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

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

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Application deadline
Round 1: December 5, 2022 | Round 2: March 5, 2023
Overview
The Master of Science in Computational Finance (MSCF) program at Carnegie Mellon University is a 16-month financial engineering degree developed through the joint venture of four Carnegie Mellon colleges - Department of Mathematical Sciences, Department of Statistics and Data Science, Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy and the Tepper School of Business.

Recognized as the first financial engineering program of its kind, we offer an integrated curriculum that will prepare you with the skills necessary for the evolving financial industry. MSCF alumni attribute their success to our commitment to dedicated faculty, relevant curriculum and a full-service career center. Our staff is committed to helping you succeed by responding to inquiries, enhancing the student community and making you feel at home during your time in our program.


Careers – December 2021 Graduates (Class of 2022)
There is no common standard for reporting placement information among professional financial engineering master’s programs, and the reports of such programs are not audited. MSCF is administered by the Tepper School of Business, and we follow the rigorous business school standards set by the MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance for specialty master’s programs; see mbacsea.org/standards.
  • $117,513 mean base salary (excludes bonuses)
  • 100% of full-time MSCF students obtained summer 2021 internships
  • 98% of full-time MSCF students received full-time offers within three months of graduation
  • 80% of December 2021 graduates secured full-time employment in the U.S.
For more information, visit MSCF Careers & check out our Alumni Profiles. You can find our Class of 2020 Employment Report here.

Fall 2022 Entering Class Profile
  • Total Full-Time Students: 96 (New York – 50; Pittsburgh campus – 46)
  • Selectivity/Acceptance Rate: 22.1%
  • Average GMAT: 735
  • Average Quant GRE: 169
  • Average Verbal GRE: 161
  • Average GPA: 3.81
  • Female: 39%
For more information, view our Class Profile.

Apply to MSCF
The MSCF program offers 2 application deadlines for the Fall 2023 entering class: December 5, 2022 and March 5, 2023. Applications are reviewed in batches and released in accordance with our posted application dates.

For more information on the application process, required materials and deadlines, visit the MSCF admissions page.

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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.
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B
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.
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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!
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F
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
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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.
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David A Martell
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.
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Lily L
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!
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Shanshan Liu
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.
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E
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.
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H
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.
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