COMPARE UChicago MS Stat vs Columbia MSFE (FinEcon)

[confusedperson]

Hi everyone,


I currently have to choose between getting my Master's at UChicago in Statistics or at Columbia (CBS) in Financial Economics.

I went to a ~T10 US university for undergraduate in pure math, but I developed interest in the quantitative finance industry relatively late and ended up not having any relevant internship experiences. Despite having multiple superdays for trader positions at prop trading firms, I did not receive an offer. Therefore, as I get my master's I intend to give another shot at breaking in, while accumulating more in-depth knowledge in math and finance.

My main interest still lies in trading, but as I am pursuing a more advanced degree, I am open to research roles as well (whether at prop shops or hedge funds). Therefore, regardless of whichever program I end up choosing, I plan on taking heavy application-based courses.

Courses at CBS seem more geared towards finance, although there seem to be plenty of opportunities to take ML and programming courses (I referred to quantnet reviews Columbia University Financial Economics (MSFE)).
On the other hand, UChicago offers more courses in traditional applied/theoretical math and stats. (Department of Statistics > Academic Catalog | The University of Chicago)

In conclusion, it appears that I'd able to build a more robust quantitative foundation with UChicago's program, although Columbia's is by no means not intensive. At the same time, I feel that Columbia's small class size (~25), CBS career service (although I read complaints about it), and the NYC location will offer advantages in job search.

Which one do you think I should choose? Thank you so much for all your input!

 

[Lukee]

How much of a factor it tuition? Columbia's FinEcon seems to be among the most expensive programs: Tuition & Financial Aid | Columbia Business School Academics

 

[confusedperson]

How much of a factor it tuition? Columbia's FinEcon seems to be among the most expensive programs: Tuition & Financial Aid | Columbia Business School Academics

Actually there is not a huge difference, tuition for FinEcon as you can see is around 69k, Chicago is around 60k. But COL in NYC should definitely be higher

 

[Lukee]

Actually there is not a huge difference, tuition for FinEcon as you can see is around 69k, Chicago is around 60k. But COL in NYC should definitely be higher

Tuition was poor choice of words on my end, I was just referring to total cost.

I saw on Chicago’s site that their program can be completed in 1 year while Columbia’s is 2 years so there’s a huge disparity in costs when you take that into consideration.

Chicago is very generous with scholarships for their MSFM program, I’m not sure if the same holds true for their MS statistics. Did they offer you any aid?

 

[confusedperson]

Tuition was poor choice of words on my end, I was just referring to total cost.

I saw on Chicago’s site that their program can be completed in 1 year while Columbia’s is 2 years so there’s a huge disparity in costs when you take that into consideration.

Chicago is very generous with scholarships for their MSFM program, I’m not sure if the same holds true for their MS statistics. Did they offer you any aid?

They offered me 10%
I did apply to the MSFM as well, but am still waiting to hear back.

 

[Lukee]

They offered me 10%
I did apply to the MSFM as well, but am still waiting to hear back.

Is there anywhere else your waiting to hear back from?

 

[confusedperson]

Is there anywhere else your waiting to hear back from?

Cmu mscf, but I applied in second round.

 

[Lukee]

Cmu mscf, but I applied in second round.

If you get into CMU I'd pick that over both. Between Chicago and Columbia it's a tough call, ultimately it also comes down to your own personal preferences (e.g living in Chicago vs NY). The fact that you already have been to multiple superdays shows that you have an impressive background. With hard work, I have no doubt that you'll succeed at either school

Perhaps a current Columbia or Chicago student can chime in here?

 

[choejms]

If your goal is to get into buy side hedge funds, I definitely recommend UChicago Stat. We see that every year less and less percentage of MFE graduates are able to secure positions in buy side hedge funds.

 

[ajjjw]

If your goal is to get into buy side hedge funds, I definitely recommend UChicago Stat. We see that every year less and less percentage of MFE graduates are able to secure positions in buy side hedge funds.

The columbia program isn’t an MFE though. it’s closer to a research track MSc.

 

[ajjjw]

I think if you already have a top ten UG pure math degree, the columbia program might help you specialize a bit. This is a tough call though as both of these programs are great.

COL in nyc can be mitigated by roommates and living outside of the city.

 

[confusedperson]

I am going with UChicago. Much lower tuition and cost of living, and I like their curriculum more (CBS finance core requirements seem too repetitive). As for job hunting, I was also doubtful about Columbia’s placements (practically zero in prop shops I am interested in, looks like the slim share of people who do end up in quant go to sell-side banks)

 

[Lukee]

I am going with UChicago. Much lower tuition and cost of living, and I like their curriculum more (CBS finance core requirements seem too repetitive). As for job hunting, I was also doubtful about Columbia’s placements (practically zero in prop shops I am interested in, looks like the slim share of people who do end up in quant go to sell-side banks)

I discovered something that might be of interest to you. If you go to Chicago's website you can see current graduate students, then use the internet archive's wayback machine to view students from the past couple of years. You can then go on LinkedIn and see where these people are working now. Since they don't publish employment reports (afaik) this is the best way to compare placements from this program with other schools.

People | Department of Statistics | The University of Chicago

web.archive.org

 

[alskdjfdlskfj]

I discovered something that might be of interest to you. If you go to Chicago's website you can see current graduate students, then use the internet archive's wayback machine to view students from the past couple of years. You can then go on LinkedIn and see where these people are working now. Since they don't publish employment reports (afaik) this is the best way to compare placements from this program with other schools.

People | Department of Statistics | The University of Chicago

web.archive.org

Thanks, I’ve seen a list of past graduates on UChicago’s website but I don’t think it was as complete as this.