CMU MSCF Difference in acceptance rates between the CMU NYC and Pittsburgh Campus?

[ShreyanshL]

Hello, I am currently in the process of writing my application for CMU MSCF and the application asks us to choose a campus we are applying to. I was wondering if there is a strategic decision to be made here in terms of the number of admits per campus vs the number of applicants. Is one campus more popular than the other?

 

[Alex Ng]

They don't release acceptance rate for individual campus as far as I know, but the number of enrolled students are roughly the same each year (50/50, so around 100 for the entire program). I don't necessarily think there is a strategic decision to be made, but there are obviously tradeoffs.

Main campus-more campus resources, more of a campus environment, involvement with clubs, easy access to professors/lecturers
NY campus-preferred location for recruitment, vibrant city, but if I remember correctly (and you can double check on the website) NY campus is literally a floor in a commercial building, and you take classes virtually with the main campus students (so yes, main campus students do in-person while you sit in a classroom and connect through Zoom). Professors do come to NY campus every 7 weeks, but you don't really see them.

I would say if you are comfortable living in the suburb and don't mind relocating upon graduation, go for the main campus as you have more access to professors rather than having to send them emails or experience difficulties communicating through Zoom. And, you can having more involvement with campus clubs and have some college experience. However, if you really like NYC and just want to work and live there and are willing to study on your own majority of the time, NYC is your choice. Just be aware of the tradeoffs.

 

[LisaC]

Hello, I am currently in the process of writing my application for CMU MSCF and the application asks us to choose a campus we are applying to. I was wondering if there is a strategic decision to be made here in terms of the number of admits per campus vs the number of applicants. Is one campus more popular than the other?

Hi! I've asked this exact question to admission team before, and they said they use same standard to select candidates for both campuses.

 

[marcusaurelius]

Main campus-more campus resources, more of a campus environment, involvement with clubs, easy access to professors/lecturers
NY campus-preferred location for recruitment, vibrant city, but if I remember correctly (and you can double check on the website) NY campus is literally a floor in a commercial building, and you take classes virtually with the main campus students (so yes, main campus students do in-person while you sit in a classroom and connect through Zoom). Professors do come to NY campus every 7 weeks, but you don't really see them.

We've actually upgraded our NYC campus and the building is really nice! It's in the Financial District. Professors actually come on the NYC campus every 3 weeks I would say, and tend to give two lectures in a row there; in essence, I would say you can still get to see the prof quite a lot 'in person'. But that doesn't change the fact we have high-resolution live feeds with/from our campuses (where I am), and students get to interact A LOT during class. In terms of rent... NYC is NYC. But my buddies have a 'luxury' apartment they share 5 mins away from GS headquarters for $1600 a bedroom. Considering the location/logistics, it's really not that bad.

To my knowledge, there is no difference between applying for Pittsburgh over NYC.

Hope this helps

 

[WSBquant]

Hi @marcusaurelius do the classes from both campuses interact with each other or housed ”separately”?

 

[marcusaurelius]

I'm quite in contact with people in NY, although I am in Pittsburgh. I guess what people don't realize is that even if you're on the same campus but you don't go talk to other people, it won't change much if you're on the same campus or not...! Reaching out to people and communicating with them is a low-cost/high-reward endeavor

 

[WSBquant]

I'm quite in contact with people in NY, although I am in Pittsburgh. I guess what people don't realize is that even if you're on the same campus but you don't go talk to other people, it won't change much if you're on the same campus or not...! Reaching out to people and communicating with them is a low-cost/high-reward endeavor

Haha true. from your experience, are there more opportunities in Pittsburgh campus? And vice versa?

 

[marcusaurelius]

Haha true. from your experience, are there more opportunities in Pittsburgh campus? And vice versa?

Not much difference. Equal opportunities I would say (e.g. I got contacted by 7 firms just from the resume book: Balyasny, BlackRock, Fidelity, and some other hedge funds/asset managers)

 

[QuantMonkey]

Not much difference. Equal opportunities I would say (e.g. I got contacted by 7 firms just from the resume book: Balyasny, BlackRock, Fidelity, and some other hedge funds/asset managers)

Hi Marcus! I received an offer from CMU - NY and am considering attending in the Fall. Would you mind sharing more about your experience from the resume book? What kind of background do you need to have to have firms reaching out to you? Would they offer an interview after reaching out? Thank you!

