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Claremont Graduate University - MS in Financial Engineering
The MSFE @ CGU is jointly offered by the Drucker School of Management & Institute of Mathematics
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- Headline
- The MSFE program at Claremont offers excellent faculty and personalized attention in key finance courses but could improve by integrating practical applications in its math curriculum and providing stronger career support for Quant Finance students.
- Class of
- 2023
As a recent graduate of the MSFE program at Claremont, I’d rate the program as average, but with areas for improvement. Over time, the class sizes have shrunk significantly. When I attended, it was during the pandemic, and about 60% of my classes were online. This, unfortunately, limited my exposure to the full master’s experience that I would have expected from a traditional on-campus program.
That said, several courses stood out as excellent. Classes like Asset Management, Introduction to Risk, Time Series, and Corporate Finance were well-structured with outstanding faculty members who made complex topics engaging and relevant. The professors were highly knowledgeable, and I appreciated how they applied real-world scenarios to these subjects. However, some of the more math-focused courses felt overly theoretical. I believe that if there had been more emphasis on how these mathematical concepts are used in the industry, the program would have been more impactful for those pursuing careers in Quantitative Finance. Integrating practical applications of these skills would significantly enhance the educational structure.
One advantage of a smaller class size was the opportunity for individual attention from professors. With fewer students, the professors were able to offer more personalized guidance, which was beneficial for deep learning and interaction. It was particularly helpful in courses where hands-on feedback and engagement made a difference.
On the downside, I found the career services to be lacking, especially in terms of support for those aiming for a career in Quant Finance. The career office, at the time of my attendance, wasn’t as helpful as I had hoped. I had to rely heavily on self-directed efforts to find internships and job opportunities relevant to my field. While the career office might offer general advice, I found that they lacked the expertise in Quant Finance to provide the specific guidance I needed to pursue a career in this niche. Networking, external research, and leveraging alumni connections were essential for me in navigating the Quant job market.
Overall, while the MSFE program had its strengths in key finance and risk management courses, it would benefit from a more practical approach in its mathematics curriculum and stronger career support. Despite the challenges, I believe the personalized attention from professors and the focused learning environment are valuable assets that future students can leverage.
That said, several courses stood out as excellent. Classes like Asset Management, Introduction to Risk, Time Series, and Corporate Finance were well-structured with outstanding faculty members who made complex topics engaging and relevant. The professors were highly knowledgeable, and I appreciated how they applied real-world scenarios to these subjects. However, some of the more math-focused courses felt overly theoretical. I believe that if there had been more emphasis on how these mathematical concepts are used in the industry, the program would have been more impactful for those pursuing careers in Quantitative Finance. Integrating practical applications of these skills would significantly enhance the educational structure.
One advantage of a smaller class size was the opportunity for individual attention from professors. With fewer students, the professors were able to offer more personalized guidance, which was beneficial for deep learning and interaction. It was particularly helpful in courses where hands-on feedback and engagement made a difference.
On the downside, I found the career services to be lacking, especially in terms of support for those aiming for a career in Quant Finance. The career office, at the time of my attendance, wasn’t as helpful as I had hoped. I had to rely heavily on self-directed efforts to find internships and job opportunities relevant to my field. While the career office might offer general advice, I found that they lacked the expertise in Quant Finance to provide the specific guidance I needed to pursue a career in this niche. Networking, external research, and leveraging alumni connections were essential for me in navigating the Quant job market.
Overall, while the MSFE program had its strengths in key finance and risk management courses, it would benefit from a more practical approach in its mathematics curriculum and stronger career support. Despite the challenges, I believe the personalized attention from professors and the focused learning environment are valuable assets that future students can leverage.
- Recommend
- Yes, I would recommend this program
- Students Quality
- 4.00 star(s)
- Courses/Instructors
- 3.00 star(s)
- Career Services
- 2.00 star(s)
- anonymous
- 3.00 star(s)
The program considers what student do need and keeps improving.
What is unique about this program?
The curriculum of our program is very flexible. Beside of the core courses which are required for all FE students, we have a long suggested electives from both The Drucker of Management and The School of Mathematics Science, which offers a lot of advanced math courses, so students can arrange their courses according to their interest.
We have abundant academic resources as CGU is part of a consortium that includes the Claremont Colleges (including Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Scripps, Pitzer and Pomona Colleges). Colleges open their resources to all students here. We have a unique opportunity to take courses from other schools in the consortium. I am taking Partial Differential Equation in CMC this semester, and I have classmates who took financial courses from CMC and is taking computer classes from Harvey Mudd. Therefore, although there are not many advanced programming courses offered by FE program, we still can have them.
