Cornell MFE v.s. Columbia MFE v.s Columbia MAFN

[Alex Ng]

Per the title, just want to have some opinion on which program I should attend. My thoughts are below, and I will try to make it brief. P.S. I don't have all the offers yet, but would like to have input from the community anyway. I think this is beneficial for everyone who are interested in these programs as I am compiling all the posts and opinions I have seen from different sources under this thread.

I will keep updating this thread as reviews come in.

Cornell MFE:
Pros: I think it's fair to say that the career service is the best among the three. You can obtain a financial data certificate by enrolling in certain courses. Program placement for summer internship if you can't find any. Flexible course structure and decent course quality as well. Much smaller class size than other same tier programs. I have also heard the least amount of criticism from students doing this program. Capstone project also gives you a chance to work with finance companies for experience. Employment rate at graduation is at 75%, comparable to CU MAFN.
Cons: I've studied at Cornell for several weeks and didn't enjoy my time in Ithaca. 1 year in Ithaca and a semester in NYC (end up in NYC but start in Ithaca)

Columbia MFE:
Pros: Probably the best title among the three. It's in New York City, so lots of resources and don't need to relocate like Cornell MFE. Courses are mostly rigorous. You can enroll in certain courses in the summer where the professor "outsources" quant projects from financial companies to you (note: you don't get paid). Employment rate U.S. only is at 98%, better at securing a job in the U.S.?
Cons: Career service is known to suck (no offense to the program, but this is what I heard from many current students/alumns). I have heard this from multiple current/prospective students. Tutors even use ChatGPT to edit resume and such. Faculty quality and course difficulty are a hit or miss (not confirmed but I have some complaints)? Employment at graduation is the lowest among the three programs, which is a significant difference compared with U.S only stats.

Columbia MAFN:
Pros: I don't know any advantages compared with the 2 programs above, but it used to be ranked the highest in 2023 but slipped in 2024. Would appreciate input for this part. Employment rate at graduate is similar to Cornell at 76%.
Cons: Career service sucks as well (again, no offense to the program), but appears to be a little better than the MFE program. However, placement is not too different from the MFE program as the MFE program is "better" is what I heard. Most classes take place at night...?

Finally, a little background about me. International student in top 30 U.S. university, studying finance and data science. I have some background in math and coding in Python and R but not as much as someone who majors in math and CS (advanced cal, linear algebra, machine learning, etc). Open to quant trading/research/portfolio management. Have not fully determined whether I want to do p quant or q quant yet but more inclined to p quant. I'm not too concerned with costs of living.

 

[Lukee]

Cornell MFE:
Pros: I think it's fair to say that the career service is the best among the three.

What makes you say this?

 

[Alex Ng]

What makes you say this?

For Columbia, the career service has a really bad reputation. I have heard this a lot and not just from MFE students. Cornell MFE's career support has less formalism (students report that the career fairs are just there for the sake of having some career fairs). The career fairs actually lead to jobs and internships. This is comparative speaking not absolute of course.

Columbia MFE also doesn't support Handshake, only Vmock. Not sure if this is also true for MAFN.

 

[WSBquant]

Columbia MFE is the best then Cornell. Alot of mixed reviews about MAFN on QN and ppl over the past years. Career service may have improved as with any where but their placement... Also look past years they are closer to 7/8

 

[ajjjw]

Going to mafn so a bit biased but i’d say:
CU MFE > MAFN = Cornell. I really do think between these three placement outcomes are going to be significantly influenced by individual effort/background. For MAFN advantages, i think the curriculum gives you a deeper bag of skills for things like QR given the heavy emphasis on mathematics.

From what i’ve seen, it seems like MAFN career services have significantly improved since 2020. i have some info on placements last year, career fair/networking schedule from last year, and alumni networking events at from admitted student sessions which i’d be happy to share in DM.

Basing things on reviews from a decade ago and quant net rankings (which are quite volatile and have very small total point differences within tiers) isn’t the best way to decide. I think fit and curriculum are the best way to differentiate.

I’ve said this a few times but i think CU programs work best for people who already have some experience in the industry.

 

[WSBquant]

I saw quite alot of threads here since 2019 and employment stats suggest that they seem to have it tougher than the others. But the career service improvement hopefully improves things

Interesting that this cycle has so much discussion on CU programs compared to past years after the rankings were released

 

[WSBquant]

Going to mafn so a bit biased but i’d say:
CU MFE > MAFN = Cornell. I really do think between these three placement outcomes are going to be significantly influenced by individual effort/background. For MAFN advantages, i think the curriculum gives you a deeper bag of skills for things like QR given the heavy emphasis on mathematics.

From what i’ve seen, it seems like MAFN career services have significantly improved since 2020. i have some info on placements last year, career fair/networking schedule from last year, and alumni networking events at from admitted student sessions which i’d be happy to share in DM.

Basing things on reviews from a decade ago and quant net rankings (which are quite volatile and have very small total point differences within tiers) isn’t the best way to decide. I think fit and curriculum are the best way to differentiate.

I’ve said this a few times but i think CU programs work best for people who already have some experience in the industry.

But agree with @ajjjw. None of the programs are expected to work magic for your quant careers. (Maybe the top few?)

You should be working on your skills and experiences in the industry

 

[ajjjw]

But agree with @ajjjw. None of the programs are expected to work magic for your quant careers. (Maybe the top few?)

You should be working on your skills and experiences in the industry

Agree. i think baruch and princeton are the only programs that can really elevate you just by virtue of attending. but then again, neither of these programs are going to accept a charity case either way so it doesn’t matter lol.

funny enough, i work with a princeton mfin alum and after discussing their admissions process this year he goes “yea i would never get in if i was applying now” lol

 

[WSBquant]

Lol true.

