UNC Charlotte - MS in Mathematical Finance

I graduated from Math Finance program 2016 May. My concentration is Computation Finance. If you're also fascinated with Math and Programming, then here is the right place. Charlotte is banking city (headquarter of BOA), lots of working opportunities are floating around. Many of my current co-workers actually moved from other states to be here. Computational finance is about building computational models which can be used to predict, with some error margin, what the markets are likely to do given a number of inputs. Graduate from this program, students are able to use some popular tool, like SAS, Python, R, etc to build or implement Model, which is pretty hard-still for job hunting. Moreover, I enjoy of the balance of urban life and quite country side life at Charlotte.

This program has great faculty and is located in the second largest financial center in the United States. The program allows students the flexibility to choose their concentration based on their interests and strengths. Proximity to some of the largest banks in the U.S. allows students to network and have placement opportunities.

Students come out of the program with the mathematical skills and programming skills to excel in quantitative roles in the investment and/or banking industries. What makes the program great is how the faculty is very willing to answer questions and help students outside of the classroom. The faculty is determined to help students succeed in understanding the complexities of financial mathematics.

My own experience has been great at UNC Charlotte. The program is very challenging. I was glad that the Mathematical Finance program pushed me to work really hard to learn and understand quantitative techniques and asset pricing methodologies that I hope to use in my future career pursuits.

Excellent course curriculum.
I am a full time student of UNC Charlotte MF course and I think it's curicullum is at par with the top notch universities.
The faculty members are also very proficient with the advancements in the course and are readily available to help out students.
It offers the locational advantages of Charlotte , which is considered as the second financial hun on the east coast.

I'm so glad that i have a chance to join in this program. I take 4 courses in this semester, and the professors are all very nice to us. What impressed me most is not only the courses, but also the chances that this program provided to social with others. I make friends with a lot of people in my class, not only Chinese,but also Americans and Indians. I also very enjoy the coffee and snacks that school provides outside the classroom. I really feel comfortable for studying here.

Can you tell us a bit about your background?.
Applied mathematics.

Why did you choose this program?
As the second largest banking center in the America, charlotte is a desire place to learn financial staff. Besides, the Belk College of Business School has a growing reputation with sophisticated faculties.

What do you think is unique about this program?
The curriculum in this program has a wide range. It includes three directions: computational finance, risk management, and financial data analytics. This allowed students from different fields to take classes that suited their requirements and interests.

Programs like Baruch MFE, UCB MFE have refresher courses for incoming students. Does this program offer such courses? How useful was it?
Yes, there were three refresher courses, Financial Economic Theory, Stochastic Calculus, and Econometrics course.

TELL US ABOUT THE...
Programming component of the program
The Program has several programming courses that you can choose. The courses vary from Matlab, C++, Excel, SAS/Stata, Python, Java, and SQL. Level of depth is person-by-person basis, although the professors are very supportive.

Comprehensive program with advanced skill training and market-oriented courses. Program director is resourceful and helpful. Faculty members have strong academic backgrounds and are devoted into cutting edge research. The program location, Charlotte, is known for its reputation in finance. The potential demand for quantitative finance graduates is unlimited.

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
Undergraduate background is EE. One internship at a bank.

Why did you choose this program?
The university is growing and the city has a lot of resources can be used.

What do you think is unique about this program?
Charlotte has many opportunities and is not that competitive like NYC.

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
Economics background with one internship at a mid-tier bank modeling LGD.

I scored 97% Quantitative and 91%Verbal on my GRE
Expecting to graduate in December 2014

Why did you choose this program?
Three reasons. First, the city of Charlotte is the second largest banking center (after NY). Second, the school has a growing reputation and recently introduced a new curriculum with a financial data analytics focus and is extremely friendly towards non-traditional students. Third, when I researched the faculty members, I found many of them were well-published and deeply knowledgeable in their field.

What do you think is unique about this program?
Our program is introducing three new curriculums designed to emphasize student interests in computational finance, risk management, or financial data analytics. This allowed me to take classes that suited my job interests while expanding my background working with the economics and programming departments (my emphasis is in financial data analytics).

What do you like about the program? What don’t you like?
Several of the faculty members are very approachable and are passionate about teaching the students.

A few have published in top journals such as Journal of Finance and are still very teaching oriented in the program. Also, the program coordinator generously gives out Graduate Assistantship positions, with at least 10-15 of these in the past two semesters. For most programs with a full-fledged PhD program this an almost unheard of cherry on top of the proverbial sundae.

For the international students, it helps to know the program is AACSB accredited and a STEM program, the latter meaning they have a 29-month OPT window.

One area I would like to see improved would be the setup of a master’s thesis. The preferred method of graduation currently is through a comprehensive exam, which is great for most people, but I think having the option for a thesis would have been more ideal.

Programs like Baruch MFE, UCB MFE have refresher courses for incoming students. Does this program offer such courses? How useful was it?
Yes, there were three refresher courses, Financial Economic Theory, Stochastic Calculus, and a general Econometrics course. These classes were very well taught and really helped me transition to the brunt of my studies more smoothly.

TELL US ABOUT THE...
Application process at this program
The application process was completely online and was easy to follow along. Your recommendations will have to be submitted online so make sure to ask early. UNCC was very understanding when one of my recommendations came in past the deadline though.

Quality of teaching
The quality of teaching varies but there are two pieces of good news here. First, most of the faculty are tenured and not just lecturers, so they are very knowledgeable about their individual subjects. Second, the new curriculum change has dropped two of the weaker instructors from the curriculum.

Programming component of the program
Programming varies depending on which curriculum you choose. In general, we are required to do assignments and projects in Matlab, C++, Excel, SAS/Stata and in my curriculum, also Python, Java, and SQL. Level of depth is person-by-person basis, although the professors are supportive.

What is your current job status?
Currently I am working as a graduate student with interviews at BofA, BNP, and some consulting firms.