University of California, Berkeley - Master of Financial Engineering

If you're considering the UC Berkeley MFE programme, ask yourself this: are you prepared to spend a fortune and 12 months of your life navigating chaos, incompetence, and institutional gaslighting? Because that's what you're signing up for.

Let’s not sugarcoat this—the programme is a mess, top to bottom. During my time here, we had three executive directors in under a year. For half that time, there wasn’t even anyone leading career services. It felt like no one knew—or cared—what was going on. Students were left scrambling for jobs while the leadership played musical chairs and patted themselves on the back for “long-term vision.”

And let’s talk about cheating—because the programme certainly won’t. It’s everywhere. Students share answers, submit work they didn’t do, and openly collude on take-home exams. No one stops it. Why would they? The system practically rewards it. The administration turns a blind eye.

The career services “function” is a joke. For months, there was no one running it. When they finally hired someone, they somehow found the least qualified person imaginable.

The students are smart. But many are out for blood.It’s a shark tank—and not the fun kind. There’s no sense of community. No shared ambition. It’s survival of the sneakiest, and if you stumble, you’re on your own. Don't expect help, empathy, or even basic decency from some of your classmates.

This programme is living off an outdated reputation and the UC Berkeley name. It is broken at its core—academically, administratively, and culturally. You will not be supported. You will not be protected. You will not be told the truth.

Admission process was fairly easy. Just a technical with an alumni. Instructor quality is distributed. Most are good. Few were horrible. Was surprised to see such poor quality professors in such a reputed program. Career services are non existent. The MFE program has no current director and no career services head. Administrative staff is entirely running the program. Consequently, no companies are coming. Anyways, Berkeley MFE has a bad reputation among employers. They have literally let anyone in. Some students are smart tbh. But at some students you will feel how did they even cross the bar to enter. In short, avoid joining the Berkeley MFE unless you just want it as a visa ticket. Expect no help in placement and minimal learning in this tightly compressed program.

As a recent graduate of the UC Berkeley Master of Financial Engineering program, I feel compelled to share my experience for those considering this path. While the program offers a rigorous curriculum and access to a network of professionals, there are aspects that could be improved.

Curriculum and Instruction: The academic rigor is undeniable, but the practical application of the coursework sometimes falls short. Theoretical knowledge is abundant, yet opportunities to apply these concepts in real-world scenarios were less frequent than I expected.

Career Services and Placement: The career support services were not as robust as I had hoped. A significant turnover in the placement team during my tenure led to a disorganized job search process, leaving many of my peers and myself feeling unsupported in our career aspirations.

Cost and Value: The financial investment in the MFE program is substantial. While I understand the prestige attached to the Haas School of Business, the return on investment is a crucial factor that seems to be glossed over during the admissions process. Prospective students should carefully consider the cost-benefit ratio of this program.

Overall Experience: While I value the knowledge gained and the connections made, the program's execution did not fully meet my expectations. Future improvements in career support, practical application of skills, and a more inclusive culture could enhance the experience for upcoming cohorts.

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
I studied science/engineering and worked in the engineering field for 2-3 years before undertaking the MFE program. I studied full-time in the program from 3/2009-3/2010

Did you get admitted to other programs?
No

Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
Housed in business school. Accelerated 1 year program. Embedded internship

Tell us about the application process at this program
Comprehensive application followed with phone/in-person interview.

Does this program offer pre-refresher courses for incoming students? How useful was it?
Yes, preparation programs were offered in math, statistics, and computer programing. These courses were useful to prepare for the program

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
There was a financial innovation course that was taught by a professor who gave interesting insights and perspectives.

Tell us about the quality of teaching
Most of the instructors are working practitioners. Thus, class schedules are arranged to fit their schedule and often require late evening or weekend classes. Furthermore, availability of practitioner instructors is essentially non-existent.

Materials used in the program
Poor choices of text books. We used a pre-print edition for one text, it was full of typos, notational errors, and did not include a table of contents. Course books were essentially useless during the MFE study and you are dependent on instructor's lecture notes.

Programming component of the program
Mainly matlab. Although students have the flexibility to use whatever they wish in most situations. Most courses are very programming intensive. More effort is spent on coding than learning underlying financial concepts.

Projects
There is a applied finance project that all students must undertake. It is an individual project designed to hone the students ability to attach a real-world financial problem.

Career service
The MFE office helps secure internship and full-time positions.

Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
Great diversity in ethnicities. Although, most people still work/socialize with their own ethnicity. This is particularly true for foreign students (i.e. no other academic study in US).

What do you like about the program?
Interesting curriculum.

What DON’T you like about the program?
Too much useless material. Program administrators are generally unprofessional in their duties. Genuine learning takes a back seat to internship, employment statistics. Too expensive.
Suggestions for the program to make it better
Better instructors and design of course curriculum.

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
No current full time job offers. Open to most all fields.