University of Chicago - MS in Financial Mathematics

Background:
- Computer Science undergrad with a few years of work experience as a software engineer.
- Started working as a Trader after graduation in December 2022

Other Admits:
- UCLA and UC Berkley MFE
- Chose UChicago MSFM due to close proximity to many trading firms as well as lower overall cost.

Overall I believe the program has a mixed bag of experiences that bring my rating of the program to a 3.5/5. There are some truly exceptional portions to the program as well as a few downright terrible classes/professors that make you question if you're wasting your time and money.

Pros:
- The program begins 2 months before the official start date. It begins with an August review that brings students to a base level of understanding required in the program. The program attracts students from a wide range of backgrounds and not everyone is fully equipped with the resources to delve into the material. The topics cover a wide range such as regression analysis, probability, programming etc. This time is both useful to brush up on material you may not have experience in as well as prepare you for the level of coursework once classes start.

September launch provides more classes as well as opportunities to meet other students and alumni. There are social gatherings to acquaint incoming students and also workshops and seminars to help you in your job search.

- The first quarter the probably the best part of the program. Roger Lee and Mark Hendricks are both phenomenal professors/lecturers and all three suggested classes (Portfolio Management, Options Pricing and Python) had a lot to teach. This three classes combined with the job search provided a very rewarding first quarter which left me with very high expectations with the rest of the program.

- The support staff are also extraordinary. Meredith and Emily are the two main callouts that come to mind. Meredith is always available for you to talk to, whether it is personal or professional. If there is anything that you need to have done, she is the go to person. Emily is likely the best career advisor I ever worked with/will work with. Saying that she goes above and beyond is honestly an understatement. I genuinely don't know how she was able to make the time to answer everyones questions. She makes sure to understand each student's unique situation and provides insightful guidance even when you yourself may be unsure on what you want/need.

- The program provides flexibility in what electives you want to take. You have the option to take classes from Booth and Stats departments within UChicago.

- All the classes (bar a few where professors forget) are recorded start to finish and uploaded online. This allows you to rewatch to see portions that you may have missed as well as play the video back at 2x speed to review.

- Being located in Chicago it's easier to meet/see many of the trading firms that are located there.

Cons:
- There were a few months where Emily temporarily left the program. This along with a few other changes in the Career Development Office (CDO) were very noticeable. However, now that she's back, maybe things will be back to normal (though she's not in the same role).

- Too many classes that are not worth taking. Further details below.

- Chicago winters and crime

Courses to take: Modern Applied Optimization, Bayesian Stats I and II, Microstructure, Stocalc, Numerical Methods, Portfolio Theory, Option Pricing, Python

Classes to avoid:
- Regression Analysis and Quantitative Trading Strategies with Brian Boonstra: Overall this class taught me very little. It was largely a project class that are focussed on teaching you how to manipulate and display data. The "trading strategies" are incredibly basic and something that you could teach yourself by looking at wikipedia. Grading made no sense as they would often times give you an 80 with the only comment being "Great work". The lack of feedback gives you no opportunity to learn nor the willingness to try on future assignments. This class was likely the biggest disappointment I had in the program as the reviews made it seem like it would be a great class.

- Probability and Stochastic Processes with Jostein Paulsen: The material in this class was actually great, it was just taught very poorly. Partly due to the fact that there was too much material for a 50 credit course, partly due to bad a bad professor. This class could be very valuable if they rework it to be a 100 credit course with more depth.

- Applied Algorithmic Trading with Christopher Gersch: The homeworks were again graded completely arbitrarily with no feedback. The final project also had no feedback and seems to be graded based on entertainment value. It's not a difficult class, but just doesn't provide much educational value.

- Blockchains and Cryptoassets for Finance with Brian Boonstra and Co.: Material was not very informative and some of the homeworks seemed like they were designed for a middle school class.

- There are other classes that I heard bad things about through word of mouth, however since I didn't experience them personally, I won't comment on them.

Tips going in:

- Study the Green Book ("A Practical Guide To Quantitative Finance Interviews”), prior to the program if possible. As Emily and others will tell you, it is never too early to start interviewing.

- Keep track of places you're applying and apply far and wide. Keeping track of your applications during the internship process if very helpful when deciding where to apply come full time.

This review was completed by me alone and I was not incentivized in any way by QuantNet or UChicago.

I am a recent graduate from the Class of 2024, and I could not be happier with my choice choosing UChicago for my Master’s program. Back in 2022 and 2023, I was deciding between UChicago, Cornell MFE, Columbia MFE, NC State, receiving large amounts of academic aid from UChicago, NC State, and Cornell MFE. I remember the days scouring QuantNet from multiple accounts trying to make the ‘right choice’. Aside from wanting to leave the NY area and explore a new program/city, I chose UChicago for the many reasons listed in depth below. I have seen/heard of a few suspect comments and reviews that I believe represents a 1% minority of the program, and I encourage those authors to reveal their names to promote better discussions.
1) Individual Attention to Students: No student is simply ‘a number on a paper’ like the impression some other programs gave off. From the start, Meredith, CDO, and the rest of the administration proactively connected with students the summer leading up to entrance in the Fall quarter. No matter the size of the class – whether its 30 students or 150 students, the Professors know most students by name and there are plenty of opportunities to connect on a personal level with faculty and staff. Any struggles the student has whether it be academically or personally, the program staff is here to help.

