more than a year before I joined this program.

Did you get admitted to other programs?
Yes - Kent State, GA tech , Fordham

Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
The IIT program is very reputed and due to the proximity of so many financial firms in Chicago , it makes it easier to Network with them.Besides the location being a big advantage , the faculty who teach here are people who have worked in the industry and are aware of the latest trends in the market and try to incorporate that in the program.

Tell us about the application process at this program
It was very easy and the admission advisers were very helpful and responded promptly to any questions I had.

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?

The IIT- Stuart program has a listing of very useful and hands on courses which are required to succeed in the financial market like Programming for financial applications, quantitative investment strategies and trading etc.

Tell us about the quality of teaching
The professors, draw from their industry experience and hence it makes the teaching more relevant. There are no archaic concepts being taught over here. The faculty focus on making the students employment ready and they do a good job.

Materials used in the program
Hull, Luenberger, Programming books just to name a few.

Programming component of the program
C++, Matlab, C#, VB. All the financial engineering and programming courses have programming

Projects
Programming Projects for pricing options and derivatives ans also related to different principles such as Ito's Lemma, Monte Carlo Simulations etc. On a more theoretical side there are case studies for investment banking and company evaluations in Financial statement analysis.

Career service
The career service does provide a little help in organizing career fairs and job and internship searches but the student has to put in more then 95% of the effort . The career services really needs a huge overhaul.

Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
There are people from a lot of countries over here but they all socialize. The number of students is small in number so you can't help but know everyone in the program,

What do you like about the program?
Chicago advantage
Faculty with industry knowledge
Constant improvements done here to make the program more competitive
The courses here make the student ready to do more hands on work rather than just become book smart.

What DON’T you like about the program?
1) A not so competitive career center.
2) Compared to other programs this program does take in a slightly larger number of students.

Suggestions for the program to make it better
If I were the director -
I would make prerequisites compulsory for people without a financial background.
I would conduct personal interviews to assess the student and make the program more selective.
I would market the program more because I think the program deserves more credit than what it gets.

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
I am currently working as a Quant Trading Strategies Analyst in Chicago and also taking classes in this program on the side. I am looking for better full - time opportunities once I graduate.

Besides the program’s websites, what alternative sources of info you used to learn more about the program?
Alumni, Various Forums like Global Derivatives, and Quantnet etc.

Other Comments?
There are about 7 concentrations in this program. It offers courses which are very quantitative as well as courses like investment banking and financial theory for more "non coding and math based book learning" (for the lack of a better term).

The professors have good connections in the industry and they have worked out there and know the latest trends of the market. So there is no lack of experiences teachers.

It is also one of the most affordable MSFE programs in the United States. Personally I cannot afford to live in NYC or any other place with their sky high tuition rates. But I want to live in a city which has a huge presence of the financial industry and that I am able to do over here.

I studied full-time in the program (Financial Engineering concentration) from 8/2009-12/2010

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
Before joining IIT Stuarts MS Finance program I worked in commercial real estate as a tenant advisor doing transactional work for lease restructuring. Prior to that I worked in financial software for Morningstar for a year and a half. My undergraduate degree was in Finance and Accounting. I also had a passion for financial markets leading my decision to leave commercial real estate and get into trading/financial engineering/MS Finance.

Did you get admitted to other programs?
Because of my location in Chicago, IIT was the only program I applied to.

Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
The main reason for choosing the program was that in an interview with a hedge fund that employs a lot of FE grads from MIT and Stanford, the recruiting director specifically mentioned the IIT program as a very good way to get the necessary qualifications to work for them and told me they held a very high regard for the program.

I also chose the program over others that I had researched (rutgers, case western, etc) because of its vicinity to so many major trading firms, hedge funds, and major financial institutions. Located right in the middle of the loop, the school is walking distance from every major trading firm you could think of, and thus, the opportunity to find jobs, internships, etc. is very good.

The main reason for choosing the program was that in an interview with a hedge fund that employs a lot of FE grads from MIT and Stanford, the recruiting director specifically mentioned the IIT program as a very good way to get the necessary qualifications to work for them and told me they held a very high regard for the program.
I also chose the program over others that I had researched (rutgers, case western, etc) because of its vicinity to so many major trading firms, hedge funds, and major financial institutions. Located right in the middle of the loop, the school is walking distance from every major trading firm you could think of, and thus, the opportunity to find jobs, internships, etc. is very good.

Tell us about the application process at this program
The application process was quite nice, actually. Upon presenting an interest in the school, its admissions counselors were very happy to take any calls and answer questions. More impressive to me though, the director of the program gave me his home and vacation number and told me to call him any time I had questions about the program. I took him up on that offer and he was more than happy to spend a considerable amount of time going over pros and cons of the school and answering my questions in what I felt was a very honest and upfront way. That level of dedication and commitment really impressed me.

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
The course selection is very good. You can take classes ranging from quantitative finance, financial engineering, corporate finance, and trading. Most of the courses are highly quantitative and very challenging. Most of the courses are taught by PhD's that worked in finance for a long time rather than PhD's that have no industry experience.

Tell us about the quality of teaching
The quality of teaching is very high. I have been consistently impressed by the dedication of the professors at IIT. Because so many of them are former/retired industry practitioners you can some great benefits.
1. Because they are former practitioners they give you real world-applicable examples instead of wasting time with academic principles that may not necessarily apply in real-world situations.
2. because many of them were formerly successful practitioners, you can tell they are only teaching because they enjoy teaching and are dedicated to it.
3. Many professors are helpful in leveraging contacts to get into jobs and internships.

Materials used in the program
Options, Trading, Math, FE textbooks

Programming component of the program
There are a lot of programming languages used. VBA, Matlab, C++, and Python to name a few...

Projects
Programming, Valuation, Derivatives Modeling, Trading Systems

Career service
There is a CMC that is helpful. Because the school is located within the vicinity of so many great firms it is advantageous to students to do a lot of networking and calling on their own.

Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
One of the most interesting aspects of IIT is that it is about 90% international. As a domestic student, I have really enjoyed this; learning about the cultures and interacting with students of all types of culture and background.

What do you like about the program?
I really like how challenging it is and how much applicable knowledge I have learned over the past year. Also, the program seems to be constantly evolving. Although it is one of the oldest Fe programs, it seems as though they are always changing the curriculums and updating/adding new courses to keep up with the fast evolution of the industry it caters to.

What DON’T you like about the program?
I really wish they had talked more about the difficulty of the math and programming before starting at IIT. If I had I would have taken some refresher courses first. A lot of the students are extremely good at math though and don't have a problem with it.

Suggestions for the program to make it better
One aspect that would definitely make the program better would be to spend more time on the career center.

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
Because of the program I was able to land an internship in the Risk Group at Harris Bank/BMO Capital Markets.

Besides the program’s websites, what alternative sources of info you used to learn more about the program?
I just tried to plug into my network and talk to people who knew the Chicago trading environment. I had lived in Chicago for 3 years but grew up elsewhere so I was not familiar with the IIT name before interviewing with a few funds. It seems like if you ask most people about the school they either have never heard of it (probably aren't in the industry) or they have a great respect for the quality of work coming from its graduates.