Columbia MFE vs. UChicago MSFM

[escheffer]

My goal is to become a macro quant researcher at a top US hedge fund and I've been accepted into Columbia's MFE and UChicago's MSFM programs for Fall 2024. Although Columbia is highly ranked, and might have a higher reputation in Wall Street (besides the favorable location), I'm inclined to believe UChicago might offer more value.

Its outstanding professors, strong ties with the Stats and Econ departments, robust career development office, and close industry connections stand out. Also, Columbia seems to have a more rigid program focused on derivatives modeling and valuation, while Chicago allows choosing a focus aligned with my interests in stats, machine learning, and econometrics, aiming for a macro quant research (does that make sense?).

Additionally, I've been awarded a 60% scholarship at UChicago, which I hope might indicate I would have an interview edge given my resume. Moreover, in Brazil, UChicago has a higher reputation than Columbia because of the Econ department (almost every leading Brazilian economist went there for PhD) in case I decide to return.

My background is Engineering, I already have the CFA and I would say that, today, I am stronger on computing and finance than math.

What are your thought on that?

Thank you all so much for your time.

 

[jmansfield]

Hey I'm currently in UChicago MSFM and I'm going to be a QR intern on a Systematic Macro Team at a hedge fund this summer, so I feel I can give some pretty good advice. There simply is no better place to study economics than UChicago, so in terms of prestige, I would say if you want to go down the Macro route the UChicago name will be more prestigious than Columbia's. While here it's very easy to take cross-department classes, so getting into those Ph.D. level Econ classes that you are interested in will be a breeze. Just in my class alone, I've seen some students become TA's or do research with Econ Professors, one student even left the program to do an Econ Ph.D. with one of the professors as his advisor. Given the 60% scholarship, I'd say it's simply way more bang for your buck to go the UChicago route, although don't expect the 60% scholarship to help you in interviews, many students here get scholarships, and employers don't really look at them anyway.

Although I would say UChiago's biggest advantage is its location, since Most MFE programs, Columbia, Cornell, CMU, Baruch, ...ect , Focus their networking and career outcomes on jobs in NYC those positions become hyper-competitive and over-saturated very quickly. Whereas UChicago focuses on the US's 2nd biggest finance hub, Chicago, and has incredibly close relations with all the firms out here. For context, as part of the program, I've toured prestigious Trading firms with UChicago flags on their walls. These relationships along with the GOATED Career Development office (CDO) massively helped me secure my internship.

Hopes this helps, congrats on the offers!!

 

[jmansfield]

see above

 

[kdb]

Still cant believe Chicago is ahead of Columbia. Don't know if it is because we need to cast a vote to see the results, the cost factor or Chicago's performance has significantly improved. Had posted this a while back and got opposite results.

Choosing between grad schools

Hi Everyone, I received admits from UChicago MSFM(30% scholarship) and Georgia Tech QCF. I know that UChicago is much better in terms of rankings and Chicago as a city is much better to build connections than Atlanta. I even have started connecting with alums of Chicago to get their opinion and...

quantnet.com

 

[jmansfield]

Still cant believe Chicago is ahead of Columbia. Don't know if it is because we need to cast a vote to see the results, the cost factor or Chicago's performance has significantly improved. Had posted this a while back and got opposite results.

Choosing between grad schools

Hi Everyone, I received admits from UChicago MSFM(30% scholarship) and Georgia Tech QCF. I know that UChicago is much better in terms of rankings and Chicago as a city is much better to build connections than Atlanta. I even have started connecting with alums of Chicago to get their opinion and...

quantnet.com

I’d say UChicago has def upped its game recently, just look at the rankings, last year we jumped up 6 positions 12th -> 6th, just 1 behind Columbia. Plus Columbia has been having major placement issues where last years grad employment rate was a measly 63% compared to UChicago’s 90%. They post a slightly higher grad salary but that’s easy when only 63% of your class is getting jobs. Give it a few years and I’ll bet you’ll see UChicago passing Columbia.

 

[escheffer]

I

Hey I'm currently in UChicago MSFM and I'm going to be a QR intern on a Systematic Macro Team at a hedge fund this summer, so I feel I can give some pretty good advice. There simply is no better place to study economics than UChicago, so in terms of prestige, I would say if you want to go down the Macro route the UChicago name will be more prestigious than Columbia's. While here it's very easy to take cross-department classes, so getting into those Ph.D. level Econ classes that you are interested in will be a breeze. Just in my class alone, I've seen some students become TA's or do research with Econ Professors, one student even left the program to do an Econ Ph.D. with one of the professors as his advisor. Given the 60% scholarship, I'd say it's simply way more bang for your buck to go the UChicago route, although don't expect the 60% scholarship to help you in interviews, many students here get scholarships, and employers don't really look at them anyway.

