COMPARE CMU MSCF vs Columbia MFE

[Andy Nguyen]

Thanks everyone for your contribution to the discussion. I find it very important that we share what we learn about each program, from any source so any misinformation can be spotted and clarified.
I saw that many of you already got very credible insight on the career services situation. Great job reaching out to those in those programs and recently graduate to get the correct info

Best of luck to all.

 

[kittkatt]

Yeah this thread has been really helpful. I wish there wasn't such an asymmetry of information between the two programs. Hopefully future cohorts of Columbia can offer more insight on their experiences.

 

[zzwang]

Thanks for the encouragement Andy!

Yeah this thread has been really helpful. I wish there wasn't such an asymmetry of information between the two programs. Hopefully future cohorts of Columbia can offer more insight on their experiences.

Hi Kittkatt! Will we be seeing you in CMU's program next fall?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Yeah this thread has been really helpful. I wish there wasn't such an asymmetry of information between the two programs.

The lack of information has been the norm as long as MFE programs exist. Very few programs are transparent with their statistics which is why our QuantNet MFE rankings have been providing crucial missing data.

 

[kittkatt]

Hi @zzwang. Most likely

@Andy Nguyen The statistics are nice to see. But since they are evenly ranked programs I feel like having more insider information in the form of student reviews would be more useful.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Hi @zzwang. Most likely

@Andy Nguyen The statistics are nice to see. But since they are evenly ranked programs I feel like having more insider information in the form of student reviews would be more useful.

I definitely agree with you but you know how hard it is to get reviews from students, specially if they are not happy.
Who wants to admit that they make a huge mistake going to a program for whatever reason and realize the reality is not as good as the website indicates and they couldn't get a job?
Those that are completely satisfied are probably busy working and have no incentive to write something.
So it's been a real struggle for me to get more reviews.
For example, CMU and Columbia MFE have been around for a long time and I only get 2 dozen reviews from CMU and only 5 from Columbia MFE
Master of Science in Computational Finance (MSCF) at Carnegie Mellon University
Columbia University Financial Engineering program

 

[aaroncklll]

CMU better

 

[Andy Nguyen]

For everyone who already decided the program they will join in Fall 2018, please take a second to check the box Will Join in the Tracker so we all know who is coming and can form study group.
Thanks

 

[Jiajie Liu]

Mark

 

[CaliIBHopeful]

I graduated from CMU's BSCF program. I would go to Columbia to be honest. I didn't feel that CMU's recruiting for Comp Fi was as great as people are making it out to be here. I think Columbia's name, alumni network and location are a much greater benefit than CMU's. I got 4 offers after graduating (3 prop shops, 1 hedge fund in Connecticut) but career services didn't help a lot and none were through OCR.

 

[mhy]

I graduated from CMU's BSCF program. I would go to Columbia to be honest. I didn't feel that CMU's recruiting for Comp Fi was as great as people are making it out to be here. I think Columbia's name, alumni network and location are a much greater benefit than CMU's. I got 4 offers after graduating (3 prop shops, 1 hedge fund in Connecticut) but career services didn't help a lot and none were through OCR.

MSCF has dedicated career services & OCR.

 

[CaliIBHopeful]

MSCF has dedicated career services & OCR.

Yup and bscf students have access to that and interview for the same roles as the Mscf students since there are < 10 students in every bscf class.

 

[mhy]

Yup and bscf students have access to that and interview for the same roles as the Mscf students since there are < 10 students in every bscf class.

Is it possible that recruiters preferred MSCF graduates over BSCF? More advanced students for the same price...

 

[CaliIBHopeful]

Not really because mscf students and bscf students pretty much take the same courses. I wouldn’t say mscf students are more advanced tbh. They may have more experience in which case they join as associates then they are paid more. The primary difference is that mscf students take financial computing I, II, III and our programming courses just don’t have applications to finance but the core material taught is the same. In fact a lot of employers would prefer undergrads to grad students. If you take studies in financial engineering with Duane seppi he mentions that the projects of bscf students are better than those of mscf students.

 

[CaliIBHopeful]

Is it possible that recruiters preferred MSCF graduates over BSCF? More advanced students for the same price...

Not really because mscf students and bscf students pretty much take the same courses. I wouldn’t say mscf students are more advanced tbh. They may have more experience in which case they join as associates then they are paid more. The primary difference is that mscf students take financial computing I, II, III and our programming courses just don’t have applications to finance but the core material taught is the same. In fact a lot of employers would prefer undergrads to grad students. If you take studies in financial engineering with Duane seppi he mentions that the projects of bscf students are better than those of mscf students.

 

[mhy]

If you take studies in financial engineering with Duane seppi he mentions that the projects of bscf students are better than those of mscf students.

Would not be surprised. The pace of that class is brutal. By the time you've got a handle on the case study, the course is almost over. Most students were scrambling to get something together in the last 1-2 weeks of the 7-week class (while studying for finals in other classes, preparing for interviews, and going to recruiting events all at the same time).