Yale SOM MMS in Asset Management

[learningAM]

Hello, I am an admissions officer for the Master's in Asset Management at Yale School of Management. The Master's in AM is a newer program, 9 months long, quant focused and STEM eligible:

Master’s in Asset Management

Launch your career in asset management by spending a year at Yale learning from leading finance scholars and practicing investors.

som.yale.edu

Happy to answer any questions on this thread or just talk about your graduate school journey!

 

[MikeTheQuant]

Thanks for posting this thread. First question would be: what is the acceptance rate? Additionally, for the electives, can we take grad classes outside of the SOM? I come from an Applied Math undergrad background and would love to continue with more math courses (I also enjoy computer programming and statistics so these types of electives would be nice, too). Does the MS AM program have a dedicated career staff? Lastly, do you have employment statistics available? After perusing the whole website, I noticed none of this information was available. Or, at least I wasn't able to locate it easily. Thank you again.

 

[matthewzz]

How rigorous are the courses?
One of my main concerns about ~MFE programs in business schools is that I've heard that the technical side of mathematics can be lackluster leading to a "Quant for Dummies" approach, which, if QR is your goal at some point in the future, could lead you to an unprepared knowledge base.

 

[learningAM]

Thanks for posting this thread. First question would be: what is the acceptance rate? Additionally, for the electives, can we take grad classes outside of the SOM? I come from an Applied Math undergrad background and would love to continue with more math courses (I also enjoy computer programming and statistics so these types of electives would be nice, too). Does the MS AM program have a dedicated career staff? Lastly, do you have employment statistics available? After perusing the whole website, I noticed none of this information was available. Or, at least I wasn't able to locate it easily. Thank you again.

Hi Mike, thanks for being the first to comment.

Regarding your questions on electives, you can absolutely take classes outside of SOM. Yale is a very integrated campus, meaning that when you are admitted to SOM, all of Yale University is available to you. Off the top of my head, I know that several of our AM students have taken courses in the Yale School of Environment (YSE) and Yale Law School (YLS). And I'm sure folks have taken classes outside of those two schools as well.

In terms of your background in applied math and CS, it sounds like you would be well equipped for the Master's in AM as we very much value a quantitative background when reviewing applications.

Thanks for asking about the career development office! At SOM there is a full office dedicated to career development. Within the office, we have a dedicated person for the Asset Management students, who comes to us from industry. She spent many years working on the recruiting front for various large firms, so she has a lot of insight and experience that is invaluable. Given that she is specifically dedicated to our AM students, all students receive plenty of individualized attention and support. Career Development Yale School of Management

Lastly, in regards to acceptance rate and employment statistics, the Master's in Asset Management is a newer program. Unfortunately, due to Yale policy, we are unable to publish and concrete statistics on either until the program is at least 5 years old. However, I can speak to the success that our students have had post-graduation. Our students go of to a variety of roles and industries upon graduation. If you'd like to learn more about more about the companies, you can do so here: Careers

Additionally, I try and send as many updates as I can via our email newsletter on what our students are up to and where they land. You can receive that information by staying connected with us here: AM Introduce Yourself.

I hope that this helps and please let me know if I can answer any other questions! These were all great questions, I hope that we will see your application for the class of 2025. The application will open in late August, so keep an eye out for that.

Best wishes,
Master's in Asset Management Office of Admissions

 

[learningAM]

How rigorous are the courses?
One of my main concerns about ~MFE programs in business schools is that I've heard that the technical side of mathematics can be lackluster leading to a "Quant for Dummies" approach, which, if QR is your goal at some point in the future, could lead you to an unprepared knowledge base.

Hi Matthew,
If you're looking to be challenged on the quant front, then you're checking out the right program! From my chats with students and alumni, they find the coursework to be very challenging, but equally as rewarding. Our ethos around the Master's in Asset Management program is that it combines the best of academic theory and practice. The academic theory piece includes deep and specific knowledge of quantitative investing, asset pricing theory, and statistical foundations. This is nicely complimented by the industry professionals that teach electives and join us on campus as colloquiums as speakers. Colloquium has brought in many interesting and seasoned industry professionals such as Cliff Asness, Founder and Managing Principal and CIO of AQR as well as in house expertise right her at Yale, like Xinchen Wang who is the Director of the Yale Investment Office. Colloquium is exclusively for our Asset Management students at SOM (and if I am honest, I know there are a few MBA students who have been jealous in the past!) but in addition to that, SOM as a school brings in additional wonderful speakers that our students can take advantage of.
In addition, a few of our students who do have a more quantitatively advanced background have opted to take PhD level courses in order to fulfill some requirements. For more information on our curriculum, please visit: Curriculum
I've heard it's definitely a lot of hard work to be in these courses, but I find that our students are some of the most impressive and dedicated people I have ever met. I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any other questions!

Best,

Master's in Asset Management Office of Admissions

 

[Maksim XxX]

Is there any funding available ?

 

[learningAM]

Is there any funding available ?

Hi @Maksim XxX all admitted candidates to the Master's in Asset Management are considered for scholarships upon admission.

 

[FlyingSaucer]

When can cadidates expect to receive interview invitations? (more specifically: When will interview invitations start to be sent?)

 

[lklklk]

Will the program consider extending program length to 1 year+?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Here is the response from the Yale SOM program to my query
The Yale School of Management Master’s in Asset Management program received over 1400 applications for the Class of 2025, representing a 12% increase in submitted applications year over year. Our admissions team is currently in the process of evaluation, and will release decisions on March 26th. Admitted students will have until April 18th to enroll, with an expected cohort size similar to our current Class of 2024.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

March 26th is today, of course, and we are seeing results showing up on the Tracker.
1400 is a huge number of applications for them to sort through. Congrats to those who got admitted.

 

[quantchoices]

Congrats all. ~57/1400 students for the class. That’s similar to Princeton MFin

 

[Lukee]

Congrats all. ~57/1400 students for the class. That’s similar to Princeton MFin

4% acceptance rate

 

[MikeLawrence]

4% acceptance rate

Sure, but the curriculum looks weird.
They lean into Yale's theorists, I count maybe four courses that are somewhat quantitative. Very selective, but that seems to be the biggest 'wow' factor that I can see.

Their last cohort had 19% dual-degree MBA students, which is a further tell on who the program is catering to. Last year, they had almost as many graduates enter private wealth management and private equity as they had buy side or sell side research (12.2/15.2). It's 'stem' but I'm not sure it's for quants.

 

[Lukee]

Sure, but the curriculum looks weird.
They lean into Yale's theorists, I count maybe four courses that are somewhat quantitative. Very selective, but that seems to be the biggest 'wow' factor that I can see.

Their last cohort had 19% dual-degree MBA students, which is a further tell on who the program is catering to. Last year, they had almost as many graduates enter private wealth management and private equity as they had buy side or sell side research (12.2/15.2). It's 'stem' but I'm not sure it's for quants.

I agree with pretty much everything you said but I think its also worth mentioning that their curriculum is flexible for students that want a more quant focused education . From their website:
“In addition, students may substitute a suitable graduate course in Computer Science, Economics, Mathematics, or Statistics & Data Science with prior approval from the faculty director”

 

[quantmage]

Yeah the name of the program implies it is not necessarily quant focused. However that could be a positive as there will be more attention/less competition for the smaller group of students that decide to focus on quant. Unclear how employers currently view the program, but at least there's a large AQR presence in the program. Undecided as to whether or not I will attend, will definitely have to talk to quant focused students.