2) Career Development Office: Possibly the biggest differentiating factor of UChicago compared to the other programs I was contemplating. There is a dedicated career office SOLELY for Financial Math. The Director, Sue Clark, takes her job extremely seriously and is diligent at assisting students in their full time/internship search. She is very good at what she does, as is the rest of the CDO team! It behooves the student to use the CDO office at the very least as a North Star— there were times CDO put me in contact with direct recruiters that I would not been able to contact on my own. CDO begins reaching out to you in the May leading up to Fall semester – very proactive and early! The internship and full-time placement for Class of 2024 was extremely high – put in the effort, take CDO advice, you will not be disappointed. I got my summer internship at a proprietary trading firm in downtown Chicago as a direct result of the FinMath Career Fair during September Launch – yes, a career fair SOLELY for FinMath students.

2 continued) IPR – Industry Professional Residents: There is a select group (5 or so) alumni each quarter that serve as ‘advisors’ to students. They’re here to help: mock interviews, industry/technical topic advice, and overall networking. Use them – I wish I had used them more – they are here for you. The Alumni base is incredibly strong in this program.

3) Project Lab - An Unparalleled Opportunity for Industry Experience: Every quarter, students have the option to enroll in an 8–10-week project ranging from ~15 employers. Indeed, in your first few months of the program, you will be placed in an ‘academic internship’. Out of the possible 4 quarters to take advantage of, personally, I completed 3 projects with two very prominent asset managers, and another with an options regulation firm. This experience was extremely useful for internship/full time interviews, presentation skills (you gotta get out of your shell!), networking with future (?) employers, in addition to understanding my personal interests. Though it is not the primary goal, many project lab sponsors take a few students for internships each year.

4) Curriculum and Curriculum Flexibility: There is a month before the academic year starts - September Launch- where students are exposed to the foundations needed for quantitative finance – Stochastic Processes, Markets (this precedes Portfolio Management), and the Python class begins. The administration understands students come from a wide range of backgrounds. September Launch is a particularly stressful time because there are numerous recruiting events while enrolled in these ‘mini’ courses. This month is essential for putting everyone on the same playing field.
The program allows for much elective flexibility. Take advantage of this. Personally, I took electives from the Statistics Department including Time Series Analysis, Monte Carlo Simulation, and Multivariate Stat Analysis. The caliber of the professors, whether it be FinMath classes or other departments is extremely sharp – then again, its UChicago.

A few smaller comments:
a) I see some concerns re: safety of the University area – welcome to a major city in the US. New York is not any different, and I can promise that.
b) Some say on this forum – “Chicago is only good if you want to work in Chicago post-graduation, its hard to get to New York, etc.”. This is simply false. Many students (possibly even most (?)) each summer go to New York and other major cities for internships. This is same for full time offers. I was presented with a few full-time opportunities post-graduation, and I ultimately chose to work on a model building and research team for a large bank not located in Chicago.
I have no doubt in my mind that UChicago will continue climbing the ranks on the QuantNet ranking guide.
To all prospective students, good luck with your decisions and feel free to reach out to me for any more questions, comments, or concerns on LinkedIn at Jesse Freitag.

I graduated from the program in December 2024 and can unequivocally say that it was a brilliant experience. My undergrad was in mathematics research and I had a couple of years of work experience in risk management before joining the program. I moved to Chicago from India to attend the program, and it was a big decision for me.
The academics, projects, career support, and peer group are top-notch, as described by my fellow cohort and alum in other reviews on this page. I shall share my experience from the lens of an international student (as a significant number of applicants are international) and how the program helped in specific areas.

1) Networking and How to Go About It
The career office and everyone in the program encouraged the students to network as much as possible with alumni, industry professionals visiting the program, and company representatives during career events. A number of events were organized which provide you with many opportunities to network. Like many of my cohort, I too secured my internship through a connection I made during one of the career events organized by the program. The program organizes “how to network” workshops too, which can be very helpful for students not used to the idea of networking events.

