Carnegie Mellon University - MS in Computational Finance

CMU's MSCF program is special, and not just for its rigorous academics and industry relevance, but for the community it fosters. The alumni network is incredibly supportive and engaged, opening doors and offering guidance long after graduation. The faculty genuinely care—not just about your grades or whether you land a job, but about you as a person. Their support feels personal, not transactional. The student body is collaborative, and filled with people who are experts in all kinds of areas. No matter what you want to learn, you’ll always find someone willing to share their knowledge.

I entered the MSCF program with a background in Math and Computer Science, but an unsteady foundation in Finance. During an interview with a top-tier asset management firm, I successfully answered over 10 complex fixed income questions — and in that moment, I realized just how instrumental the Fixed Income course from my first semester had been. At the end of the interview, the interviewer said, "I’ve worked with many professionals from the MSCF program — they’re all excellent, which is why I chose to interview you." That was when it truly hit me: the reputation of a program can open doors and create opportunities you wouldn’t get otherwise.

One of the qualities that sets MSCF apart is the unwavering support from its staff. They are deeply committed to guiding students toward becoming top-tier quants and go above and beyond to help us land strong roles in the industry. MSCF also creates countless networking opportunities — whether it's conversations with alumni or events featuring leaders like the Head of Factor Investing at Point72.

Another standout resource is the MSCF Resume Book. It connects students with exclusive job opportunities. Both my classmates and I were contacted through it, and many of us converted those connections into actual offers.

If your primary goal is to break into Quant Finance, Data Science, or Software Engineering, I truly believe MSCF is one of the best choices you can make.

I'm a class of 2026. Attending this program is one of the best decisions i made. MSCF is one of the best programs out there with very high quality teaching resources, career service, and acadmic environment. It also offers location flexibility to be in Pittsburg or New York City, which none of the other programs can do.

Its courses range from mathematics, statistics, machine learning, and programming (python and C++). Faculty at CMU are amazing at teaching with outstanding track record. Students come from all around the world, with some of the best students I have seen in my life, exemplifying the admission competitiveness of the program. Highly recommend to people looking for opportunities in the quant finance space.

Hi, I graduated from this program recently. My experience has been very good.

The best thing about this program is that the curriculum is very thoughtfully tailored to meet industry needs, staying current with frequent updates that reflect the latest developments.

The faculty, particularly the professors specializing in Quant, are true legends in their field and they go above and beyond in creating the assignments and teaching the concepts.

On the career front, the availability of career services has been a game-changer. The continuous support provided in recruiting activities has been instrumental, ensuring that I had access to opportunities to the fullest extent possible.

In summary, it has been a great experience. I have learnt a lot, gained a lot of new skills and also secured a good job in line with my career ambitions and I would whole-heartedly recommend this program to anyone pursuing a career in quant finance.

I graduated from undergrad at UC Berkeley studying Math and Economics in 2022 and was looking for a graduate program where I could apply a lot of the technical skills I learned to quant finance. The MSCF program at CMU did all that and more for me. I was initially drawn to it due to the ML emphasis in the course load and the elective offerings (NLP, ML capstone project, Blockchain, etc) as well as the buyside placements it boasts compared to similar programs.

The opportunities I was afforded simply from being part of such a cohesive program and larger alumni community were unparalleled. There were very few companies I wasn’t passing initial resume reviews with and I had a plethora of opportunities that came directly through the career office (who are very supportive and help guide you through any technical or behavioral practice/tips you may need).

As for the academics, I got a well rounded education in traditional finance (options, investment theory, portfolio management), stats, and CS. The condensed course load was certainly challenging as we had 7 weeks or so to master material that could have been given double that time to learn. However we had a very strong community in the NY campus that would routinely study together and were highly motivated by intellectual curiosity and ambition. That sort of culture certainly influences and pushes you to get the most out of the program and prepares you well for the reality of the industry.

All in all, I felt the program exceeded my expectations all around and I learnt a lot, both in terms of hard and soft skills.

I graduated from MSCF NY in December 2023.

Prior to the program, I graduated from a French engineering school and I worked as a quant trader for a little under a year.

I think the program was great in every aspect. On the academic side, all the courses offer an in-depth exploration of their respective subjects. The academic advisor was awesome – really helpful and always there when I needed advice.

On the professional side, the career services were great too, giving solid tips for getting into the finance world. I also think that one of the strengths of the program is the alumni network. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of former students, which was great for building my network and for getting insights into the industry.

Overall, I really enjoyed the program and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to get into quant finance.

I am proud to be part of the big MSCF family!
Thanks to all the amazing professors, alumni and staff, I managed to realize my dream of undertaking a career in the hedge fund industry in quantitative research. I did my undergraduate degree in computer science in Switzerland and I didn't hesitate a second to travel to the US to receive the great education the MSCF offers. In this program, I managed to round off my background and learn how to apply all the cutting edge methods to financial data. From advanced financial modelling to statistical learning, every single class I attended turned out to be extremely useful in industry. In my opinion, the MSCF provides the best education to train the new generation of quants.
Beside academics, I am honored to have met through the program very interesting classmates which I can now call my friends.

