Agree, just follow your heart. You won't go wrong either way.
COMPARE Master Programs Comparison: Which quant program to choose?
- Thread starter aksrandhawa
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Truth in advertising. I got an MBA from Stanford in 1985. California has become less attractive since then, but I have no reason to believe this is true about the Palo Alto area.
I am an outrageous Stanford fanatic. I love everything about the university. Top notch in everything. Impressive classmates. The Farm reminds one of a country club. I have one story that best sums up my Stanford experience. In April of 85, roughly two months before graduation, I attended a meeting of the Finance Club. The speaker was a guy who had graduated the year before. He mentioned that he was in contact with all of his friends, and everyone would rather be back as a student at Stanford rather than wherever they were. I thought he was crazy. We could not wait to graduate and make a kazillion dollars. Six months later, I was wishing I was back there, too.
Stanford sets you up for success. But more importantly, it is a MAGICAL place. It is extremely difficult to spend time there and not love it. Not like it, love it. There were trying times there, but overall, attending the Graduate School of Business was one of the greatest experiences of my life. ss I said, it is a magical place. If I were going to get training in Mathematical Finance, the MCF program would be my first choice; no one else comes close.
I am an outrageous Stanford fanatic. I love everything about the university. Top notch in everything. Impressive classmates. The Farm reminds one of a country club. I have one story that best sums up my Stanford experience. In April of 85, roughly two months before graduation, I attended a meeting of the Finance Club. The speaker was a guy who had graduated the year before. He mentioned that he was in contact with all of his friends, and everyone would rather be back as a student at Stanford rather than wherever they were. I thought he was crazy. We could not wait to graduate and make a kazillion dollars. Six months later, I was wishing I was back there, too.
Stanford sets you up for success. But more importantly, it is a MAGICAL place. It is extremely difficult to spend time there and not love it. Not like it, love it. There were trying times there, but overall, attending the Graduate School of Business was one of the greatest experiences of my life. ss I said, it is a magical place. If I were going to get training in Mathematical Finance, the MCF program would be my first choice; no one else comes close.
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Congrats on getting both offers!
Generally agree with what previous comments say - can't really go wrong here so just follow your heart.
But I would say that if your goal is to get a solid job in the industry right out of master, CMU would actually be of more value, given its much larger alumi base in quant space (very important if not most important factor when comes to placement), proximity to NYC, and rock solid syllabus with heavy focus on practical skills like programming. My friends who graduated from there all ended up at very good positions. Basically both universities' brand name are good enough to get you interviews and the rest is really all on yourself.
However, if you have plans for PhD, Stanford all the way.
Good luck!
Generally agree with what previous comments say - can't really go wrong here so just follow your heart.
But I would say that if your goal is to get a solid job in the industry right out of master, CMU would actually be of more value, given its much larger alumi base in quant space (very important if not most important factor when comes to placement), proximity to NYC, and rock solid syllabus with heavy focus on practical skills like programming. My friends who graduated from there all ended up at very good positions. Basically both universities' brand name are good enough to get you interviews and the rest is really all on yourself.
However, if you have plans for PhD, Stanford all the way.
Good luck!
Yes, I can tell that by the career services webinar of CMU today. They started the whole career preparation in early August, with all those resume workshops or other activities. I really like their series of career preparation. Yet I'm leaning towards Stanford right now, somehow because I started to worry about the future of the quants. CMU's courses are very targeted towards the quant career, while Stanford keeps other doors open, e.g. data scientist. The other reason is the brand name honestly. I plan to go back to China after working in the US for a few years and in this case Stanford is more famous than CMU. Still, I'm attending the activities for admissions offered by CMU and I just liked CMU a lot. During my application, I had been expected myself to attend CMU.
I might be wrong, but brand name won't play an important role after several years' working experience. Also, given the current market condition, just be careful with the pure MFE program. I'm not sure how the coronavirus outbreak and the consequent crisis will affect the placement to be honest.
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Everyone should be fully aware that COVID-19 is playing deeply in to the job market and job hunting. Of course, it affects economy and financial market in the first place. I never thought it could have affected world economy so badly.
Final Decision:
I will go to Stanford! Reasons are first Stanford's courses are pretty hard-core and second, it offers an option of transitioning into phd. Though being a phd was not in my plan but it is not a bad choice. Let's see what this decision will lead me to!
I will go to Stanford! Reasons are first Stanford's courses are pretty hard-core and second, it offers an option of transitioning into phd. Though being a phd was not in my plan but it is not a bad choice. Let's see what this decision will lead me to!
Looking forward to meet you at Stanford
)
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cya in stanford!
Hey guys!
