COMPARE Baruch QMM vs Rutgers MQF

[opex]

I know at face value, Rutgers is the obvious choice. Baruch QMM is not even rated on here but there are a couple of things that I would like some more opinions on. First is the flexibility in the curriculum. QMM is much more flexible in terms of elective offerings and choices. The program allows the student to select any course in Math, Statistics, Operations Research, or Information Systems departments. I would mainly focus on the first three, personally. I think this would allow me to mirror the program to their MFE except for the required courses. The MQF program has 21 courses available for elective choices and I feel like the overall program may not be math-heavy enough, but I could be wrong about this. I think the freedom to choose whatever elective at Baruch is kind of a big deal in this regard. The second thing is the location. Baruch is in Manhattan of course and Ruttgers is in Newark, NJ. I don't live in NY nor have I ever been there, so I am not sure how much of a deal this is.

But at the end of the day, the goal is obviously to land a good job so if the prestige of Rutgers MQF is enough of a dealbreaker then these things go out the window. Please let me know if you have graduated from either of these or have other insight. I would really appreciate it.

 

[jarryds]

I know at face value, Rutgers is the obvious choice. Baruch QMM is not even rated on here but there are a couple of things that I would like some more opinions on. First is the flexibility in the curriculum. QMM is much more flexible in terms of elective offerings and choices. The program allows the student to select any course in Math, Statistics, Operations Research, or Information Systems departments. I would mainly focus on the first three, personally. I think this would allow me to mirror the program to their MFE except for the required courses. The MQF program has 21 courses available for elective choices and I feel like the overall program may not be math-heavy enough, but I could be wrong about this. I think the freedom to choose whatever elective at Baruch is kind of a big deal in this regard. The second thing is the location. Baruch is in Manhattan of course and Ruttgers is in Newark, NJ. I don't live in NY nor have I ever been there, so I am not sure how much of a deal this is.

But at the end of the day, the goal is obviously to land a good job so if the prestige of Rutgers MQF is enough of a dealbreaker then these things go out the window. Please let me know if you have graduated from either of these or have other insight. I would really appreciate itThi

The location should not be a concern. Newark is a 20 minute train to the city.

But you mentioned mathematics. Rule of thumb: if you want to learn business, take classes through the business department. Same goes for mathematics. I rejected the offer from Rutgers because of the pure lack of complex math/stats/cs. I spoke to current students and alumni, all of which echoed the fact that the program is very light on mathematic rigor. I even spoke to individuals who liked and chose this program for that specific reason.

Rutgers was a little tough for me to let go of, considering they have a decent alumni presence in the industry (or at least on LinkedIn). But I decided that I wanted to be a mathematician that specialized in finance instead of a finance guy who was good at math. If you are the same, maybe another program works better for you. Either way, Rutgers will definitely offer a great caliber of education. Most of the alumni I spoke with were very satisfied. They said that they had to cope with the lack of math rigor by self studying. It is a competitive field, so all programs will need to be supplemented by individual study; I was just uncomfortable with the additional amount.

I did not look at Baruch so I do not have anything to say about them.