University of California, Berkeley - Master of Financial Engineering

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
Joined the program right after completing undergraduate with no finance experience. I studied full-time in the program from 3/2008-3/2009

Did you get admitted to other programs?
Yes - applied to another major program, got accepted.
Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
1 year accelerated program, required internship, more focus on finance than some of the other programs, and a 100% placement record for the program.

Tell us about the application process at this program
Application process was straightforward. The admissions staff was quick in responding to questions and the application to decision took lot less than I anticipated. I was interviewed by Linda K. (the executive director) during the process and after being admitted, she even advised me on what I could do to get the most out of the program.

Does this program have refresher courses for incoming students? How useful was it?
I only took Math course. I was pretty good at math and didn't want to take it (the admissions committee required that I take it before joining the program), but some of the topics covered in the refresher helped a lot. The pre-program courses were geared toward MFE admits which made some of the math in the program a little easier, even for me. Also, the webcast of lectures was a great feature.

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
The MFE program covers a broad range of courses covering everything from basics to complex securities in the fixed income, and equity asset classes. The courses do a good job of covering basic materials, for those who might need a review, to advanced modeling and derivatives pricing for those interested in the most quantitative side of the program. The program is well designed for preparing students to solve different problems by giving a broad set of tools.

The curriculum was somewhat more flexible than the website might suggest as students got a special course in advanced modeling on request in the last term. There is also an option to get credit by assisting some professors in their research (aside from the applied finance project) or working for a firm if the project is considered rigorous enough.

Tell us about the quality of teaching
We had a lot of classes taught by leading practitioners in their fields - Longstaff for FI, Kahn for Equity, Rubinstein for the fundamental concepts. A lot of our instructors were really good at teaching and explaining the concepts. Just like any other program, not all instructors are good, but all of them were helpful and usually accessible (even on appointment basis for those working in the field). There were separate help sessions conducted by the GSIs (TAs) and they were also very accessible.

Materials used in the program
Some professors had their own notes prepared for the lecture. Some relied on the textbooks (sometimes written by themselves). Sometimes it's great, or sometimes it's not required as much, just depends on the instructor's style of teaching. Hull book isn't used but people are expected to know the basics and even refer to those if necessary.

Programming component of the program
There's a fair amount of programming for derivative pricing courses. C++ is preferred for option pricing, but not required. Matlab is the other language used the most. People can use VBA or SAS, but usually it's not very common. There's usually at least one class in each term that requires programming.

Projects
There's group projects in a lot of classes, beginning with empirical finance in the first term. Most projects are group projects (with a big exception of the final Applied Finance Project), to be done in groups of 3-4 students. Projects are a big component of the final grade and can be quite demanding. I found most projects were a great way to apply the techniques learned in that (or even other) course.
Some project examples were designing and pricing a complex derivative, doing econometric study, evaluating and hedging risks in a trade etc.

The Applied Finance Project is done individually and is expected to be the toughest and biggest project in the program, akin to master level thesis.

Career service
The program was very helpful in finding opportunities for the students and placing them for both internship and full-time jobs. The executive director (Linda K.) has a lot of contacts enabling her to find a lot of opportunities for the students. Even though the internship is from October to January, a lot of firms, big and small, have special relations with the program to offer internships during that time.
The staff works regularly with the students to place them, helping them with interviewing skills, resume critique, etc. Students also have access to a consult to do mock interviews with or to get help on cover letters or other writing material. Even in 2008, amid the financial crisis, most of the students got internships and full time jobs. They also helped negotiate a lot of offers if the employer offered a job with low salary. The career service doesn't just stop at graduation either - alums can go back and get a lot of help if they are looking for a new job.

Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
The program had a lot of international students, mostly from China, SE Asia and India. There were a few Europeans as well as some from other cultures. The students do form their own groups but being in groups forced students to study with others.

What do you like about the program?
I think having students from different backgrounds is one of the biggest positives of the program. While the curriculum is well structures and instructors are very good and know their materials, interacting with others in your class makes it a great learning experience. There were people with no experience at all, people with PhDs in science or engineering, or even people with a strong background in finance. Bouncing ideas back and forth between different people meant a great learning experience for everyone.
The students were also helpful when it came to getting internships and jobs. Even though everyone in reality was competing with each other to get a job, most students helped each other out by prepare them for interviews. The career service offered by the program is also top-notch.
The program is extremely intense and prepares you well for the real world.

What DON’T you like about the program?
I wish we had a longer break during the program, since a good chunk of the 1 week break after each term was used up doing projects.
Also, scholarships would've made it a bit better financially, although considering it's only one year, it's a lot cheaper and better than other programs.

Suggestions for the program to make it better
Make sure students know that the staff is available for any help and guidance and encourage them to make use of it as much as they want.
A lot of students start the program expecting they'll become a trader right away and make millions in their first year. If you don't have much experience, the odds of that happening are against you (except maybe in High Frequency trading shops) and students need to know this. Instead people will have to work their way through to get in that position, and the program helps out with that to ensure you achieve your goal.

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
Working at an asset management firm as an analyst.

Other comments
Even though Berkeley is far from NY, the students have a lot of opportunities to work in New York, although some people decide to stay in the Bay Area because of the weather.
The whole class gets a budget to organize social events such as pub nights, weekend trips (e.g. Lake Tahoe) and other fun activities.

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
Some financial experience, but not a lot.
Did you get admitted to other programs?
Only applied to one other masters program, and got rejected.

Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
Initially, professors like Rubinstein and Longstaff made the program attractive. Longstaff left, therefore so much for that. I had studied Rubinstein's model before and was quite intrigued by the guy, But the decision was mostly made because it's a one year program and I knew ex-ante that the quality of incoming students is very high. Location was also a consideration.
I studied full-time in the program from 3/2009-3/2010

Tell us about the application process at this program
Quite disorganized. Many of my classmates found out they were accepted only one or two weeks before starting. Very expensive entry fee and security deposit.

Does this program have refresher courses for incoming students? How useful was it?
C++ was too fast and almost never used during the masters (MatLab used for almost all classes). Perhaps it should be offered at the end, given that most jobs do require C++
Math refresher was excellent, very practical. Well worth the money. I took the course remotely and had no problem following the material.
Statistics course overlapped a lot with Math course. Of the three, it's the one you could do without.

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
No one can beat Rubinstein to teach you about derivatives. He is an old-school teacher who cares more about the intuition than the math (the way it should be, in my opinion). You are learning from the guy who developed CRR, he knows the topic inside and out and can respond to any question you may have.
Electives are not many, but remember, this is a one-year program and a there is no time to diversify a lot.
Credit Risk Modeling was very practical. I thought it was a useless course until I found myself impressing my internship colleagues with cute little bits of information.
There is no course on commodity trading, which is a shame, and this year's High Frequency Trading seminar looks like a fast and somewhat slapdash attempt to catch up with the times.

Tell us about the quality of teaching
There is a high variance in the quality of teaching. Besides the in-house teachers, who are very good, there are others that are brought in from the private sector to complement the program with a practitioner point of view. This is where the variance originates.
BlackRock is the largest sell-side firm in the area; thus they provide many of the private-sector professors. Most of them are very good (Melvin, Grinold are gurus of their field), some of them do lack on experience as teachers and were easily intimidated by some of our more incisive classmates.

BTW, the caliber of the cohort is quite high; some of my classmates are attack dogs that smell fear on professors and prey on them without any prejudice. Suits them well.
As I mentioned before, the in-house professors (Haas faculty) are top-notch: Wallace, Leland, O'Brien, Stanton. Just look at their CVs. Leland goes through dynamic asset management with authority. You expect, at a minimum, that teachers are confident at what they teach, even if it's boring or irrelevant. There is no shortage of confidence here.

Materials used in the program
I'm too lazy to write the list. Two things stand out: Hull is not used, and Wilmott's books are only suggested readings (I loved the Wilmott book, and thought that I would be the best in class just because I read it before starting the program).
Most professors bring their own stuff. As with all teaching materials, some of it is very good, some of it is useless. No different from any other place.

Programming component of the program
You make it as programming intensive as you want. If you are into the heavy programming, there is no shortage of projects, classes (Advanced Quantitative Methods) to knock yourself out. At the very least, you leave the program knowing Matlab very well.
Other languages, such as SAS and R are allowed but no one really uses them. Matlab seems to be the current lingua prima of financial analysis (not financial development, that is C++) .

Projects
Most are group projects, except for one final project (graduation requirement) that has to be undertaken alone.

Career service
So everyone wants a job in Wall Street. We are not Ph.D students here looking for tenure. And you WILL get a job after this program. Yes, there is this obnoxious fetish for jobs that permeates the MFE office and students, which forces us to do stupid mock interviews, re-do resumes n times and apply to jobs with 2-hour deadlines. This environment easily makes people jealous of others who seem to get more interviews than you, because the office is very open in letting you know who is getting what.
But I guess that is a small price to pay for having access to what is perhaps the best career service in the business. I am not overstating this, the placement office works day and night trying to place you, no matter how bad you are interviewing.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, people who wanted internships had internships, and people who didn't want internships simply stopped interviewing.
I am not in the top quartile of my class; with luck I close to the median. And still I have interviewed with about quite a few number firms, including two large American banks (yes, that one that starts with a G and ends with an s, for those of you who want to work there) and several well-known European banks.
The program opens the doors; it's up to you to get in.
If your priority is learning above placement, I guess you have other options: go for the Ph.D or go for a more theoretical masters program.

Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
More than the nationality or ethnicity, the relevant variable here is age. We have classmates who are as young as 24 and as old as 40, so groups seem to form around age groups. Ethnicity or nationality seem not to be a problem inside or outside the classroom.

What do you like about the program?
I always felt quite smart wherever I went. I don't anymore. The ability of my classmates to find insightful questions where I thought that certainty was complete is just amazing. More than anything, it's the quality of the cohorts year after year that makes this program special. Of course, that also means egos run a muck. But in finance that is the rule, not the exception.
Access to Bloomberg is easy, the computing facilities are top-notch and libraries have all necessary material.
Many graduates decide to forgo the New York life after experiencing the Bay Area. I don't blame them.
It's a one-year program, so at the end, your student loan debt will be much lower than an equivalent two-year program.

What DON’T you like about the program?
It's a one-year program. You are supposed to learn all about fixed income in two-and-a-half months. Same with derivatives, credit, mortgages, and so on. It feels not like drinking water from a hose, but rather like drinking champagne from an open hydrant. You wonder if perhaps it wouldn't be better to take it easier and go a bit slower on the subjects. You use your weekends and holidays here to study, and still, you feel like you missed a lot of stuff.

Suggestions for the program to make it better
I don't like the March starting date. It's rainy and most companies do their hiring for the end of the summer, so you feel you are always either too early or too late. And yet most companies come to Berkeley despite the wacky schedule, so they probably trust the program so much that they are willing to hire off-season.

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
Have a job offer, a good one that I prefer to not to disclose. But I am still interviewing.

Other comments
Weather in California provides more utility units than any option in the Northeast, especially this time of the year. Living in Berkeley is an experience that everyone should try.