2) Setting Expectations of Rigorous Work and Application Rejections
The university follows a quarter system, which is quite rigorous compared to the semester system that I was used to and most other students might be more familiar with. The admin team (Meredith, Dylan, and Eliza) were super helpful in sharing insights about how to deal with academics, course selection, and expected workloads. We were told right from the get-go that the first quarter was going to be super hectic with coursework, career events, and applications. The goal of the program is to get into the quant finance industry after graduation, so the program encourages more focus on the internship/full-time process during peak hiring cycles, which is practical. Most courses and professors are okay with extending deadlines if you have an interview that you are preparing for.
The number of internship applications by many students exceeds 100, and this was shocking for me initially. The CDO ingrained the mantra of "apply apply apply" and encourages you to keep applying. Internship/full-time applications are like an additional course, and the program remarked on the time-consuming aspect of applications. We had alumni share candid experiences of rejections after gruelling rounds of interviews and superdays. Simply put, everyone in the program painted a realistic picture of what we were getting into. This trained us mentally to be prepared for straight-up rejections (some companies automatically reject based on what you might have filled in your application), ignored emails, and crushing final-round rejections.

3) CDO Support in Communications
As a student with prior work experience in India, I was conscious of the fact that “work communication” might be different. Phrasing emails to recruiters, interviewers, and potential contacts with the right tone was important. The CDO would help out in those as well. They offer to review your emails to ensure that they come across with the right intention. Some of my friends who were not too confident in English were also helped by the CDO in responding to recruiters and HR.

4) Peer Group and Alumni Network
This is the strongest aspect of the program in my opinion. I got to meet so many people from different professional backgrounds loosely connected to finance and learn about their journeys and bond over shared experiences. The best part of the program was that everyone struggled together—whether it was the Python assignments, QTS homework, or internship applications, it was a team effort, and we supported each other throughout.
The alumni connect was extremely helpful in discussing interview prep, courses to select, full-time search strategy, and even sensitive topics like negotiating compensation and benefits. The CDO helps you in reaching out to alumni and organizes multiple events to facilitate meeting alum from different areas in quant finance. Some of the alumni who were themselves, international students, shared candid feedback on the work sponsorship process and tips to filter for companies that provide sponsorship while applying.


Overall, I believe the program is thoughtfully designed, with particular attention given to addressing the unique needs and nuances of supporting international students.

Overall
I am December 2019 graduate from University of Chicago’s Financial Mathematics (MSFM) program. This program has transformed me and helped me achieve my goal of breaking in the [quantitative] finance industry and has given me the tools I need to succeed in the workplace. I want to thank all the faculty, students and other professionals I have worked or networked with along the way. For that, I cannot give the program anything but 5 stars for a rating. Although there are areas that need improvement, if you utilize your resources wisely, you will succeed in the program and ultimately start (or continue) a successful career path. This is an extensive review meant for prospective students to consider when choosing a program and also for current students on what they should look out for when attending. Feel free to reach out if you have questions on my review or on the program.

Background
US Citizen; white male; BS Mathematics from a state school in NY (SUNY); 1 year of full time experience as a pricing analyst for an engineering company. Even though I had a limited finance background, the pricing analyst job was important in the sense that I got comfortable analyzing data via Excel but also being able to communicate esoteric analytics to stakeholders and clients. A big reason why I got admitted, despite the non-financial background, is because of the interest and willingness to undertake quant-related projects and learning how to code before starting the program. Moreover, I took several actuarial science courses, albeit unrelated, that showed my interest and ability in applied math.

Did you get admitted to other programs?
I got into a few programs but my next best option would have been Columbia: Mathematics in Finance (MAFN). It was a difficult decision for me but ultimately I chose Chicago and it ended up being the right decision. At the time, Columbia was much less transparent and had difficulty communicating with me and answering my questions via E-mail or phone (even after I had been accepted). On the other hand, Meredith Muir (Assistant Director for Student and Faculty Services for the program) was very extremely helpful with any concerns or questions I had. To me the program seemed more intimate in the sense that it felt more like a community. Columbia was also more expensive. There were a few other programs I got accepted to but turned them down.

Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
See above answer. To add on, I would say that UChicago has a great reputation and brand and this holds true even for masters or PhD programs. Granted, the undergraduate ranking has the true “elite” reputation but the prominence is still applicable to higher education. Even though the feeling eventually fades, stepping on UChicago’s campus and being surrounded by its architectural beauty, is a humbling experience. Industry heavyweights like Eugene Fama, Myron Scholes, Milton Freedman and other Nobel prize winners have been here to study, conduct research or teach. Lastly, growing up and having attended school in NY all my life, I was keen on moving out and expending all my energy on a new start in a new city (Chicago is definitely a fun city to spend ~1.5 years in).

Application process
Standard GRE/GPA evaluation along with an essay and video interview. The programs selection process is holistic in nature and they will give you a chance if you show them that you have interest and potential. You can find out more information through Meredith. I’m sure if you reached out to her she will answer any of your application related questions.

Course selection
The course selection I would say is relatively standard in the sense that the main toolkits you need in quant finance will be gained: option pricing, numerical methods, Python, C++, stochastic calculus, and portfolio management. The downside however is the lack of diverse electives. I was quite disappointed that the electives were either too specific (e.g. Multivariate Data Analysis via Matrix Decomposition) or too concentrated in one area (e.g. multiple courses on Market Microstructure or Algorithmic Trading). I understand that Chicago is a trading hub but not everyone who graduates from this program wants to be a trader. Moreover, the timing of these courses is somewhat inconvenient -- there were some electives I wanted to take in the Spring but I was too preoccupied by the required courses. Looking back, I would say the bulk of what I have taken from the program is from the required coursework.

