Columbia MAFN/MFE

[nonomysquant]

For those who got into the Columbia MAFN program but also applied to the Columbia MFE program and haven't gotten in yet, are you worried about the possibility that we may get into the MFE program after the deadline to respond to the MAFN? I believe decisions for the MFE program are supposed to finish coming in by the end of March or early April. Is it stated somewhere in the application or on the website that you can let the program know if you need a decision due to another program's deadline? I'm very curious about this because I would think the two programs are aware of each other's deadlines or response time-frames. The date in which we must respond to the MAFN offer is March 20th, so please let me know if anyone's in the same boat.

 

[ajjjw]

yea i applied to both and have thought about this too. Personally though, this doesn’t pose a big issue for me as i’ve all but decided i’m going to study part time which is possible in MAFN and not in MFE… still want to see the admission result though.

 

[Othrs]

In the same boat here - I reckon if I don’t hear back from MFE by end of March chances are it’s a rejection and I’ll just take up the offer from MAFN a day before the deadline

 

[nonomysquant]

In the same boat here - I reckon if I don’t hear back from MFE by end of March chances are it’s a rejection and I’ll just take up the offer from MAFN a day before the deadline

I could understand if the deadline for the MAFN was the 31st but for me, it's the 20th. Not sure if anything could happen in those last 11 days for the MFE program. I am thinking of sending an email to the MFE program describing the current situation and seeing if I can maybe get a decision before the deadline if they are even considering me. I'll wait though for now since it's only the 21st.

 

[ajjjw]

The programs are quite similar in terms of curriculum, within the same university, and both are top 10 programs. if you put in the work you would likely get the same looks from firms regardless of if you were in mfe or mafn, but yea the timing discrepancy is annoying.

 

[nonomysquant]

The programs are quite similar in terms of curriculum, within the same university, and both are top 10 programs. if you put in the work you would likely get the same looks from firms regardless of if you were in mfe or mafn, but yea the timing discrepancy is annoying.

Totally agree. A lot will be up to the individual regardless of where they go. I was just curious about some of the electives in the FE program like the Implied Volatility Smile class and some others. I know there is some crossing over in the electives, but do you know if we as MAFN students would have access to the electives in the MFE program?

 

[ajjjw]

Totally agree. A lot will be up to the individual regardless of where they go. I was just curious about some of the electives in the FE program like the Implied Volatility Smile class and some others. I know there is some crossing over in the electives, but do you know if we as MAFN students would have access to the electives in the MFE program?

from what i’ve read the answer is yes you have the ability to cross register but you’re by no means entitled to a spot in a class in a different school, would depend on open seats, how in demand the course is, etc.

 

[Othrs]

The programs are quite similar in terms of curriculum, within the same university, and both are top 10 programs. if you put in the work you would likely get the same looks from firms regardless of if you were in mfe or mafn, but yea the timing discrepancy is annoying.

Looking at the curriculum on both ends it does seem to be quite different, MFE definitely comes off as being more applied which I feel is more beneficial when day-to-day quant work is mostly programming related. Though I agree that you’ll probably get the same initial looks from firms, I feel like your course does make a difference when your technical skills are tested

 

[Othrs]

I could understand if the deadline for the MAFN was the 31st but for me, it's the 20th. Not sure if anything could happen in those last 11 days for the MFE program. I am thinking of sending an email to the MFE program describing the current situation and seeing if I can maybe get a decision before the deadline if they are even considering me. I'll wait though for now since it's only the 21st.

Yeah that’s probably the smart thing to do; keep me posted when you do reach out to them and if they reply!

 

[ajjjw]

Looking at the curriculum on both ends it does seem to be quite different, MFE definitely comes off as being more applied which I feel is more beneficial when day-to-day quant work is mostly programming related. Though I agree that you’ll probably get the same initial looks from firms, I feel like your course does make a difference when your technical skills are tested

I'm reviewing the core courses now, and I think if you are someone deadset on being a dev or doing hft/algo type stuff the MFE is probably a better spot whereas folks looking for a more pure math experience would benefit more from the MAFN core courses. That said, I think this difference is going to be quite marginal. I would love if any alumni of either program could speak on this! Just for me personally, I build forecasting models in python all day at my day job so I'm really hoping to focus on my theoretical acumen.

 

[nonomysquant]

I'm reviewing the core courses now, and I think if you are someone deadset on being a dev or doing hft/algo type stuff the MFE is probably a better spot whereas folks looking for a more pure math experience would benefit more from the MAFN core courses. That said, I think this difference is going to be quite marginal. I would love if any alumni of either program could speak on this! Just for me personally, I build forecasting models in python all day at my day job so I'm really hoping to focus on my theoretical acumen.

It's hard to differentiate because I have been hearing different things. Some say the MAFN is more rigorous in mathematics and stats, while others say the MFE is more applicable. I would also appreciate if alumni of the programs can give their input. I feel like interviews would be more stats/math based rather than applied programming skills (as in the level of math/stats knowledge needed is higher than the level of programming knowledge), based on what I have found through some research online.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Given the size of the program, it's unfortunate that we don't have more reviews from alum of either program. We only have a handful of review from each program.
If you run across graduates of either program, please reach out and ask them to write a review.

 

[cwhhh]

.

 

[Othrs]

I was checking out the QN 2024 rankings and was wondering: is CU's MAFN programme really that bad in terms of employment (at least in the US)? It lags quite significantly behind its peers with similar rankings, which I may get for a few reasons but I still can't understand why it's so far behind the rest. Possible reasons I could think of are that its career services may not be the best, and its curriculum is less applied which may not be ideal while recruiting. Other than that, I feel like it's still a well-known school/programme that will get looks from quant firms across the country - at the end of the day recruitment is still largely based on individual efforts so I would assume that's all we could really ask for. Does anyone have any insight on this?

 

[WSBquant]

ya it’s confusing with US employment rate much lower while MFE at 98%. The school name is still there but the MFE seems to be always in top 5 on quantnet and 2nd years ago. MAFN has always been borderline top 10 except for 2023.

was looking at last year rankings. MAFN had a higher 100% employment rate after 3 months, but 58% in US. MFE was 65% for both. This year they switched. Was looking at 2021, 2022 results too.

 

[WSBquant]

But tbh i think the school name is good lol. Do most maybe continue with PhD since it’s more theoretical course?