I wanted some advice in making a decision about which program to attend for Fall 2021. I have received admits from all three programs and have not been offered any scholarships.
Brief background:
Final year engineering student from India (Electronics and Communication Engineering)
Three internships (Two are in financial services, one of them being a boutique firm and the other is a leading NBFC in India, both were mostly related to traditional finance)
Have a research paper published on the technical analysis of a stock index
Since I don't have any prior work-experience, I am open to working in different roles (other than risk) and would prefer a quant analyst role at a buy-side firm or a role in an IB on the sell-side.
I have spoken to a lot of current students and alumni and have received detailed feedback due to which I am considering the CMU and Columbia offer more.
I plan on working in the US in the long run for now and hence value employment statistics heavily as well.
I have not listed any pros and cons as I seek unbiased review ahah. I know about the CMU career services though and feel that it would be a great addition for someone that does not have any full-time work experience (like me). In the case of Columbia, they have very little information about employment statistics and seem to lack transparency regarding jobs and internships so if you have any information or thoughts regarding that, please let me know.
Lastly, my bias towards Columbia is mainly due to the Ivy-league name if I am going to be honest here. How much should I value that and does it really matter in the real world?
Let me know your thoughts or pros/cons of the programs, especially if you are attending or have attended any of these programs.
Thanks in advance guys!
I wanted some advice in making a decision about which program to attend for Fall 2021. I have received admits from all three programs and have not been offered any scholarships.
Brief background:
Final year engineering student from India (Electronics and Communication Engineering)
Three internships (Two are in financial services, one of them being a boutique firm and the other is a leading NBFC in India, both were mostly related to traditional finance)
Have a research paper published on the technical analysis of a stock index
Since I don't have any prior work-experience, I am open to working in different roles (other than risk) and would prefer a quant analyst role at a buy-side firm or a role in an IB on the sell-side.
I have spoken to a lot of current students and alumni and have received detailed feedback due to which I am considering the CMU and Columbia offer more.
I plan on working in the US in the long run for now and hence value employment statistics heavily as well.
I have not listed any pros and cons as I seek unbiased review ahah. I know about the CMU career services though and feel that it would be a great addition for someone that does not have any full-time work experience (like me). In the case of Columbia, they have very little information about employment statistics and seem to lack transparency regarding jobs and internships so if you have any information or thoughts regarding that, please let me know.
Lastly, my bias towards Columbia is mainly due to the Ivy-league name if I am going to be honest here. How much should I value that and does it really matter in the real world?
Let me know your thoughts or pros/cons of the programs, especially if you are attending or have attended any of these programs.
Thanks in advance guys!
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All the 3 programs have more or less similar brand name.
CMU has excellent career services but is in PA. (It is one the top ranked Engineering school in the world)
Columbia is not known for its career services but it is in NewYork.
Cornell's MFE program has 2 semesters in Ithica and 1 semester in NY so overall living expenses are less compared to Columbia but less networking time as well. (Cornell is also an Ivy league)
Columbia has a very diverse curriculum covering all the aspects of FE. I think CMU has more focus of programming(Not sure about this).
Since you are open to working in different roles, you can ignore the industry based placement stats.
There is no wrong choice in any of the programs, do what you feel is best for you. Opportunities will be similar in all 3 schools.
CMU has excellent career services but is in PA. (It is one the top ranked Engineering school in the world)
Columbia is not known for its career services but it is in NewYork.
Cornell's MFE program has 2 semesters in Ithica and 1 semester in NY so overall living expenses are less compared to Columbia but less networking time as well. (Cornell is also an Ivy league)
Columbia has a very diverse curriculum covering all the aspects of FE. I think CMU has more focus of programming(Not sure about this).
Since you are open to working in different roles, you can ignore the industry based placement stats.
There is no wrong choice in any of the programs, do what you feel is best for you. Opportunities will be similar in all 3 schools.
Hi guys! Sorry for this long gap in my reply! After a long decision-making process, I have decided to go ahead with CMU MSCF (PA).
I would not consider Cornell FE concentration to be in the same tier as the Columbia MFE. The program at Columbia is a top tier program and if choosing between the two, I would have gone with Columbia. This is mainly because of the program reputation, location and employment statistics (in which Columbia fares better than Cornell). Cornell is a very good program as well though!
Thank you for your response! I have finally decided to go with the MSCF program as the location advantage did not feel too solid especially in times like these where a lot of stuff is online.
That's great! I'm super excited about the program!
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Hi,
I am an applicant for masters in financial engineering for the Fall 2022.
I have received admits for
Per my understanding, below are the pros and cons of both programs. It would be invaluable if someone could provide their answers/views for the questions at the bottom of my post.