Quality of teaching
Before I list out the faculty and their strengths and weaknesses, I want to emphasize that the core course professors are also involved in the management of the program and wear multiple hats (e.g. Roger Lee as the options pricing professor and the Director of the program, Mark Hendricks as the portfolio theory professor and Associate Director of the program, etc.). This means that you will spend more valuable time with these people outside the classroom and gain exposure in many different ways than just coursework (e.g. technical interview labs, clubs, career/employer events, etc.). I am going to give an in-depth review of the required courses professors and give a brief review of the other notable ones.

Roger Lee: FINM 33000 - Mathematical Foundations of Option Pricing. This course is the highlight of the program and the reason why you should attend this program. There is not a more qualified person to teach such an introductory, yet vital course such as this one. Put it this way - for my first project on the job post-graduation I had to read multiple research papers for the model I was working on at the bank and his name came up multiple times in the references section of these papers and even directly in the model my firm built. His teaching style is relatively slow paced but it is the reason why Roger is unlike anyone else. He takes his time to teach and makes sure everyone understands and explains extremely thoroughly. I don’t think there was ever a time he was unsure of what he was talking about. He’s a leading industry expert with many research publications. I still to this day, for my job, refer back to his notes and lecture videos. Roger also teaches FINM 32000 - Numerical Methods, which is a great course that has important topics. For some reason, I wasn’t able to get that much out of it at the time but now that I work more closely with some of the things he mentioned, I was able to go back to his notes and found it helpful. The homework’s are a combination of Python exercises and written examples. For both courses, Roger’s homework assignments are extremely well written, thought out, and useful.

Mark Hendricks: FINM 36700 - Portfolio Theory and Risk Management I. To start, Mark is a great guy - very personable and understanding. He is engaging in the classroom and is always willing to help. This class is of utter importance to anyone who wants to manage a portfolio or trade (even if this is not your job in the short-term, anyone in quant finance will eventually need to understand risk-return dynamics to either make money for a firm or for themselves). Aside from it being great course content-wise, I would like to add that Mark also served as our Coach for the McGill International Portfolio Challenge (another good way to get exposed to portfolio management in UChicago). He was there to guide us with our approach on the case study even though this was outside the bounds of the program - this is what I meant by saying that the professors wear multiple hats earlier.

Sebastian (“Seb”) Donadio: FINM 32500 - Computing for Finance in Python. I don’t think you can find a better programmer than this guy - he also teaches at Columbia for the Financial Engineering master’s program. Seb is an extremely interesting and funny guy who has many hobbies outside of finance which makes his course more fun to sit in on. Although Seb’s course gives you much opportunity to learn Python (“you will eat Python!”) with what seems like an unlimited amount of homework and exercises, to me it was a bit of a quantity over quality kind of class. You do get better at programming, but for a beginner like me at the time, it was tough to really grasp anything. For example, he would have multiple slides on commands found in the Pandas package (this is easily Google-able and people will always utilize StackOverflow for these while working when unsure), whereas the main important points of what DataFrames are used for, examples found in practice, and why it’s important to manipulate the data inside would be more valuable information. His written exams were a pain (although now his course has changed to HackerRank so you won’t have to deal with this). My Python skills progressed more in due time with other courses that came after this course and most quickly while working during my internship or full time. So, although it gives you a lot of time to go through exercises, for me the course kind of just passed me by and I haven’t used any of his course resources after the class (unlike Roger’s course materials which I use very frequently even after graduating).

Steven Lalley: Stochastic Calculus. Very smart guy but the course was extremely mathematical (Lalley is from the pure math department). For me, as a math undergrad, it was relatively interesting but a lot of people found it intimidating or just not useful. It was required at the time (now an elective) and most people had to pass fail this course. This course is a combination of theory and applications but felt more heavily geared toward theory which can be daunting and unrelated if you are not going for your PhD.

Yuri Balasanov, Lida Doloc, Jeff Greco: FINM 33601 - Fixed Income Derivatives. I, and others will probably tell you, that this course was pretty much a waste of time and money (to put it honestly and bluntly). The only semi-valuable thing gained from this course is the lecture notes which can probably even be found better written in other papers or online. The course was too disorganized and nobody seemed to know what’s going on in class or was really attentive to the material. The labs utilizing Bloomberg data and doing some calculations in Excel were just pointless. The homework assignments was re-used from previous years and had little practical application - a lot of formula derivations. There was one however useful discussion and homework exercise in Python on PCA - probably the only thing that really stood out to me in the class. This course has so much potential and to me it seemed like the program blew it. My recommendation for the program is to revamp this course by spending less time going over every little thing and spend more time on one vital and focused application for each lecture. For example, you can spend a whole lecture discussing how one specific exotic derivative is priced or replicated and then do a homework on building a pricer by running a Monte Carlo or PDE, test for errors and convergence rate, etc. -- things actually done in practice instead of just giving us all the formulas for floors, caplets, swaptions etc. (these things are easily found online). Then this idea can be carried over to other derivative products.