We have a chance to get a dual degree with Master of Math from the School of Mathematics Science, or dual degree with MBA.
What are the weakest things about the program?
In my case, My tuition fee is sort of higher compare to my many classmates, because I don’t have fellowships.
Career services
I think our Career Services officers are really working hard. They invite speakers from investment banks like J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs etc.. and organize quant firms visits, which is really helpful for me to get an idea about the career plan. The Career center keeps updating internship and full time job information for us. Around 10 students are given an internship opportunity in East Coast (NYC, BOSTON) every summer. Events like the Drucker days on Thursday every two weeks, and Energy Conference are held by the Career Center to help students develop their networking skills.
Students body
We have students from all over the world. Students know each other and are united, which thanks for the small size of the program.
What is unique about this program?
The curriculum of our program is very flexible. Beside of the core courses which are required for all FE students, we have a long suggested electives from both The Drucker of Management and The School of Mathematics Science, which offers a lot of advanced math courses, so students can arrange their courses according to their interest.
We have abundant academic resources as CGU is part of a consortium that includes the Claremont Colleges (including Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Scripps, Pitzer and Pomona Colleges). Colleges open their resources to all students here. We have a unique opportunity to take courses from other schools in the consortium. I am taking Partial Differential Equation in CMC this semester, and I have classmates who took financial courses from CMC and is taking computer classes from Harvey Mudd. Therefore, although there are not many advanced programming courses offered by FE program, we still can have them.
We have a chance to get a dual degree with Master of Math from the School of Mathematics Science, or dual degree with MBA.
What are the weakest things about the program?
In my case, My tuition fee is sort of higher compare to my many classmates, because I don’t have fellowships.
Career services
I think our Career Services officers are really working hard. They invite speakers from investment banks like J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs etc.. and organize quant firms visits, which is really helpful for me to get an idea about the career plan. The Career center keeps updating internship and full time job information for us. Around 10 students are given an internship opportunity in East Coast (NYC, BOSTON) every summer. Events like the Drucker days on Thursday every two weeks, and Energy Conference are held by the Career Center to help students develop their networking skills.
Students body
We have students from all over the world. Students know each other and are united, which thanks for the small size of the program.
- Guest
- 3.00 star(s)
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
I graduated in Physics from Harvey Mudd College and went to work for a year in a small business software company as a consultant. I studied full-time in the program from 9/2009-5/2010
Did you get admitted to other programs?
No
Tell us about the application process at this program
I secured admission before leaving my undergraduate program. It was very easy to apply because Harvey Mudd and Claremont Graduate University are just across the street from each other. Thus, most of the admission process was carried out in person. During the rest of the admission process e-mail and phone communication was prompt and helpful. There were no problems with the admission process as the online application was straightforward and well thought out. I did enroll as part of a 4+1 year masters program available to undergraduates of the Claremont Colleges.
Does this program offer refresher courses for incoming students? How useful was it?
While the program itself does not have refresher courses, taking courses at the undergraduate institutions of the Claremont Colleges is both possible and encouraged.
Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
There is a set curriculum of core courses taught in a specific order. Of the 12 required courses, 8 are mandated parts of the curriculum and 4 of the courses are electives. Selection of elective courses is highly teacher specific. If a good teacher is teaching a class it will be gold. The courses I especially like were Financial Accounting (a required part of the curriculum) and Fixed Income (an elective) and I liked those courses because the teachers in the courses were excellent.
Tell us about the quality of teaching
The teaching quality is quite variable. One of my favorite teachers has won 14 teaching awards during his time at several of the Claremont Colleges. The other favorite teacher is a retired accountant and has put in the effort to write his own book that we use in the classroom. Due to both natural ability and conscious effort, he is an excellent teacher. Other teachers I have encountered have been 'good,' although one teacher was terrible. These solidly good teachers give instructive classes but would could to put more effort into coordinating their classes, better tailoring their homework problems, and sharing more 'pearls of wisdom' from outside the textbook.
My teacher rating of 4/5 indicates that there are at least two excellent teachers, and the majority are good teachers.
