Columbia MS Financial Economics 2022

[Protagonist_Ming]

Didn't receive an interview and the offer, but my portal didn't have any change. Does it mean I was already rejected or they may have the next round of offers? Or this is the only round of offers and the status will change soon?

 

[Mmdog]

I know there were 74 interviews and presumably less offers than that

 

[Mmdog]

Yeah. I am wondering if they are increasing the class size or if they actually sent out wrong offers. Or it's normal since the offer acceptance rate isn't high.

Pretty sure they admitted around 50-60 with <30 enrolling

 

[Qui-Gon]

Pretty sure they admitted around 50-60 with <30 enrolling

Not sure where you’re getting this from. Last year they admitted less than 30 and 23 students enrolled. If they admitted 50-60 this year, I would expect more than 30 to enroll.

 

[jklasd]

Pretty sure they admitted around 50-60 with <30 enrolling

Well, I suppose that is similar to last year then (50 admitted).

 

[qrwitu]

Personally I don't think class size matters though. The learning or classroom experience won't change significantly if there are 10 more people, and most people applied knowing that the career service is not very good. With the new program director, I hope things may change a little.
If people are comparing multiple offers, I think there are still many good reasons to choose this program, such as its phd/MBA courses, research experience, and opportunities in NYC. There are also many successful alumni in academia and industry who can be valuable resources. I would be a little doubtful if people pay more attention to how elite/selective it is and its potentially overly glorified reputation in Asia.

 

[jklasd]

Not sure where you’re getting this from. Last year they admitted less than 30 and 23 students enrolled. If they admitted 50-60 this year, I would expect more than 30 to enroll.

Based on the website, I think they admitted 50 in 2020.

 

[Qui-Gon]

Based on the website, I think they admitted 50 in 2020.

I was speaking to 2021 numbers, which have not been updated on the website yet. As far as I know, the program admitted roughly 30 students for my batch (fall 2021 entry).

 

[Qui-Gon]

Personally I don't think class size matters though. The learning or classroom experience won't change significantly if there are 10 more people, and most people applied knowing that the career service is not very good. With the new program director, I hope things may change a little.
If people are comparing multiple offers, I think there are still many good reasons to choose this program, such as its phd/MBA courses, research experience, and opportunities in NYC. There are also many successful alumni in academia and industry who can be valuable resources. I would be a little doubtful if people pay more attention to how elite/selective it is and its potentially overly glorified reputation in Asia.

Speaking as a current student, the new program director is not doing much. There is a new MSFE advisor—Steve Haggerty—who is the primary resource for putting students in touch with people in industry and is a phenomenal value add for the program. The main benefit of the program is the PhD level coursework, and the ability to take PhD courses across the university. If you don’t have a strong understanding of what you want to do after the program, I would seriously consider looking elsewhere as you will get very little specialized guidance from the program.

I personally am finding the program to be a great experience, and find the flexibility in choosing coursework to be highly attractive. That said, most students applying to quant finance masters programs are expecting the derived value to extend beyond coursework. With the MSFE, this, at least from my perspective, is an expectation that will not be met.

 

[tips]

They accepted 60 with a targeted class size of around 30 as a fyi for anyone interested

Source: I asked the program when I got my offer