Niels Nygaard: FINM 33160 - Machine Learning. Fun Fact: Niels is the founder of the program. He is a very bright person and I found him to be helpful for questions related to HW or outside projects that are coding or ML related. The downside was that I found his class to be kind of monotonous as he would go through code line by line. Not sure how else to teach ML though but for what it was I can probably re-use the lecture notes or the actual code in the future.

Materials used in the program
I liked mbeven’s answer: “a computer and a brain” so I will go with that.

Projects
-McGill International Portfolio Challenge. I got a chance to travel with my fellow students to Canada to compete and numerous hours in the lab working on this outside of whatever I had going on in my courses. See MIPC website for more info.
-Project lab: I’m sure you have heard from others by now what this is so I will not describe it but I had to chance to work with a bank on a credit curve modeling project. I even traveled to NY to present to the team but most of the work was done remotely via biweekly phone conferences. It was an interesting and relevant project but was tough to grasp for me in the autumn quarter as I have not dealt with this material before but overall it was a good experience to get exposed and have on my resume. I would recommend if you are more experienced to take project lab after Autumn quarter so you do not get swamped with courses. If you have limited experience it will be better to take an autumn project lab to have something relevant to discuss for an internship superday (as was the case for me).

Career service
If I can give an MVP award to any person I met along this program it would be Emily Backe - Director of Career Development! (I would also give Meredith Muir one for being the life of the program). Emily and others (Alma Ceballos and Danny Michael) are there to guide you for any career advice you seek. This goes beyond just resume writing or interview tips. Emily was literally there for me when I had to make life-changing decisions - such as choosing or switching jobs). It’s really hard to find someone as committed, passionate and enthusiastic in their job as Emily. I highly recommend you utilize what Career Services has to offer - there is inherent value in this program just from the career services, especially if you had limited experience like me. There is a downside, however, associated with the career services -- see below section on
“Suggestions for the program to make it better”.

Student body
Everyone was very friendly and willing to help - I initially thought this was going to be a cutthroat program when I walked in but that was definitely not the case. We had multiple parties throughout the year completely outside the program to get to know each other or just enjoy our time in Chicago. Student life for me was important because I served as the Student Board President where my team and I organized many events our program sponsored to come together as what felt kind of like a family - Chinese New Year dumpling making event, Super Bowl party, ice-skating events, a few pub nights, and best of all: an all-inclusive booze cruise on Lake Michigan. The student body is not too diverse as the majority of students are Chinese natives but this is the case for most quant programs. There were a few other international students in my graduating class from places like Mexico, Spain, Canada, and Singapore.

What do you like about the program?
All the positive aspects mentioned in the above answers. The main point to get across is that the program helped me get a good job after graduating. Other pros include: Bloomberg terminals in the lab; taking the Time Series course by Ruey Tsay (he wrote the book on time series analysis) from the Booth School of Business; numerous behavioral/technical interview labs; getting a solid general finance background which motivated me to pursue some standardized finance certifications; the network you gain from meeting people in the industry or faculty; huge bonus is that all the lectures are recorded so if you miss or cannot attend you can watch online - I mentioned earlier that I re-watch Roger’s lectures when I need understanding in some options area for work.

Suggestions for the program to make it better
-See section on “Course selection” where I discuss electives.
-See feedback on “Quality of teaching” section where I discuss some cons of the coursework.
-Although Career Services is helpful by preparing your resume or prepping you on the behavioral component, the job listings they send you and the Career website resources available (FinMath Connect) post lackluster or outdated jobs. In that aspect, you’re expected to just apply to as many positions as possible. It would be much more helpful if they were more active on personalizing the experience for each student and helping students connect with more alumni or industry professionals to tap into a warmer network. And one more point on the career services - although I had lots of phone interviews, it was hard for me to close out some “superdays” and get an offer. I understand this is my responsibility but some more guidance or training on final rounds would have helped me.

What is your current job status?
Quant at a bank.

I graduated from UChicago FinMath in December 2022 and will be joining as a quant strategist at a Chicago prop shop.

Career Development Office
As mentioned in the previous reviews, Emily is an amazing career advisor. Not only does she give excellent interview and career advice, she also provides the moral support that is needed during the recruitment process.

Course reviews:
There are some courses in the program that I believe are worth taking:
- Portfolio Theory and Risk Management I
- Options theory/Numerical Methods
- Stochastic Calculus
- Regression Analysis and Quantitative Trading Strategies. This course does have mixed reviews but I personally enjoyed it. It gives you an insight on how to manipulate data and simulate simple trading strategies.