Materials used in the program
Shreve: Stochastic Calculus for Finance I and II
Hull: Options, Futures and Other Derivatives
Ferris and Wallace: Financial Accounting for Executives
Ross, Westerfield and Jordan: Fundamentals of Corporate Finance
McDonald: Derivative Markets
Programming component of the program
This is the biggest weakness of the CGU MFE program. Little to no programming is done in the core curriculum and the possible programming electives are not well taught nor tailored to finance. The good news is that this weakness has been recognized and is starting to change this year. An independent weekly workshop in C++ is being tested this semester and the Financial Derivatives class from this semester onwards will include a weekly VBA lab.
Languages: C++, VBA, MATLAB
Projects
Two projects are offered. In the asset management class, the endowment for the Peter Drucker School and Masatoshi Ito school is partially managed by teams of MFE's mixed with MBA's. There is also a research project in Financial Derivatives.
Career service
The career services coordinator is incredible. He and his staff work very hard and he has significant connections with companies ranging from Disney and Barclays. The Claremont Colleges all share the same career services jobs and internships network, thus graduate students can also pursue opportunities from Claremont McKenna College and Pomona.
There is a small but growing web of alumni contacts, and Professors do pass along job prospects from time to time.
It is easy to find an internship or full-time position if you take charge. There is not as much active assistance as in other programs I have heard about but the resources are here if you put in the effort to make use of them.
Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
The CGU MFE program is predominantly foreign of which the majority are Chinese. The program itself is nearly majority Chinese. There are several MFE program-wide events during which interaction occurs between all groups. On a day-to-day basis none of the groups all sit together in cliques.
What do you like about the program?
CGU's best attribute: There are at least two excellent teachers, the majority are solidly good, and a terrible teacher can be easily avoided because they are only teaching elective classes. The teachers are accessible.
Second best: The high proportion of Chinese students allows for an intimate exposure to China. I sure will use my contacts in China in the future and I have been able to ask colleagues for their opinions on all news I get from China.
Others: The integration of the CGU job posting network with those of the excellent undergraduate universities nearby allow for a much broader range of opportunities. There is a lot of freedom to take advantage of the resources offered by the school, but the onus is on you.
What DON’T you like about the program?
The fact that programming is not well integrated into the courses and homework is a severe shortcoming. Also, the program is quite theoretical and should be more applied. It many respects the program is a series of classes connected only if the courses are taught by the same teacher. Better integration of the classes into a coherent program would be desirable. There was an attempt to have the Mathematical Finance class integrate with the Numerical Methods for Finance class, but due to a lack of communication between the different professors the classes complemented each other very little.
Suggestions for the program to make it better
The suggestion that more programming be introduced into the curriculum has already been somewhat addressed with an independent C++ workshop and weekly VBA lab period. The integration of classes into a coherent program with a single well designed syllabus is a must.
What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
The connections the CGU MFE program has in East Asia have been invaluable. I have an internship lined up in Tokyo with Barclays Capital for the Summer of '10. The internship is in Fixed Income IT support.
Since I trained as a physicist and worked in business software for a year, I am not sure where I want to head. I will be better informed after my internship.
Other comments
This program is very close to making it big. The alumni network is growing under the expert management of the current career services office, and programming classes are being incorporated into the curriculum. I expect my degree to be worth much more than I paid for it in 3 to 4 years as those graduates in my class and the year before begin reaching high-level positions. I plan to be actively involved with the school in the years ahead and am working to improve the program myself.
I graduated in Physics from Harvey Mudd College and went to work for a year in a small business software company as a consultant. I studied full-time in the program from 9/2009-5/2010
Did you get admitted to other programs?
No
Tell us about the application process at this program
I secured admission before leaving my undergraduate program. It was very easy to apply because Harvey Mudd and Claremont Graduate University are just across the street from each other. Thus, most of the admission process was carried out in person. During the rest of the admission process e-mail and phone communication was prompt and helpful. There were no problems with the admission process as the online application was straightforward and well thought out. I did enroll as part of a 4+1 year masters program available to undergraduates of the Claremont Colleges.
Does this program offer refresher courses for incoming students? How useful was it?
While the program itself does not have refresher courses, taking courses at the undergraduate institutions of the Claremont Colleges is both possible and encouraged.
Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
There is a set curriculum of core courses taught in a specific order. Of the 12 required courses, 8 are mandated parts of the curriculum and 4 of the courses are electives. Selection of elective courses is highly teacher specific. If a good teacher is teaching a class it will be gold. The courses I especially like were Financial Accounting (a required part of the curriculum) and Fixed Income (an elective) and I liked those courses because the teachers in the courses were excellent.