Although I would say UChiago's biggest advantage is its location, since Most MFE programs, Columbia, Cornell, CMU, Baruch, ...ect , Focus their networking and career outcomes on jobs in NYC those positions become hyper-competitive and over-saturated very quickly. Whereas UChicago focuses on the US's 2nd biggest finance hub, Chicago, and has incredibly close relations with all the firms out here. For context, as part of the program, I've toured prestigious Trading firms with UChicago flags on their walls. These relationships along with the GOATED Career Development office (CDO) massively helped me secure my internship.

Hopes this helps, congrats on the offers!!

Thanks for the reply! I think your points are totally valid. Almost everyone in the industry I've talked to, told me the quality of teaching and reputation of both are very similar - hard to tell which one is best. My conclusion based on all facts and opinions I've collected so far, is that, Columbia would be best only if: (1) money is not something you worry much about, and (2) you love NYC, the campus and can't wait to live and work there, (3) you hate Chicago's weather. I think that other aspects have little by little tilted the scale towards UChicago, and I have no doubt it will continue improving in ranks too.

 

[escheffer]

Still cant believe Chicago is ahead of Columbia. Don't know if it is because we need to cast a vote to see the results, the cost factor or Chicago's performance has significantly improved. Had posted this a while back and got opposite results.

Choosing between grad schools

Hi Everyone, I received admits from UChicago MSFM(30% scholarship) and Georgia Tech QCF. I know that UChicago is much better in terms of rankings and Chicago as a city is much better to build connections than Atlanta. I even have started connecting with alums of Chicago to get their opinion and...

quantnet.com

Regarding the slightly higher salary (8% higher), we can also assume that most of it is in NYC, while UChicago might have a higher concentration on Chicago perhaps. NYC living costs can be up to 30% higher than Chicago, not considering taxes, so keep that in mind.

 

[shift]

From my research, I feel as though the actual course at UChicago is better. The course is extremely flexible allowing students to take classes that interest them and set them up for a career they want to pursue, as well as being able to take courses from other departments including Booth. The project lab is a great opportunity for those who lack prior experience to gain something worthwhile to put on their CV. In saying this, as an international student, I was under the impression that the Ivy League status of Columbia carries a lot of weight, leading me to believe that Columbia MFE would be a better choice - any thoughts on this?

 

[escheffer]

From my research, I feel as though the actual course at UChicago is better. The course is extremely flexible allowing students to take classes that interest them and set them up for a career they want to pursue, as well as being able to take courses from other departments including Booth. The project lab is a great opportunity for those who lack prior experience to gain something worthwhile to put on their CV. In saying this, as an international student, I was under the impression that the Ivy League status of Columbia carries a lot of weight, leading me to believe that Columbia MFE would be a better choice - any thoughts on this?

I made some research to get the “reputation” feeling in Brazil, and it is pretty much 50%-50% on both, with a higher tendency for Columbia for those in Management Consulting and in the Industry/Real Economy sectors, and for UChicago’s for those in the finance sector, especially related to quant finance; for IB/PE, it is roughly equal. I think the main difference really ends up on location (where do you want to work/live) and cost importance.

 

[jmansfield]

From my research, I feel as though the actual course at UChicago is better. The course is extremely flexible allowing students to take classes that interest them and set them up for a career they want to pursue, as well as being able to take courses from other departments including Booth. The project lab is a great opportunity for those who lack prior experience to gain something worthwhile to put on their CV. In saying this, as an international student, I was under the impression that the Ivy League status of Columbia carries a lot of weight, leading me to believe that Columbia MFE would be a better choice - any thoughts on this?

At this point, when you start comparing and contrasting such elite schools whether they are in the Ivy League or not doesn't really matter anymore. People know UChicago is an elite school at the same level as the Ivy's if not better. For example, think of schools like MIT, Stanford, Caltech, ... those are not in the Ivy League but you would still give them the same amount of respect and prestige as any Ivy. UChicago is the same, it is a top 10 school, even beating out several Ivy's, and garners the same amount of prestige and respect as any Ivy. I would also argue that this is especially true in the quant finance world as UChicago has been the epicenter of numerous significant contributions to Quant finance including the Black-Scholes equation, the Fama-French model, and the CAPM model which were all discovered by researchers at UChicago. Also, numerous massive firms have been founded by UChicago Alumni, DRW, AQR, and DFA just to name a few.

 

[quantchoices]

Are both schools safe?