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NYU Tandon School of Engineering - MS in Financial Engineering

NYU Tandon School of Engineering - MS in Financial Engineering

Bridging Financial Theory and Practice
Location
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Application deadline
Feb 15
At the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, we train our students to do exactly that: to engineer the future of finance and transform financial theory into practice. Launched in 1995, the MS in Financial Engineering (MSFE) at the Department of Finance and Risk Engineering (FRE) was the first curriculum to be certified by the International Association for Quantitive Finance (IAQF). As one of the largest and most prestigious financial engineering programs, we expand conventional financial engineering to encompass technology and innovation, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain/cryptocurrencies, and data science. Our international reach creates opportunities for partnerships with the most renowned universities, professors, and institutions from around the world.

ADMISSIONS
The Department receives a large number of applications every year. To be considered for admission into the MS in Financial Engineering program, students must have a Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited institution and proven mathematical proficiency in:

  • Linear Algebra
  • Probability Theory
  • Calculus
  • Applied Statistics
  • Computer Programming
Applicants must submit official transcripts from each institution attended. When applicable, applicants must also demonstrate English language proficiency to be determined by the TOEFL score.

CURRICULUM
The program requires the completion of 33 credits to qualify for graduation. FRE offers over 80 courses, taught by faculty with extensive practical expertise, who produce world-class research while teaching both introductory and advanced courses in a small class setting.

To earn a Master of Science in Financial Engineering, students must complete 33 credits to qualify for graduation, as follows:

  • 5 core courses (15 credits)
  • Focus area and general elective courses within FRE and closely related fields personalized by the student, totaling 13.5 credits
  • 1 applied lab (1.5 credits)
  • Capstone experience (3 credits)
  • Capstone assessment (0 credits)
  • Bloomberg Markets Concepts certification (0 credit)
The program allows students to select courses from the following focus areas:
  • Financial Markets and Corporate Finance
  • Computational Finance
  • Technology and Algorithmic Finance
  • Risk Finance
There are four types of Capstone experiences: theses, projects, special topics, and internships. Projects can be done with industry advisors.

PROGRAM FEATURES
Pre-Program Boot Camp:
In order to help incoming students reach their maximum potential, the FRE department provides a comprehensive two-part pre-program boot camp every summer. The boot camp consists of an optional six-week online course in early summer, and a mandatory two-week intensive program on campus in August prior to the start of the Fall semester. Covered topics include Capital Markets, Advanced Calculus, Linear Algebra, Python Programming, Probability, Statistics & Risk Management.

The boot camp’s purpose is to prepare incoming students for the interview process that will begin soon after the start of the Fall semester. The top financial firms recruit in October for quantitative internships beginning in June of the following year. The boot camp evaluates students on a pass/fail basis, but the perspective gained is invaluable for gaining an overall understanding of firms' expectations of job candidates coming from an engineering school. The types of questions asked by interviewers are broad, ranging from mathematical brain teasers to technical programming questions involving machine learning and artificial intelligence. Candidates may also be asked to take written exams with questions on stochastic calculus, Black-Scholes theory, or Python coding. There is a lot to know, and few people (if anyone) have mastered it all, but attending the boot camp is the fastest way to become familiar with the landscape of topics important to the modern financial services industry.

Customized Educational Experience: NYU Tandon MSFE students have the flexibility to tailor their academic and professional focus in a way that best suits their interests and backgrounds. The Tandon MSFE is not a “one-size-fits-all” program, and is proud to have graduates beginning their careers in a range of functions within the industry; from Traders to Desk Quants, Risk Analysts, Software Developers, and beyond.

Large Course Offering: Over 50 department-specific courses are offered to the Tandon MSFE students each semester.

Small Class Sizes: The average class size is around 15 students, and no classes are larger than 30.