Tell us about the quality of teaching
The teaching quality is quite variable. One of my favorite teachers has won 14 teaching awards during his time at several of the Claremont Colleges. The other favorite teacher is a retired accountant and has put in the effort to write his own book that we use in the classroom. Due to both natural ability and conscious effort, he is an excellent teacher. Other teachers I have encountered have been 'good,' although one teacher was terrible. These solidly good teachers give instructive classes but would could to put more effort into coordinating their classes, better tailoring their homework problems, and sharing more 'pearls of wisdom' from outside the textbook.
My teacher rating of 4/5 indicates that there are at least two excellent teachers, and the majority are good teachers.
Materials used in the program
Shreve: Stochastic Calculus for Finance I and II
Hull: Options, Futures and Other Derivatives
Ferris and Wallace: Financial Accounting for Executives
Ross, Westerfield and Jordan: Fundamentals of Corporate Finance
McDonald: Derivative Markets
Programming component of the program
This is the biggest weakness of the CGU MFE program. Little to no programming is done in the core curriculum and the possible programming electives are not well taught nor tailored to finance. The good news is that this weakness has been recognized and is starting to change this year. An independent weekly workshop in C++ is being tested this semester and the Financial Derivatives class from this semester onwards will include a weekly VBA lab.
Languages: C++, VBA, MATLAB
Projects
Two projects are offered. In the asset management class, the endowment for the Peter Drucker School and Masatoshi Ito school is partially managed by teams of MFE's mixed with MBA's. There is also a research project in Financial Derivatives.
Career service
The career services coordinator is incredible. He and his staff work very hard and he has significant connections with companies ranging from Disney and Barclays. The Claremont Colleges all share the same career services jobs and internships network, thus graduate students can also pursue opportunities from Claremont McKenna College and Pomona.
There is a small but growing web of alumni contacts, and Professors do pass along job prospects from time to time.
It is easy to find an internship or full-time position if you take charge. There is not as much active assistance as in other programs I have heard about but the resources are here if you put in the effort to make use of them.
Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
The CGU MFE program is predominantly foreign of which the majority are Chinese. The program itself is nearly majority Chinese. There are several MFE program-wide events during which interaction occurs between all groups. On a day-to-day basis none of the groups all sit together in cliques.
What do you like about the program?
CGU's best attribute: There are at least two excellent teachers, the majority are solidly good, and a terrible teacher can be easily avoided because they are only teaching elective classes. The teachers are accessible.
Second best: The high proportion of Chinese students allows for an intimate exposure to China. I sure will use my contacts in China in the future and I have been able to ask colleagues for their opinions on all news I get from China.
Others: The integration of the CGU job posting network with those of the excellent undergraduate universities nearby allow for a much broader range of opportunities. There is a lot of freedom to take advantage of the resources offered by the school, but the onus is on you.
What DON’T you like about the program?
The fact that programming is not well integrated into the courses and homework is a severe shortcoming. Also, the program is quite theoretical and should be more applied. It many respects the program is a series of classes connected only if the courses are taught by the same teacher. Better integration of the classes into a coherent program would be desirable. There was an attempt to have the Mathematical Finance class integrate with the Numerical Methods for Finance class, but due to a lack of communication between the different professors the classes complemented each other very little.
Suggestions for the program to make it better
The suggestion that more programming be introduced into the curriculum has already been somewhat addressed with an independent C++ workshop and weekly VBA lab period. The integration of classes into a coherent program with a single well designed syllabus is a must.
What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
The connections the CGU MFE program has in East Asia have been invaluable. I have an internship lined up in Tokyo with Barclays Capital for the Summer of '10. The internship is in Fixed Income IT support.
Since I trained as a physicist and worked in business software for a year, I am not sure where I want to head. I will be better informed after my internship.
Other comments
This program is very close to making it big. The alumni network is growing under the expert management of the current career services office, and programming classes are being incorporated into the curriculum. I expect my degree to be worth much more than I paid for it in 3 to 4 years as those graduates in my class and the year before begin reaching high-level positions. I plan to be actively involved with the school in the years ahead and am working to improve the program myself.
Reviewed by Verified Member
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
PhD student in Economics, SUNY-Albany 09/2005-05/2007
M.A. in Economics, Wuhan University, China 09/2002-05/2005
Equity Analyst, CITICS in Wuhan, China 08/2001-08/2002
Did you get admitted to other programs?
No.
Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
. It has a flexible course arrangement and a better balance between Mathematics and Management.