For Seb's programming courses, I believe that they are good if you do not have a CS background. If you do, this course is should be more of a review and grinding Leetcode/Hackerrank will be more helpful (which is pretty much the homeworks anyways).

The program also gives you the opportunity to take courses from other departments. Students should leverage this and take courses such as probability and statistics and machine learning courses from other faculties. I also highly recommend that you take a course from Chicago Booth; some of the courses there are very well taught.

Project Lab
Project lab is a nice touch to the program. It allows students to work with industry employers on a quant project. This experience can be used as a resume boost and be talked about during interviews. Students can also get internships and full time roles from this as well.

Conclusion
Overall, I had an amazing time in the program and will really cherish my 15 months there. I would take the Quantnet 2023 rankings with a grain of salt and do your own research into all the Master's programs. At the end of the day, making it to any of the top programs is impressive and finding a full time job will be much more dependent on individual skills and efforts. Hope this review helps!

I couldn’t be happier with my experience. The professors here are fantastic—truly top-notch experts who are passionate about what they teach. Their dedication made classes engaging and inspiring, and they were always willing to help outside of lectures.

The program strikes an excellent balance between theory and practice, which prepared me well for the job market. It’s clear that the curriculum is designed to ensure that graduates are not only knowledgeable but also highly employable.

One of the biggest advantages of studying FinMath at UChicago is the academic flexibility. We are able to take classes in the departments of Mathematics and Statistics, deepening our theoretical understand of machine learning and predictive analysis. This allowed me to explore my interests in greater depth, something that’s hard to find in other financial engineering programs across the US, since they do not have flexible curriculums (maybe one or two electives in most?). The university’s reputation for academic rigor really shows, and the ability to customize my education made a huge difference.

Additionally, the administrative support within the Financial Mathematics program is outstanding. Meredith, Eliza, and Dylan are incredibly helpful, always going above and beyond to ensure that students have everything they need to succeed. They create a welcoming environment where you feel comfortable reaching out with any questions or concerns. The Career Development Officer (CDO) team is equally impressive, providing great support with interview preparation, job market navigation, and career advice.

Overall, UChicago stands out as an exceptional place to study financial mathematics, offering resources and opportunities that set it apart from other programs.

I’m a FinMath fresh grad student who has just graduated last December. And will start as a quant in a bank this year.

My background when I applied for the program: CS and math majors with a high G plus two quant-related interns plus one IBD-related intern. Got waitlists after applying on January and finally got accepted on late March (last one who got accepted). Have to say the bar of the program admission is rising in a horrible way these years because of not only the bad job market after the COVID but the tough hiring criteria in the most of the finance industry (it’s not easy as 10 years before anymore), given the situation that we have to compete with other competitive programs around the world and also some of PhD’s joined the industry for higher income. So we have to assume that you are going to have more competitive background than mine to apply to expect the offer.

When you received the offer, GOOD, but that is only your step zero point zero. Known that our program is job oriented: “If you are going to pursuing for a PhD, then you come for a wrong program”, cited from Mark who is the program director saying in the first day of the program orientation meeting. If you are aiming to find a job, then you should realize that most of the efforts should come from you by leveraging the program resources as many as you can to achieve success. Based on this, let me let you know what kind of resources or spirits that you can utilize to support you through the entire job-search process:

1’ Courses: some of the courses are useful to learn especially the first three courses from the first quarter. Then you are free to choose the courses that you’d love to take to achieve the minimum units to graduate. The workload in this program is medium to me so that it’s convenient for me to spend enough time to prepare for job searching when taking care of the coursework each semester. The program is updating every single year to adjust the fast-paced quant industry. The 4 tracks, are now updated in 2024, which makes more sense to me compared to the old one. Most of the course materials are moderately reformulated each quarter as well by instructors to adjust the current industry as well. So this relieves me and gives me a feeling that the program is not old at all but still intake and gives back students from the current industry, which I really appreciate.

2‘ Career Services: Led by the Deputy Director Emily and CDO director Susan, the entire career service is above expectation. Starting from August review, they will ask students to submit the resume again for review and give insights for the logistics, timelines, and resources on September Launch. A program-specific job application interface is provided to students so that they can easily filter out unrelated jobs and applied for them. Based in Chicago, we are able to be exposed to some of the trading companies in person (trek): Geneva, Akuna, CTC, etc. Also we are prepared by the CDO lots of company career talks, IPR meetings, and interview preparations throughout each quarter. The project labs in each semester is the Special for FinMath UChicago I think, and the overall quality is high if you choose the project that is most matching with you, but at the same time the company would choose you as well. The CDO invite 3 new but experienced folks to the team recently, and I think they will lead the entire program to achieve a better milestone in the future.