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.

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!

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

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.

After working for a few years in the financial industry, I was looking for a master’s program that could teach me the quantitative tools required to advance in this field. I recently graduated from the MSCF program in December 2019, and I am not disappointed to have chosen this degree. The program helped me develop the skill sets and industry connections required to succeed in the ever-changing and increasingly complex financial industry. I found all the support I needed to succeed, both in terms of academics and career development. The program has a great team of dedicated professors, career and academic counselors, classmates and student clubs. As the previous reviews mention, the program is worth the time and money invested in it.

I graduated from MSCF in December 2019, and I highly recommend anyone who's considering an MFE program to apply for MSCF.

My favorite thing about MSCF is the curriculum. During my summer internship, I truly was using everything I learned in class. The curriculum is always up to date and practical to ensure the students' success in their careers. In addition, the career service is exceptional. The staff will do everything to help you secure a job.

MSCF is also highly selective so you'll take classes with some of the smartest and brightest students from all over the world. It takes a lot of effort to succeed in the program, but by the time you graduate, you'll be 100% prepared for your career and build friendships that will last life time!

After gaining a few years of working experience in accounting and business valuation, I decided to switch my career to quantitative. Joining MSCF is one of the best choices that I ever made.
This is a totally new field for me. Before the program, I thought I learned enough for finance, which turned out to be not true. There is a lot more to learn in the program. MSCF provides a wide range of subjects to every student and prepares students well in academics for their careers. MSCF also adjusts the curriculum to meet the needs of the industries, such as multiple machine learning courses are in the curriculum.
MSCF career services are also extraordinary, comparing to some other schools' programs from what I observed.
Even the tuition is a bit higher, MSCF is totally worthy, considering the value I got from this program.

I just graduated from the MSCF Pittsburgh campus in December 2019. I went straight from my undergraduate study to this program. Having an engineering undergraduate background, I am very grateful to have joined the program. I did not have any experience in finance, financial mathematics and economic study at all. This program well-exposed me to these areas and well-prepared me to find a quant job on the investment banking side. The program's focus on presentation and communication classes help me stand out in my internship program.

Having worked for a few years after my undergraduate degree, going back for my Masters felt like a huge investment. I was giving up my career, current salary, and on top of that would be paying rent and tuition. I knew that if I was going to switch careers and give up everything I was making now that I would not settle for the best program and school. I was looking to maximize my return.

I quickly realized that CMU's MSCF program offered the best focus on career services while integrating industry relevant education in the coursework. It was evident from the breadth of information and transparency about their employment statistics that I could ensure this switch would work out net positive for me. I'm incredibly happy that I ended up at MSCF and feel that the investment has already paid off two-fold.

I graduated from MSCF in December 2019. The best part about MSCF at CMU is that they value student feedback and make changes to the curriculum every year. MSCF steering committee and the faculty are always in touch with industry practitioners.

Good to see an honest review on this page about MSCF (talking about the post before mine) Worst decision of my life to join MSCF. Reasons are perfectly given by the previous review. Rick Bryant doesn't seem to care about students learning and despite having great professors the program is unable to give a good level of academics. I know the difference because I along with a few students took the ML course from cs dept and the difference in level of academics is clearly evident.
Advice to management: Improve coursework and add more courses from SCS department and increase scope of electives. Also improve career services and ask Sondi to not act like she is doing us a favour but that she is just doing her job cause we paid for career services.
Final word: Don't come here

Hi Current Student here,
Please don't join this course if you have an offer from any of the top 10 programs. Honestly this is one of the worst Financial engineering/ Computational Finance programs in the US. Let me list down the reasons:
1. Outdated courses / Rigid coursework: except the financial data science courses every other course is practically worthless. Also the worst part is that there are no electives except in the last semester and even they are eqully bad if not worse. Its absolutely hilarious that despite having the best CS dept in the world right next to us we can leverage those resources.
2. Director is absolutely clueless: Rick Bryant is absolutely clueless about what the industry wants and is unwilling to update the coursework based on the industry preferences. He is not a technical person so it's hard for him to understand what is needed to succeed in the quant industry. Honestly the program would be a lot better without him. Steering committee please take note.
3. Non existent "career services": If you are coming to this course bexause of career services then boy did you make a mistake coz there is absolutely no career services. The most they do is list down companies which honesty is not career services.
This just the tip of the iceberg. Please reach out to me at my alternate email address marizcharles420@gmail.com. I will be happy to share more information and also put you in touch with other current students who feel the same way.
Also honestly I would suggest joining a strong data science or statistics program if you want to succeed in quant research.
Feel free to reach out guys.

Really really less diversified class.
Most of them hate communicating with foreigners.
But they want to work in the US, that's highly weird.
I strongly do not recommend any mfin program in the US.
Students who are from ONE large country dominate the program in the US.
NO diversification.
Don't choose the mfin in the US except for Prinston. They are the last resort.