. A 40% tuition cut is affordable
. Southern Calif. is a better place to live.
Tell us about the application process at this program
1) Deadline is Feb 1.
2) Applied
3) Receive ad and fellowship 6 weeks later.
4) about 400 deposit.
Programs like Baruch MFE, UCB MFE have refresher courses for incoming students. Does this program offer refresher courses for incoming students? How useful was it?
Yes if the probability and statistics is. I think it's useful for those person who stayed out of campus for several years.
Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
Management Part:
Financial Accounting
Corporate Finance
Asset Management Practium (An excellent project with a real money Fund)
Financial derivatives (a professor with experience in practical market)
Math Part:
Stochastic Process
Math Finance
Numerical Method for Finance
Credit risk
Financial Time Series
Asymptotic Method
Simulation
Math Clinic (A applied math project with industry)
Tell us about the quality of teaching
Several Lab classes were arranged in each course, including math course. And homework is plentiful but acceptable.
Materials used in the program
. Hull
. Derivative Markets by Mcdonald
. Stochastic Calculus (I&II) by Steven E. Shreve
. Portfolio Construction, Management, &Protection by Strong
. An introduction to credit risk modeling by Christian Bluhm
Programming component of the program
VBA/R/Matlab/C++
Projects
Group projects were there in every course. And there is a special project in Asset Management that a real &300,000 fund was conducted by the this course students. You can test your strategies in the real market. Awesome.
Career service
Career center really work hard to help you, but seems it doesn't work well in the bad market. Before 2008, many students had chance to do Intern or full time job in TCW and Countrywide. But it was difficult now.
Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
Most India students got their jobs with the help of their social network.
What do you like about the program?
flexible courses and high quality professors.
What DON’T you like about the program?
. no special course or seminar for programming. And there was just a discussion group by students.
. placement is not good.
Suggestions for the program to make it better
. more programming seminar because most students were not come from computer science major.
. construct a better alumni network.
What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
I graduated on Aug. 2009 and am looking for a job in New York City now.
I really hope that I can work in the quantitative field. Not easy. I am trying.
PhD student in Economics, SUNY-Albany 09/2005-05/2007
M.A. in Economics, Wuhan University, China 09/2002-05/2005
Equity Analyst, CITICS in Wuhan, China 08/2001-08/2002
Did you get admitted to other programs?
No.
Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
. It has a flexible course arrangement and a better balance between Mathematics and Management.
. A 40% tuition cut is affordable
. Southern Calif. is a better place to live.
Tell us about the application process at this program
1) Deadline is Feb 1.
2) Applied
3) Receive ad and fellowship 6 weeks later.
4) about 400 deposit.
Programs like Baruch MFE, UCB MFE have refresher courses for incoming students. Does this program offer refresher courses for incoming students? How useful was it?
Yes if the probability and statistics is. I think it's useful for those person who stayed out of campus for several years.
Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
Management Part:
Financial Accounting
Corporate Finance
Asset Management Practium (An excellent project with a real money Fund)
Financial derivatives (a professor with experience in practical market)
Math Part:
Stochastic Process
Math Finance
Numerical Method for Finance
Credit risk
Financial Time Series
Asymptotic Method
Simulation
Math Clinic (A applied math project with industry)
Tell us about the quality of teaching
Several Lab classes were arranged in each course, including math course. And homework is plentiful but acceptable.
Materials used in the program
. Hull
. Derivative Markets by Mcdonald
. Stochastic Calculus (I&II) by Steven E. Shreve
. Portfolio Construction, Management, &Protection by Strong
. An introduction to credit risk modeling by Christian Bluhm
Programming component of the program
VBA/R/Matlab/C++
Projects
Group projects were there in every course. And there is a special project in Asset Management that a real &300,000 fund was conducted by the this course students. You can test your strategies in the real market. Awesome.
Career service
Career center really work hard to help you, but seems it doesn't work well in the bad market. Before 2008, many students had chance to do Intern or full time job in TCW and Countrywide. But it was difficult now.
Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
Most India students got their jobs with the help of their social network.
What do you like about the program?
flexible courses and high quality professors.
What DON’T you like about the program?
. no special course or seminar for programming. And there was just a discussion group by students.
. placement is not good.
Suggestions for the program to make it better
. more programming seminar because most students were not come from computer science major.
. construct a better alumni network.
What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
I graduated on Aug. 2009 and am looking for a job in New York City now.
I really hope that I can work in the quantitative field. Not easy. I am trying.