COMPARE Stanford ICME vs. CMU MSCF

[arr]

Hello everyone,

I'm thrilled to have been accepted into both Stanford's ICME and CMU's MSCF programs but struggling to decide between them.

I am curious about the career prospects and support services at Stanford, as I've heard rumors about them not being very good.

A bit about me: I studied math in the UK for undergrad, interested in ML/stats. Currently interested in becoming a quant researcher (leaning buy side), primarily in roles that apply stat/ML techniques to finance. I lack formal CS training, which I hope to gain in grad school. Post graduation, I aim to get a job in the U.S., and while I'm not considering a PhD or moving abroad at this time, I do not have visa concerns. A small point regarding location, my preference is to work in the southern U.S., but I am open to starting my career in other places.

For programs: I'm drawn to MSCF for its comprehensive curriculum that seems well-suited for preparing for quant roles and its good career service.
Conversly, Stanford doesn’t offer a lot courses in option pricing etc.(which I am not sure if they are very important for buyside roles). However, I like Stanford’s heavy emphasis on data science and programming. Stanford could also open doors to working in startups or tech in Silicon Valley. I don’t think I will get those choices in CMU. Although I personally have a stronger interest in buy-side quant, I could also see myself working for startups or as a machine learning engineer in some tech companies.

I opened this poll and I'd appreciate any insights into these programs, especially regarding career outcomes and experiences with their respective career services. Thank you very much for your help!

 

[Lukee]

Would you mind sharing more about your profile? I'm interested to see what kind of candidate Stanford ICME accepts

 

[arr]

Would you mind sharing more about your profile? I'm interested to see what kind of candidate Stanford ICME accepts

I did one long summer intern and several small interns, together with some research in uni (no publications)

 

[arr]

Anyone give some specific reasons for choosing each program?

 

[nlgh]

Hello,

From what I gathered, you aim to get a more formal training in CS. From my research of both programs, it seemed as if Stanford's ICME is a little more math oriented, and CMU provides a lot of computational courses.
Regarding quant roles, I gathered from past admits to Stanford that there are people that go into quant research/trading but a lot of them usually go to data science/financial roles, as well as startups, more so than regular quant. In comparison, CMU's program is a little more tailored towards quant.

I think you should choose the program that you think fits more with your liking, as both are top programs. One thing to add is that CMU's program is present in all rankings, at near top spots, whereas ICME is not. I am not sure of the reason but it could be something to take into account.

 

[arr]

Hello,

From what I gathered, you aim to get a more formal training in CS. From my research of both programs, it seemed as if Stanford's ICME is a little more math oriented, and CMU provides a lot of computational courses.
Regarding quant roles, I gathered from past admits to Stanford that there are people that go into quant research/trading but a lot of them usually go to data science/financial roles, as well as startups, more so than regular quant. In comparison, CMU's program is a little more tailored towards quant.

I think you should choose the program that you think fits more with your liking, as both are top programs. One thing to add is that CMU's program is present in all rankings, at near top spots, whereas ICME is not. I am not sure of the reason but it could be something to take into account.

Thanks for the comment!