I might also add in CMU MSCF which built a very strong rep for itself

 

[Alex Ng]

Agree. i think baruch and princeton are the only programs that can really elevate you just by virtue of attending. but then again, neither of these programs are going to accept a charity case either way so it doesn’t matter lol.

Yeah. I've said this on another thread. I think only the top top programs actually put you in hedge funds upon graduation.

I think all programs are trying to make improvements on their career service since the job market is tough and students increasingly focus on job placement. But, tbh, maybe it's sampling bias, but the number of complaints about Columbia MFE is a little surprising. Employment rate at graduation is lower than anyone would expect at 63%. MAFN is better at 76%, which confirms what I have heard.

Also, a current student reports that there are no direct resume drops for Columbia MFE students.

 

[WSBquant]

Yeah. I've said this on another thread. I think only the top top programs actually put you in hedge funds upon graduation.

I think all programs are trying to make improvements on their career service since the job market is tough and students increasingly focus on job placement. But, tbh, maybe it's sampling bias, but the number of complaints about Columbia MFE is a little surprising. Employment rate at graduation is lower than anyone would expect at 63%. MAFN is better at 76%, which confirms what I have heard.

It’s 100% at 3 months vs 88% for MAFN.

And I believe MAFN are mostly international who go back / couldn’t get a job in US since only slightly more than half of the class were employed in US in the past 2 years. MFE has 98% in US lol

I agree the sampling bias has issues. There seems to be a much larger portion of unreported ones from MAFN lol. You can see their websites

 

[ajjjw]

Yeah. I've said this on another thread. I think only the top top programs actually put you in hedge funds upon graduation.

I think all programs are trying to make improvements on their career service since the job market is tough and students increasingly focus on job placement. But, tbh, maybe it's sampling bias, but the number of complaints about Columbia MFE is a little surprising. Employment rate at graduation is lower than anyone would expect at 63%. MAFN is better at 76%, which confirms what I have heard.

Also, a current student reports that there are no direct resume drops for Columbia MFE students.

Interesting. i can confirm that there is a MAFN resume book because you can easily find it on google through some carefully worded searches. That’s how i found most alumni on linkedin.

 

[WSBquant]

Interesting. i can confirm that there is a MAFN resume book because you can easily find it on google through some carefully worded searches. That’s how i found most alumni on linkedin.

You got the link @ajjjw?

 

[ajjjw]

This is a bit outside the scope of this thread, but i think the best program for no experience undergrads is easily Chicago (and that’s without even considering scholarships). their project lab gets you directly in front of employers.

 

[Alex Ng]

It’s 100% at 3 months vs 88% for MAFN.

And I believe MAFN are mostly international who go back / couldn’t get a job in US since only slightly more than half of the class were employed in US in the past 2 years. MFE has 98% in US lol

I agree the sampling bias has issues. There seems to be a much larger portion of unreported ones from MAFN lol. You can see their websites

Yes, you are right. I am aware that the 3 month placement stats is better for CU MFE, but I think placement stat at graduation says more about the career service.

 

[Alex Ng]

This is a bit outside the scope of this thread, but i think the best program for no experience undergrads is easily Chicago (and that’s without even considering scholarships). their project lab gets you directly in front of employers.

I agree that project experience with quant finance companies is very valuable. Cornell MFE also has a capstone project, so does CU MFE. But CU MFE is a for-credit "course" in the summer which interferes with summer internship.

 

[WSBquant]

Yes, you are right. I am aware that the 3 month placement stats is better for CU MFE, but I think placement stat at graduation says more about the career service.

I’d disagree. CU MAFN seems to be mostly international. Assuming 50% of the class isn’t from US based on employment stats, it’s harder to compete with others in NY and that’s why employment at grad is likely “higher”. Which then questions why the rate isn’t near 90%?

 

[Alex Ng]

Interesting. i can confirm that there is a MAFN resume book because you can easily find it on google through some carefully worded searches. That’s how i found most alumni on linkedin.

Hmmm, I think though they may have discussions MAFN and MFE do not share the same career service, especially when they are in different schools.

 

[Alex Ng]

I’d disagree. CU MAFN seems to be mostly international. Assuming 50% of the class isn’t from US based on employment stats, it’s harder to compete with others in NY and that’s why employment at grad is likely “higher”. Which then questions why the rate isn’t near 90%?

It is true that international students face a disadvantage when it comes to employment. Then, we might look at U.S. only stats, not the 3-month employment rate. CU MFE is significantly better at helping students securing a job in the U.S., but as you said, international student ratio is higher for MAFN, which puts them in a tougher situation. It is hard to infer the percentage of students who would like to work in the U.S or make an assumption on the percentage of international stats. So we don't really have a conclusive understanding by looking at the U.S. only stats.

Also, I believe typically recruitment in U.S. and elsewhere runs concurrently.

 

[WSBquant]

It is true that international students face a disadvantage when it comes to employment. Then, we might look at U.S. only stats, not the 3-month employment rate. CU MFE is significantly better at helping students securing a job in the U.S., but as you said, international student ratio is higher for MAFN, which puts them in a tougher situation. It is hard to infer the percentage of students who would like to work in the U.S. So we don't really have a conclusive understanding by looking at the U.S. only stats.

yea which is why if we go by that logic there’s 2 scenarios that make us wonder why for MAFN

1. Majority are US -> low employment in US at only 55%?
2. Majority are international -> relatively lower employment at grad and 3 months after? Shouldn’t it be easier with the “CU” brand?

And tbh why won’t half the class wanna work in US lol…

the past few year of employment stats MFE is the highest except for 2023. Your updated post says MFE has the lowest employment which is false