Carnegie Mellon University Master of Science in Computational Finance (MSCF) program

I join this program just for its so called well-known career service. But it turns out that the career service in MSCF is just homogeneous to other programs. Nothing special about the career service especially they recruit some new career staff this year. Being in this stage, I felt a bit hopeless about job-searching process.

I graduated from the MSCF New York campus in December 2020. Prior to the program, I had been working as a research analyst for three years. The curriculum helped me build a stronger foundation in different mathematical financial modeling. The best thing I like is that almost every course involves some kind of coding (of course, some courses are dedicated to pure coding in python and C++). Since CMU is famous for its CS courses, it is one of the reasons why I chose CMU and I am definitely more confident about my programming skills in the workplace now.

It has been a hard year for everyone but we also received a lot of help from the program. Besides the prestige given by the school name in the street, professors and the career center also have put in a lot of effort and helped us secure placement for internships and jobs.

I highly encourage everyone to reach out to alumni on LinkedIn as well, especially those who share some similar background with you. We are all super nice people and would love to share our stories with you in detail. Cheers! :D

As a recent grad of CMU MCSF, I would highly recommend this program to anyone who is considering to get a MFE degree and land a job in financial industry specialized in the quantitative direction.

The curriculum is well-rounded and trying to prepared students with not only necessary technical skills and financial knowledge, but also communication and presentation skills to perform in an actual business setting.

Despite that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some difficulties in job searching, the majority of students have started careers with a bright outlook. The steering committee and staffs have been working hard to continue providing us support and career advices.

It's pity that we spent about a half year studying remotely at home and failed to interacts with professors or classmates in person. Studying from most experiences professors and taking courses with smartest students definitely made it an enjoyable journey in MSCF!

Short summary: The MSCF program is fantastic.

Alumni: If you join the program, it quickly becomes apparent how strong the MSCF alumni network is. We receive one-on-one resume advice, mock interviewing, and insights into our preferred job function (trading, research, development, …). A quick search on LinkedIn for your desired company will reveal alumni at various levels of seniority due to the program’s impressive staying power (since the mid 90’s).

Faculty: The professors are awesome - they really care about the students and how relevant their content is for internships/fulltime. You’ll frequently find them soliciting feedback and working with the equally great staff to ensure every voice is heard.

Employment: The two points above lead to very strong career opportunities. The vast alumni network allows for hiring managers to be educated on the skillset MSCF students possess, and the passionate professors ensure you have the technical skills needed to succeed. On top of this, and a personal favorite of many MSCF students, is the additional focus on communication. The business communication and presentation classes offer a much-needed reprieve from technical studies, and dive into the importance of all types of communication in the workplace. They make a (very) noticeable difference in student confidence in front of crowds, both for native and non-native English speakers.

The price tags on these programs are steep, but worth it. They have a high ROI, and you are surrounded by incredibly bright classmates who quickly become friends. Everyone brings their own strengths and subject matter knowledge to the program. Although I’m biased, I wholeheartedly recommend the MSCF.

I graduated from MSCF in December 2019.

Background: Stats undergrad from a non top tier US school and worked for a year at a large bank in a back office role.

Goals: I wanted to make the switch to a front office position without having to wait several years for my career to develop. Also, networking was never one of my strengths to leverage. Finally, I always wanted to get more quant training and CMU’s program had been my top choice.

My experience in the MSCF was excellent. I was challenged both academically and physically – I couldn’t avoid putting on a few pounds. Ultimately, I achieved all the goals I had set up for myself.

I chose MSCF for a few reasons, which were all validated after I attended the program. First, the location in New York provides real value not only in terms of networking but also because most firms are also located in NY. Second, the reputation of the program is nonpareil. Everyone I spoke to from the industry had a positive opinion of MSCF which speaks to the quality of the graduates. Most importantly, however, the curriculum is a constant work in progress. As Jordan mentioned previously, the school actively solicits the student’s opinion to make classes as relevant as possible to current industry trends without neglecting core skills that are necessary for every quant.

I had a great time in the MSCF. Looking back, I can safely say I came out with an invaluable experience that I will always cherish. I’ve made a lot of friends and as a bonus, I did end up learning a bit of Mandarin from my classmates – mostly bad words, but certainly due to no fault of mine!