Illinois Institute of Technology Master in Finance

"Engaging courses, good teaching but overcrowded classes & no career services"
Submitted: 4/7/11.

I liked the professors and course selection at the time I attended. I did not like the class sizes growing much larger as I progressed through the program. At points, I ended up having to share computers with 2-3 other students during lab sessions which was totally unacceptable given the tuition. While I did know this going in, I wasn't too fond of being in a program that was 80%-90% Asians who were here on a Study Visa. It would have been nice to have some diversity and a social component. Also, there was clear cut homework / test recycling /sharing amongst some of the Asian students.

There were absolutely no career services available when I attended and I frankly did not find my IIT degree to be worth anything in the Chicago market although I had the misfortune of graduating in 2008. I had hoped to parlay this degree to a Quant Analyst / Algo Trader role within a Prop Trading / Hedge Fund but got no bites.

The teaching quality while I was there was very good with adjunct instructors having immense industry experience. I really liked Ben van Vliet & Russell Wojcik (no longer with the program). Although, there were 1-2 that weren't very good teachers in my opinion.

The course selection was excellent with multiple tracks available (FE, Trading Strategy, Risk Management, etc). I found most every course I took very engaging.

The programming component was good (VBA, VB.Net, C++, Matlab, Fincad, etc) but I cannot say that skills I gained made me more marketable in this area. I also wish there could have been more Linux based programming as the industry seemed to favor people with this background over my .Net experience.

Student quality was highly Asian, relatively low work experience, relatively high math / programming skills. International students tended to only socialize with students from their fellow country so it was not condusive for a US Citizen / White Male to make many friends amongst fellow students.

After leaving, I felt I got an excellent education but the price/value was low relative to alternatives (Wilmott CQF, CAIA, FRM) for someone with industry experience. I don't feel that the money spent will result in a positive return on investment in income gain.

Reviewer's background:
CFA, MBA Finance, BS Engineering with significant prior investment work experience mostly in the IT space as a Project Lead, Business Analyst & Developer.

I studied full-time in the program from 08/2009

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
3 years of experience in DC retirement services and asset retention operations at Fidelity Investments. Undergrad in engineering with major in electronics and telecommunication from India.

Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
Applied pretty late for master's programs. IIT was the only option.

What alternative sources of info you used to learn more about the program?
School website (stuart.iit.edu); No comprehensive ranking was available for financial engineering (Hadn't heard of quantnet,then); Profiles of alums at linkedin.

Tell us about the application process at this program
Seems that anyone who applies, almost gets through.

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
One thing really great about this program is the flexibility to pick up courses based on choice. The program offers concentrations in FE, corp. finance, econometrics, investment management and risk management. In addition, students have the option to pick up 2 subjects(6 credit hours) from associated institutes such as kent law, mba, or any other department within IIT.

My area of interest is in financial engineering. I am taking courses from IIT's maths deptt to complete the requirements of financial engineering that is covered by most other programs.

Tell us about the quality of teaching
Most of the professors have good industry experience and are highly qualified in their fields.
TAs are not that much of a help as most professors do not have one. But, the professors I have been interacted with are really good at teaching and do devote the time needed to get concepts cleared.

Materials used in the program
Mostly notes. Hull, Luenberger, Brandimarte, Epps, Cornuejols are some that I have referred to in the past 1 year.

Programming component of the program
C++, DotNet, Matlab, Python, R, Eview.

Projects
Projects are generally assigned on individual basis. Their are hardly any research projects. However, these projects concentrate on programming objectives as well as real world scenarios.

Career service
This is where the biggest bang for buck lies for any institute. We have a career management center that assists in finding jobs. There are, also, bi-annual career fairs at IIT's main campus. Faculties have also been known to recommend students.

The market scenario was brutal for 2009 grads. However, most of the students, who graduated this year, have been placed. Even, some 2011 grads have landed up with internships as well.

What do you like about the program?
Affordable tuition, international student funding, flexibility of course selection

What DON’T you like about the program?
High concentration of international students, more sold financial engineering program

Suggestions for the program to make it better
Placement records and class profiles are not posted on the school website.

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
Summer internship at a futures trading firm. Interested in financial modeling and quantitative strategies

Other comments
For students applying to IIT SSB's MSF program:
Have a clear objective of what you are interested in doing and customize your education to get the best out of the program.