 

[sweet]

Hi Marcus! I received an offer from CMU - NY and am considering attending in the Fall. Would you mind sharing more about your experience from the resume book? What kind of background do you need to have to have firms reaching out to you? Would they offer an interview after reaching out? Thank you!

I am in the same class as Marcus, also on the CMU campus.

Can't comment for Marcus, but I can answer your questions based on my own experience.

I also got contacted by a number of companies (Invesco, Fidelity, EY, A few of the larger Investment Banks, and a couple medium/smaller sized HFs, ). Basically all of them turned into a first/second round + superdays, and eventually a couple offers.

Regarding what background you need, that is sort of a hard question to answer. Obviously, the more relevant work/internship experience you have, the more likely you are to be contacted; however, this isn't always true. I had no full time work experience (a few engineering internships, but not related to quant finance in anyway), but I had lots of ML + Programming + stats projects related to finance which I think really helped me. So honestly, as long as you have SOMETHING that is in anyway qualitative/technical + finance related, you will probably get something from the resume book.

If you have math + trading competitions on ur resume you increase the chance get contacted by prop shops (but tbh most of the big HFs and Prop shops just make you apply online). I know my friend got reached out to by Sig for their QT and QR internship role because they are an applied math major with some cool projects.

Also, we have a week in between mini 1 and 2 where companies sign up to show up at the NY campus and select students (from the resume book) to interview (thats when I get most of my action), Pittsburgh students have the option to fly in or request a virtual interview.

Overall, which campus you pick really has no effect on the opportunities available to you, just how much you spend in rent haha.

lmk if you have any other questions, hope this was helpful.

 

[QuantMonkey]

I am in the same class as Marcus, also on the CMU campus.

Can't comment for Marcus, but I can answer your questions based on my own experience.

I also got contacted by a number of companies (Invesco, Fidelity, EY, A few of the larger Investment Banks, and a couple medium/smaller sized HFs, ). Basically all of them turned into a first/second round + superdays, and eventually a couple offers.

Regarding what background you need, that is sort of a hard question to answer. Obviously, the more relevant work/internship experience you have, the more likely you are to be contacted; however, this isn't always true. I had no full time work experience (a few engineering internships, but not related to quant finance in anyway), but I had lots of ML + Programming + stats projects related to finance which I think really helped me. So honestly, as long as you have SOMETHING that is in anyway qualitative/technical + finance related, you will probably get something from the resume book.

If you have math + trading competitions on ur resume you increase the chance get contacted by prop shops (but tbh most of the big HFs and Prop shops just make you apply online). I know my friend got reached out to by Sig for their QT and QR internship role because they are an applied math major with some cool projects.

Also, we have a week in between mini 1 and 2 where companies sign up to show up at the NY campus and select students (from the resume book) to interview (thats when I get most of my action), Pittsburgh students have the option to fly in or request a virtual interview.

Overall, which campus you pick really has no effect on the opportunities available to you, just how much you spend in rent haha.

lmk if you have any other questions, hope this was helpful.

Thank you so much for your detailed answer!! This is really helpful. Looks like CMU has a very friendly and close community as well, which is equally important in terms of choosing a program.

 

[sweet]

Thank you so much for your detailed answer!! This is really helpful. Looks like CMU has a very friendly and close community as well, which is equally important in terms of choosing a program.

Yea I'd say overall people are more than happy to help in terms of both academics and the job search. Tbh I was worried about this when I first joined because I imagined that everyone would be reluctant in helping since we are all going after the same jobs and taking the same exams, but it ended up being not true thankfully

 

[rishh]

What are the on-campus jobs like in the NYC campus for international students

 

[marcusaurelius]

What are the on-campus jobs like in the NYC campus for international students

Not sure what you mean by 'on-campus' jobs?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Not sure what you mean by 'on-campus' jobs?

Welcome back
I think he meant the types of jobs that international can do 20 hours/week while on campus such as working as a lab assistant, TA, etc while maintaining legal F1 status.

 

[marcusaurelius]

Welcome back
I think he meant the types of jobs that international can do 20 hours/week while on campus such as working as a lab assistant, TA, etc while maintaining legal F1 status.

To that I would say that it some TA positions are available, but limited. They do not make much sense and I'd argue one is better off focusing on learning as many hard skills during the master's as possible, than exchanging hours for an hourly wage.