Rutgers University - MS in Mathematical Finance

The program is strong. Students are expected to take two courses each of stochastic calculus, numerical analysis, and statistics (regression and time series analysis). These courses are very rigorous. But it is not all theory. Many elective courses are taught by current practitioners, and provide hands-on and up-to-date methodologies that are actually used in the industry.

Being so close to the city, all Rutgers FE programs (MSMF, FSRM, MQF) have close ties to the industry. Networking opportunities are readily available for those who take it. And speakers visit every week.

Moreover, the MSMF is a great value proposition. Rutgers undergraduate math students have the option of taking an accelerated BA/MSMF track. For in-state students, this results in an affordable $20k degree. However, most students are not domestic, let alone alumni. About 80% of the current class are Chinese.

The biggest con is the number of competing degrees at Rutgers. The FSRM, MQF and MSMF are very similar. The main difference are the departments that administrate them. I think that Rutgers would have a stronger program if some of these were merged.

highly link with financial industry -> we have mathematical finance seminar every week. Carla, our career adervisor, will invite people from quant domain to give us speech, or introduce some tools or skills in job markets. BTW, some elective courses are introduced by Director of some financial company.
technically tough program -> this program pay great attention on theories and their uses in financial area. They will also introduce how to use C++, MATLAB, R and Bloomberg. And if someone has such experience in these tools, they can be waived. So this program is also flexible

Good for learning applied math with exposure to finance.

What do you think is unique about this program?
I haven't been in any other MFEs, so I don't know what others do / don't offer.

RU has a really good math department. The RU math department is ranked much higher than the overall university. I just checked the US News & World website and found RU math at #20 and RU statistics at #37 and RU as a whole at #68. I'm not a huge fan of these rankings but in this case they are fairly indicative. In the MSMF you'll be taking one or more courses in the Statistics department and most of your courses in the Math department (which is the sponsor of the program).

As mentioned in another review, in RU you take 7 required and choose three. Three electives actually strikes me as being a lot as the whole MS is only 10 courses. I still have two courses to take before finishing and one is an elective and one is not. My experience was generally getting an opportunity to most of what I wanted to do in terms of academics.

The courses are very mathematical and I think in general people find them either reasonable, difficult or very difficult. I haven't encountered anyone who thought their courses were easy or didn't spend a lot of their time on schoolwork, in other words. In choosing a program, it's good because your paying money to be challenged not waste your time. On the other hand, the focus can be a little too academic for some students, so your mileage may vary.

What are the weakest points about this program?
The really bizarre thing about Rutgers is that they have 3 quant programs and there doesn't seem to be a lot of interaction between the programs.

I met a couple of the kids in the new FSRM just out of being friendly to new faces in Hill (and they're great kids), but there is no effort made to facilitate this.

Another review mentioned the value of networking. Rutgers kids not networking with other Rutgers kids is a big missed opportunity, IMHO.

Similarly, Rutgers is a huge school and you can look into a lot of different departments to take courses that have relevance to mathematical finance (optimization theory, game theoy, econometrics, financial statistics). However, some courses are limited to 'clan' affiliation and it can be more trouble than it's worth to try to force your way into someone's course. It would be great if the school did more in coordinating the relevant academic opportunities for students.

Career services
The career services director is new. I believe she entered around when I started full time (Fall 2011). She's been doing a good job and is very dedicated. She's also dedicated to learning and I think she'll do an even better job next year.

My personal experience is that she referred me to someone who ended up interviewing and hiring me as an intern before my second full time semester started. So I have no complaints.

Student body
I don't spend a lot of time with the other students as I don't live on campus. In general, I think they are a good bunch.