MSFE Career Guidance: In addition to the resources provided by the university-wide NYU Wasserman Career Center MSFE students have the benefit of receiving career support through the in-house FRE Department Career Resources as well. From FRE alumni networking events to recruiting presentations, resume reviews, and mock interviews; there is no shortage of resources available to students in the program. The FRE Career Placement Director works closely with students in the program to provide the resources and guidance they need to succeed.

Weekly Seminars with Industry Practitioners: Students are exposed to industry practitioners through the Peter Carr Brooklyn Quant Experience (BQE) Seminar Series, as well as talks provided via program partnerships, such as the Quantitative Finance Weekly Seminar.

Industry Connectivity: For the Tandon MSFE, integration with industry is not just a “nice to have,” it’s a “must-have.” Between 2016 and 2020, 40 new professors were brought on board from the industry, and that number continues to grow. The program is constantly evolving and adapting to the ever-changing climate of the industry and markets.

For more information, please visit the program's website:
Finance and Risk Engineering

Stay up-to-date with department news whether on the go or at your desk. Follow FRE on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
2026 Ranking Data
Peer Score
3.1
Employed at Graduation (%)
67%
Employed at 3 months (%)
88%
Base salary
$107,478
Cohort Size
154 FT, 2 PT
Acceptance Rate (%)
38.1%
Tuition
$83,325
Views
57,025
First release
Last update

Ratings

3.66 star(s) 38 reviews 4.50 star(s) Students Quality 4.20 star(s) Courses/Instructors 4.10 star(s) Career Services

Latest reviews

Headline
The Career Advantage of NYU MFE
Graduation Class
2017
Since the MFE program is highly career-oriented, most applicants aim to secure strong job opportunities upon graduation. I will focus on the program’s career-support advantages:

1) Industry-aligned curriculum
The course structure closely mirrors real-world industry requirements. The program invites numerous practitioners from both the buy side (e.g., former portfolio managers at top hedge funds) and the sell side (e.g., MD-level quants, risk managers, and traders). The coursework is hands-on and project-driven, allowing students to build impressive, industry-relevant projects that significantly strengthen their résumés and improve their chances of receiving interviews.

Because many professors come directly from industry—and some even run their own firms—they frequently hire students as interns or even full-time employees. This direct access to industry practitioners is an invaluable advantage.

2) FRE Careers Technical Interview Mentorship Program
https://engineering.nyu.edu/academics/departments/finance-and-risk-engineering/employment-outcome/fre-careers-technical-interview-mentorship-program

I am also one of the mentors in this program. We provide free one-on-one mock interviews and interview preparation sessions for students seeking summer internships or full-time positions. Each mentor specializes in one or two technical areas.

This mentoring program helps students avoid low-level mistakes and, more importantly, narrow down the scope of their interview preparation based on specific job targets. Most mentors have many years of industry experience. As interviewers, we have spoken with hundreds of candidates; as interviewees, we have gone through hundreds of interviews ourselves. This depth of experience is extremely valuable for students, especially those who are new to the U.S. and just beginning their career journey.
Recommend
Yes, I would recommend this program
Students Quality
5.00 star(s)
Courses/Instructors
5.00 star(s)
Career Services
5.00 star(s)
Andy Nguyen
Andy Nguyen
You've been such a long time member here so we appreciate you take the time to write a review for NYU Tandon.
Headline
Great Coursework and Alumni Network
Graduation Class
2025
My time in the NYU MFE program has been very valuable. The curriculum offers rigorous, technical courses for those who want to deepen their academic foundation, while also providing lighter-workload options for students who wish to focus more on job searching.

In addition, the alumni network is incredibly supportive, and many alumni are generous with their time and willing to share their career insights. In my own experience, I contacted alumni who had worked at the same company I was applying to, and their guidance on interview preparation and team culture played a key role in helping me secure opportunities.
Recommend
Yes, I would recommend this program
Students Quality
5.00 star(s)
Courses/Instructors
5.00 star(s)
Career Services
5.00 star(s)
Headline
Opened Doors I Never Thought Possible
Graduation Class
2025
Reviewed by Verified Member
Like many things in life, people can have different opinions about the same experience, and the NYU MFE program is no exception. I can only speak from my own experience.