3’ Infrastructure & Environment: FinMath program has a big house at 5727 (3 levels and 1 basement) so most of the courses will be held there. The Study lounge is located on the 3rd floor and a bunch of terminals with Bloomberg access as well! All of the faculties are working there and you are always welcome to bother them if you have any questions. It’s also located at the center of the school, the library, the school buffet & cafe, and the bus station. The study and passionate environment, and those aspiring folks in the program push me to hard work every day and finally secure a job, which I appreciate really much! And this spirit cannot be obtained in any other same-level program, I think, to some extent.

Hope this post can benefit you in some aspects. And good luck on your study and career. Hope to see you guys in the industry some days;)

The University of Chicago’s Financial Mathematics (FinMath) program has been an exceptional experience. When I was applying to graduate programs two years ago, I had a clear idea of what I wanted, and UChicago FinMath delivered beyond my expectations. I apologize for the lengthy review– there is plenty to share!

Admissions:
The admissions process was refreshing and student-focused. Upon admission, program staff promptly engaged with us, addressing questions and providing guidance. The “Ask Me Anything” sessions for admitted students were particularly insightful, with both staff and current students offering valuable advice. Post-enrollment, we participated in interactive coursework on internship preparation and resume refinement, setting the tone for a professionally enriching experience.

Instruction Quality:
The quality of instruction is one of the program’s standout features. Faculty members, drawn from both academia and industry, share their unique expertise and insights. Each instructor excels at communicating complex topics in a way that is both engaging and accessible. This ensures a high-quality learning experience across the board. Utilize their expansive knowledge!

Courses:
I can say with certainty that I drew important skills and knowledge from each course I took. I will detail a few of my highlights below.

Computing for Finance in Python:
This course is taught by Sebastian Donadio was a great way to begin the program. Seb’s instruction is easy to digest and always opens the door to what comes next. Despite my limited coding experience, I found the course approachable and engaging. Even peers with advanced coding skills found valuable insights in the course. Seb is always willing to push you further! One unique challenge that came about with our cohort was ChatGPT. During exams, the emergence of paid ChatGPT subscriptions highlighted challenges in balancing AI usage with demonstrating personal mastery. Unfortunately, having access to the newest GPT model for either exam made a significant difference in performance. Even without them, I was still thrilled to have taken the course. I was able to transform my coding abilities over the course of a few months. I went from not writing functional code during online assessments to passing them with time to spare. I attribute this growth primarily to this course.

I would reassure students concerned by the prevalence of ChatGPT in academia that instructors are addressing the issue and are rapidly evolving coursework to reward students who can demonstrate knowledge without using ChatGPT as a crutch. Proper usage of AI is crucial in this day and age, but blind and heavy reliance on LLMs is only setting people up for failure. Instructors in this program and beyond are quickly finding ways to ensure students are best prepared for industry.

Option Pricing / Numerical Methods:
These two courses, taught by Roger Lee, are undoubtedly highlights of the program. Even with a background in financial mathematics from undergrad, I gained significant insights from these classes. Roger skillfully combines a rigorous, mathematics-based approach to options and derivatives with the practical intuition that industry practitioners rely on for efficiency. The homework and exams often feature problems that can be tackled using advanced, formal mathematics. However, Roger’s solution guides stand out for their elegant and concise methods, offering invaluable learning opportunities. I strongly recommend that students invest time in studying his solutions, as they reveal powerful techniques that streamline complex problems.

Any of Mark Hendricks’ Courses:
Mark Hendricks offers a number of courses including an introductory “Markets” section for incoming students, Portfolio and Risk Management, Fixed Income, and Fixed Income Derivatives. I took the three offered courses and made an effort to sit in on as many Markets lectures as possible. Another highlight of the program is the common 3-hour lecture style. For better or worse, it is the layout chosen to accommodate most schedules and allow for flexibility during the day. Mark’s lectures were all three hours, but felt as though I had sat down to watch a well-designed YouTube documentary. It is one of those presentation styles that is extremely engaging and enjoyable to sit through. We cover a number of topics that are highly technical requiring high level mathematics and coding, but he is able to synthesize it so that people of different academic backgrounds can understand it better.

Career Development Office:
The Career Development Office (CDO) is our office dedicated to helping connect students to the next phase of their career regardless of where you are coming from. They devise endless opportunities to sharpen your skills, meet new people, and interact with firms in the industry. Early in the program, the CDO provides workshops covering essential behavioral and technical interviewing skills in time for the internship search ramping up. These sessions continue to be available throughout the program. Simultaneously, they arrange for many employer events where students are able to hear from and interact with various companies and alumni. These sessions helped me discern the various career paths available to students upon graduation. Outside of these group events, CDO also works 1-on-1 to help each student navigate the career search. They are able to connect you with alumni at companies you are interested in working at, help you draft communications, and everything in between. Personally, CDO helped me navigate the negotiation process as well as helped me formulate requests for my full-time contract.

