Columbia MFE Columbia MFE Admission Discussion

[Mensa]

Interviews have to be still going on. I had my interview yesterday and was granted admission last night. They only give 9 days to respond which makes sense as to them not finishing interviews until all seats are filled.

So do you decide to go?

 

[JDB]

So do you decide to go?

I am unsure right now. I have also been admitted to Princeton and Stanford.

 

[IntoDarkness]

wtf? if i were u i would have already paid my deposits to princeton...
stanford's program is half-baked looking like simply of combination of courses from different departments. everyone can get into stanford icme... im not even joking
like cmu, nyu, and baruch, columbia's courses r specifically designed for mfe degree, lacking certain amount of rigor but very practical.
princeton has less specifically designed courses but its electives r so diverse so good... and princeton brand is exotic. i toured the campus once, beautiful...
both columbia and princeton offer unparalleled career opportunities and support; whereas stanford's icme has shitty career services.
no brainer...

 

[John Lau]

wtf? if i were u i would have already paid my deposits to princeton...
stanford's program is half-baked looking like simply of combination of courses from different departments. everyone can get into stanford icme... im not even joking
like cmu, nyu, and baruch, columbia's courses r specifically designed for mfe degree, lacking certain amount of rigor but very practical.
princeton has less specifically designed courses but its electives r so diverse so good... and princeton brand is exotic. i toured the campus once, beautiful...
both columbia and princeton offer unparalleled career opportunities and support; whereas stanford's icme has shitty career services.
no brainer...

Really? I just thought stanford icme is as difficult as Princeton to get in...

 

[JDB]

Really? I just thought stanford icme is as difficult as Princeton to get in...

I have to agree with that. The class size of the MCF track within the ICME is only ~15 people... Also, I am not 100% quantitative finance will be right for me. I want to do computation and programming for sure. Stanford's ICME will give me access to those classes and allow me to get jobs in a field other than strictly finance. I am also interested in potentially a PhD at some point which Stanford would set me up for. Essentially it comes down to the fact that at Princeton, I would get a finance degree with a concentration in quantitative methods and programming but at Stanford, it would be vice versa.

 

[Mensa]

I have to agree with that. The class size of the MCF track within the ICME is only ~15 people... Also, I am not 100% quantitative finance will be right for me. I want to do computation and programming for sure. Stanford's ICME will give me access to those classes and allow me to get jobs in a field other than strictly finance. I am also interested in potentially a PhD at some point which Stanford would set me up for. Essentially it comes down to the fact that at Princeton, I would get a finance degree with a concentration in quantitative methods and programming but at Stanford, it would be vice versa.

Just based on what you said, you'd better choose Stanford or Princeton.

 

[John Lau]

I have to agree with that. The class size of the MCF track within the ICME is only ~15 people... Also, I am not 100% quantitative finance will be right for me. I want to do computation and programming for sure. Stanford's ICME will give me access to those classes and allow me to get jobs in a field other than strictly finance. I am also interested in potentially a PhD at some point which Stanford would set me up for. Essentially it comes down to the fact that at Princeton, I would get a finance degree with a concentration in quantitative methods and programming but at Stanford, it would be vice versa.

Could you tell us more about your background? I'm also considering PhD hopefully in finance, so I really want to go to Princeton. But I don't even get an interview...

 

[JDB]

Could you tell us more about your background? I'm also considering PhD hopefully in finance, so I really want to go to Princeton. But I don't even get an interview...

I will be graduating with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in math with 2 engineering internships (supply chain/manufacturing and operations). I have come to really enjoy programming and have always loved math. GRE Q:168 V:159, GPA:3.985.

 

[Niq W.]

Interviews have to be still going on. I had my interview yesterday and was granted admission last night. They only give 9 days to respond which makes sense as to them not finishing interviews until all seats are filled.

They give 9 days to respond to what? To accept admission to the school? That seems unlikely.