Georgia Tech
Pros:
NYU Tandon
Pros:
I am an applicant for masters in financial engineering for the Fall 2022.
I have received admits for
- NYU Tandon's MFE program
- Georgia Tech's QCF program
Per my understanding, below are the pros and cons of both programs. It would be invaluable if someone could provide their answers/views for the questions at the bottom of my post.
Georgia Tech
Pros:
- Overall cost of the program
- Mathematical and computational rigor (given that Georgia Tech’s program is programming-heavy)
- Possible to get a dual degree in CSE (is it true?)
- Ranked lower on Quantnet (could someone please explain to me why this is the case?)
- Atlanta not being a financial hub like NY
- Not diverse enough finance courses.
- Only 1.5 years? Is it enough time to gain a deep understanding of the subject + obtain skills/expertise + look for jobs?
NYU Tandon
Pros:
- 2 years program, allows time in job search, learning more skills etc.
- Course catalog is extensive. Has a number of core financial courses for e.g. quantitative risk management.
- Ability to take courses from the Courant Institute (Prof. Peter Carr mentioned this in one of the QuantNet threads – does anyone have experience with this?)
- Being in NYC (how positively should I weigh this given Covid?)
- Expensive program given high cost of living in NY
- Seemingly lesser computational rigor compared to Georgia Tech which has one the best CS programs.
- Is it worth spending 25-30k$ more for a degree at NYU Tandon over Georgia Tech?
- Can I get a similar “computational expertise” that one gets in Georgia Tech by choosing the right courses at Tandon (and perhaps some more from Courant)?
- Would there be any difference between NYU Tandon and Georgia Tech from the point-of-view of recruiters? Would I get the same interview opportunities in both these schools?
- Am I right in thinking that 18 months is too short of a duration to acquire a reasonably deep understanding of a topic? Given that the internship + full-time search takes a lot of time and attention?
- Why is Georgia Tech's program rated lower than NYU?
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First, that 25k "extra" is the fees you are paying for the extra semester worth of courses. You would pay the same if you do an extra semester in Gatech.
Second, Gatech "computational" expertise is a sales gimmick. At the end of the day YOU have to go and do leetcode/kaggle/hackerrank. The program will never teach you programming, just demand that you know it.
You last 3 queries may be answered reading through below
I have talked to my undergrad college seniors who have studied at either university.
As per 2019 Gatech QCF graduate (3.89 GPA), Gatech teaching quality in core FE courses was not at all good. You are taught by Industrial Engineering profs. who don't even try to relate to the field (Finance) and it is left to your imagination. Moreover, at that time the program had 0 industry professionals.
NYU MFE on the other hand is majorly taught by industry practitioners. The classes are extremely relevant to any field you are targeting and makes your interview prep. slightly easier, due to "related" content. The location advantage though not apparent now will soon be. In my experience (3 years in IB) finance hiring managers prefer face to face interviews as opposed to the remote interview trend in the Tech domain.
Furthermore, after with the population is "vaccinated" to covid-19 due to the mild Omicron varient spreading widely points to more in-person interviews by the time you reach that stage late next year.
Unless you are targeting the Gatech CSE specifically and are NOT especially interested in Finance or Financial engineering... You should choose the QCF, otherwise NYU MFE is clearly the better choice, both by quantnet/risknet rankings and my experience talking to alums.
Second, Gatech "computational" expertise is a sales gimmick. At the end of the day YOU have to go and do leetcode/kaggle/hackerrank. The program will never teach you programming, just demand that you know it.
You last 3 queries may be answered reading through below
I have talked to my undergrad college seniors who have studied at either university.
As per 2019 Gatech QCF graduate (3.89 GPA), Gatech teaching quality in core FE courses was not at all good. You are taught by Industrial Engineering profs. who don't even try to relate to the field (Finance) and it is left to your imagination. Moreover, at that time the program had 0 industry professionals.
NYU MFE on the other hand is majorly taught by industry practitioners. The classes are extremely relevant to any field you are targeting and makes your interview prep. slightly easier, due to "related" content. The location advantage though not apparent now will soon be. In my experience (3 years in IB) finance hiring managers prefer face to face interviews as opposed to the remote interview trend in the Tech domain.
Furthermore, after with the population is "vaccinated" to covid-19 due to the mild Omicron varient spreading widely points to more in-person interviews by the time you reach that stage late next year.
Unless you are targeting the Gatech CSE specifically and are NOT especially interested in Finance or Financial engineering... You should choose the QCF, otherwise NYU MFE is clearly the better choice, both by quantnet/risknet rankings and my experience talking to alums.