For me personally, the NYU MFE program opened a door that would otherwise have been impossible to reach. Academically, the program offers a mix of professors with strong industry backgrounds who can bring real-world insights and connections, and others who are deeply focused on theory and dive into the fundamental logic of mathematical models, both perspectives are valuable depending on what you’re looking for.

On the career side, we have Sara, who provides thoughtful career guidance and organizes events that connect students with alumni and help us better understand the industry landscape. I’ve even heard from alumni who said that Sara is one of the main reasons they still stay connected to the program. She truly builds a sense of community that lasts beyond graduation.

I’m genuinely grateful for this program personally. Of course, no master’s degree alone guarantees an ideal job, you still need to find your own direction and put in great effort. But if you’re looking for a solid ladder to help you climb toward your goals, NYU MFE is definitely a great choice that can make a real difference.
Recommend
Yes, I would recommend this program
Students Quality
5.00 star(s)
Courses/Instructors
5.00 star(s)
Career Services
5.00 star(s)
Headline
Great Career Placement & Alumni Network
Graduation Class
2024
I actually come from a DS background rather than a traditional quant path, and the NYU MFE program turned out to be an incredibly valuable experience for me, which might be helpful to students with similar profiles who want to explore data science roles within the finance industry.

The best part of my FRE experience was definitely the career placement and alumni network. I found my summer internship through an internal posting on the FRE Net (thanks to Sara’s help!) — it was a financial DS role that gave me hands-on exposure to modeling in a real business context. Later, my full-time opportunity came from a referral by a senior classmate, who also guided me through the preparation process. Without this program and its community, I truly wouldn’t be where I am today.

That said, it’s important for future applicants to keep realistic expectations. Securing a full-time role in the U.S. is competitive and not something any program can guarantee. But compared with peer-level MFE programs, FRE does a solid job providing access to opportunities and mentorship for those who are proactive.

Overall, I’m deeply grateful for the program — it opened the door for my transition from data science into the finance domain, and gave me the foundation for the career I have now.
Recommend
Yes, I would recommend this program
Students Quality
5.00 star(s)
Courses/Instructors
5.00 star(s)
Career Services
5.00 star(s)
Headline
Excellent Career Support
Graduation Class
2025
NYU FRE has amazing career support and a solid academic foundation. From day one, we had access to workshops, resume reviews, and mock interviews that really helped me prepare for the job market.

The courses are practical, and professors bring valuable real-world insights. Overall, the program has prepared me well for my future career.
Recommend
Yes, I would recommend this program
Students Quality
5.00 star(s)
Courses/Instructors
5.00 star(s)
Career Services
5.00 star(s)
Headline
They think they are helping but aren't
Graduation Class
2023
Pros:
- location
- NYU name brand
Cons:
- They mention resources that will help u landing a job, but nothing really is helpful. They do things on their own timeline and if u want access to materials u have to wait till Sara is ready. They advertise being helpful but most of the times the replies and materials shared are generic and can be easily found online.