 

[JDB]

They give 9 days to respond to what? To accept admission to the school? That seems unlikely.

Yes they did. That is what the offer letter says. 11:59 pm on Thursday, February 25th. I thought it was unusual as well.

 

[Mensa]

They give 9 days to respond to what? To accept admission to the school? That seems unlikely.

No, it is not unusual. All decisions will be made by early March, so they have to remain enough time to interview new applicants if those do not accept offers.

 

[DavidHilbert]

wtf? if i were u i would have already paid my deposits to princeton...
stanford's program is half-baked looking like simply of combination of courses from different departments. everyone can get into stanford icme... im not even joking
like cmu, nyu, and baruch, columbia's courses r specifically designed for mfe degree, lacking certain amount of rigor but very practical.
princeton has less specifically designed courses but its electives r so diverse so good... and princeton brand is exotic. i toured the campus once, beautiful...
both columbia and princeton offer unparalleled career opportunities and support; whereas stanford's icme has shitty career services.
no brainer...

You, Sir, have basically no idea what are you talking about. Stanford's ICME is most probably the toughest program to get into, given how few people they admit. Moreover, just check LinkedIn profiles of admitted applicants - they are all extremely strong candidates.
I don't know much about the program, but in general, the Institute (ICME) is extremely good.

 

[DavidHilbert]

I have to agree with that. The class size of the MCF track within the ICME is only ~15 people... Also, I am not 100% quantitative finance will be right for me. I want to do computation and programming for sure. Stanford's ICME will give me access to those classes and allow me to get jobs in a field other than strictly finance. I am also interested in potentially a PhD at some point which Stanford would set me up for. Essentially it comes down to the fact that at Princeton, I would get a finance degree with a concentration in quantitative methods and programming but at Stanford, it would be vice versa.

Given your goals, Stanford all the way. Lot of people realize they don't want to do finance after getting an MFE degree, even though they felt very strong about finance before coming to the program. And you are not sure even before joining the program. Also, when next crisis hits, it will be pretty darn hard to get a finance job. On the other hand, machine learning and data science jobs are booming (even in the finance industry). I.e. you can always get into finance with good computational and programming background. Very scarcely you can get from finance to computation and programming.

 

[IntoDarkness]

wtf? icme master program's cash cow reputation is overwhelming. the entire icme master program admits 200+ students every year, milking the tuitions as hard as columbia. u dont need to "concentrate" in anything to pick those "quant finance" classes. the admission standard is so watered down, 95% of the master students cant pass the qual. it's true passing the qual as a master student will almost guarantee the admission to phd, but this process is a joke compared to other departments' requirements: u need to reapply all over again in the same candidate pool with everybody else.

 

[atuurankar]

@JDB ... First of all - kudos and congrats ...
Secondly, were you interviewed by a faculty member or a senior student of ieor?

 

[Milki]

No, I got the admit mail the next day! Hope this helps.

it's been almost two days after my interview. God, why haven't they say congrats to me. I am soooo anxious right now.

 

[John Lau]

it's been almost two days after my interview. God, why haven't they say congrats to me. I am soooo anxious right now.

Relax. My interview was on Feb 14th, and I haven't received any update either. I think those who received admission should have got admitted to other school like Princeton as well. So Columbia wants them to make decisions earlier. Just my guess.

 

[Milki]

Relax. My interview was on Feb 14th, and I haven't received any update either. I think those who received admission should have got admitted to other school like Princeton as well. So Columbia wants them to make decisions earlier. Just my guess.

yea..probably. Let's pray for good luck then. Feel like i really need an offer now

 

[nishank gupta]

it's been almost two days after my interview. God, why haven't they say congrats to me. I am soooo anxious right now.

Mine was on 12th. I think those interviewed by faculty were given admits asap.

 

[Milki]

Mine was on 12th. I think those interviewed by faculty were given admits asap.

oh is it? i thought no good news after interview meant no offer. that's a comfort