I think they are trying hard, especially with new management. You can tell the person at the top genuinely cares about students but the people executing this aren't very supportive - more focussed on protocols and ticking off a box than genuinely ensuring student success.
Recommend
No, I would not recommend this program
Students Quality
3.00 star(s)
Courses/Instructors
3.00 star(s)
Career Services
1.00 star(s)
  • Anonymous
  • 5.00 star(s)
Headline
Competitive students, great courses, helpful department
Graduation Class
2025
- variety of electives to choose from.
- the placement coordinator is really supportive and helpful.
- academic advisors are great!
- cohort is quite competitive.
- the department encourages participation in multiple events
- having the option of taking Courant courses is unique to NYU
Recommend
Yes, I would recommend this program
Students Quality
5.00 star(s)
Courses/Instructors
5.00 star(s)
Career Services
5.00 star(s)
  • Anonymous
  • 3.00 star(s)
Headline
Course Grading
Graduation Class
2024
I don't know what happened to this program but it seems most instructors are reluctant to give A or even A minus. Most of the course grades were like B+, B or B-
If the program has a harsh grading scale, it is not suitable for students to seek jobs. (We all know students want to find jobs through this program but the program itself is making it hard for no reason.)
Recommend
No, I would not recommend this program
Students Quality
5.00 star(s)
Courses/Instructors
2.00 star(s)
Career Services
2.00 star(s)
Headline
Amazing Career Service
NYU FRE has the best career service! The program is somehow designed for preparing for work, which I really need.

During the Bootcamp, we work on technique interview related questions with professors. And we are asked to attend career workshop before the first semester, which is highly helpful for international students to understand how to find a job in US.

Sara, our career advisor, is super professional and sweet. Whenever I have career related question that bothers me for a long time, she can always help me out! Also, we have proficient resources for job hunting, including mock interview (both behavioral with Sara and technique with alumnus) , career workshops, templates of CV/cover letter/thank you letter. She also organized us to prepare for interview questions for share. I was impressed by the time when I made a mock interview appointment on Friday, and I was reached out by an alumni in only several hours. So efficient! Our alumnus are also super helpful and they are willing to share!

Feel proud of FRE!
Recommend
Yes, I would recommend this program
Students Quality
5.00 star(s)
Courses/Instructors
5.00 star(s)
Career Services
5.00 star(s)
Headline
Research before you join
I am a current first year student in the program and so far my experience with the program has been bad (being generous). The thing which the program advertises the most is large cohort, small class sizes, industry profs and large number of courses to choose from.
1. Large cohort and small class sizes: the obvious problem with this is that if there is a course which is high in demand, only 30 (or 20 in some cases) people will get it. There maybe multiple sections to the course but the content will vary vastly from one prof to another with one prof ending the course at risk neutral pricing and the other doing stochastic modelling. The course syllabus given is mainly for reference and most of the professors just mention what some approach or model is rather than going through the mechanics and helping us build intuition. You can google 10 different topic names and read the first page of the topic and be done with the course. In addition, the admissions criteria for the program is set very low and people with little to no background in either math or finance end up in the program which drives the stats lower. The cohort would be the most average cohort you can get.
2. Industry profs: the thing about industry profs is that most of them are very disconnected from how one should teach and structure the course. Most of the courses taken by them are 1.5 unit course (half semester) and the courses are very rushed with majority of them not completing the syllabus. A few of the profs don’t even have a syllabus but would teach topics what they feel like teaching. I am enrolling in the program to learn the concepts and build a toolkit, teaching some tips and tricks for on the job work will not help me clear interviews and every firm has different code base so majority of what you are teaching might not even be relevant. (Although there are some very good profs like prof. Tang, Adams, Mandel)
3. Large number of courses: Most of the courses are overlapping with each other and when asked for recommendation on what to take from the department the usual answer is choose what you want. In addition, as I pointed out earlier that majority of the courses are half semester courses, you just end up learning the jargon of the courses without building any skills. I am in my second semester with 12 credits remaining and can hardly fill it with 6 credits of acceptable courses for the next year.
The career service of the department is also bare minimum. There are no networking events organized and very few job postings (although LinkedIn has much more). I have gained much more valuable information by following Ashley Cross on LinkedIn (CMU’s career advisor) than my career department.
Advice to incoming students: Select your courses carefully and take advice from seniors on what courses to take. Start networking and preparing for interview from the day you receive admit. And lastly hope that we get a new program director who is decisive and can improve the program.
Recommend
No, I would not recommend this program
Students Quality
2.00 star(s)
Courses/Instructors
2.00 star(s)
Career Services
3.00 star(s)
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