Academic Services and Administration:
The Academic Services and Administration (ASA) team is essential to the smooth operation of the FinMath program. Their work can be categorized as both program-facing and student-facing. Behind the scenes, they coordinate employer events, office visits, interview labs, admissions, alumni engagement, and more. For students, ASA provides invaluable support, including course advice, visa assistance, and general guidance on any topic. I would argue that the “home base” of the FinMath program is in Meredith’s office. Before and after any lecture, event, exam, and sometimes just out of the blue, myself and many other students head to her office to hang out and talk with her. I sometimes feel bad talking with her while she works, but she has ELITE multitasking skills and is somehow able to do it all! Special shoutout to Meredith! She is so crucial to the program’s success. Overall, ASA is very necessary to the success of the program.

Unique Characteristics:
What truly sets FinMath apart, beyond its robust academics, is its unique culture. The program brings together students from diverse academic and professional backgrounds, fostering an environment of collaboration and mutual growth. This diversity creates opportunities for students to leverage their strengths while learning from one another. For example, I was able to share my insights in our math-intensive courses, while benefiting from peers with extensive coding expertise. When I was evaluating programs, I didn’t fully appreciate the importance of this collaborative culture. Reflecting now, I’m not sure such a dynamic environment could exist elsewhere to the same degree as it does at FinMath.

Outcomes:
Overall, I couldn’t be more satisfied with my decision to attend the University of Chicago’s Master’s in Financial Mathematics program. To provide some context, I studied mathematics as an undergraduate with a concentration in financial mathematics. While this gave me a solid mathematical foundation, I recognized the need to deepen my expertise in finance, programming, and machine learning to pursue a career as an industry quant. After researching several programs, I chose FinMath based on the strong endorsements from alumni and the comprehensive curriculum. Many of the positive experiences I had read about aligned closely with my own goals, making the decision an easy one.

Coming straight from undergrad with no industry experience, I initially worried about how I would bridge that gap. However, FinMath quickly put those concerns to rest. I enrolled in the Project Lab course, which allowed me to gain hands-on experience and bolster my resume with meaningful projects. Through the FinMath career fair, I connected with a company where I secured an internship, which later converted into a full-time role after graduation.

My last reflection on the program is that it has a component of self-direction where you may make of it what you wish. There are plenty of opportunities presented to you, and as a grad student, you have the OPTION to take advantage of them. Due to the flexibility the curriculum, students can challenge themselves (or not) as they see fit. I encourage future students to challenge themselves and make the most of the program’s valuable opportunities. Taking the challenging courses is how you grow and make the most of your time and money.

Feel free to message me on LinkedIn at William Bellinger if you have any questions about the program!

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
B.S. Engineering Physics (High Honors), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002
B.S. Computer Science (Highest Honors), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002
Five years of IT and software development
I studied full-time in the program from 9/2007-6/2008

Did you get admitted to other programs?
Yes; NYC Courant's Mathematics in Finance and Carnegie Mellon's MS Computational Finance
Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
Short duration, lower cost of program and of living, reputed heavy mathematical focus.

Tell us about the application process at this program
Online application. Had to submit GRE General test scores. Went smoothly.

Does this program have refresher courses for incoming students? How useful was it?
There were free courses offered to incoming students which were nominally "refresher" courses. In practice, these courses were survey courses in material that students were unlikely to have been exposed to. Several of them were very useful; the measure theory course conducted by Robert Fefferman was outstanding, and the finance introduction by Tim Weithers was well-done.

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
Mathematical Foundations of Option Pricing - excellent
Numerical Methods - excellent
Statistical Risk Management
Stochastic Calculus
Data Analysis And Statistics - disastrously bad
Topics in Economics - well-taught, but questionably relevant
Portfolio Theory and Risk Management - good
Foreign Exchange
Fixed Income Derivatives - wildly mixed quality depending on presenter
Advanced Option Pricing
C# Programming (optional)

Tell us about the quality of teaching
Teaching quality ranged from very competent to insultingly poor.

On the "competent" end, Roger Lee deserves particular commendation for his course preparation and delivery in Mathematical Foundations of Option Pricing and Numerical Methods. The design and delivery of both courses was absolutely meticulous and well thought-out. Other instructors who deserve positive mention include: Paul Staneski and John Zerolis (Portfolio Theory), Lida Doloc (Fixed Income Derivatives), and Jostein Paulsen (Stochastic Calculus, Statistical Risk Management).

Sadly, there were also several instructors who did not appear to feel it necessary to assemble a coherent syllabus or present their material in an understandable fashion to the students in their classes. Chief among these was Per Mykland, who "taught" the Data Analysis and Statistics course (and I believe in most years teaches stochastic calculus as well). His lectures were very rough surveys of material which was inaccessible and unknown to most of the students in the course. Generally, no supplementary reference texts were mentioned to provide comprehensible explanations of the topics covered, and his lecture notes were filled with errors that had clearly gone uncorrected for years. Much of the final section of his notes consisted of text copied directly (save an occasional misspelling) from N.H. Chan's _Time Series_. The material covered by the homeworks was often not addressed by the lectures; in fact, the head teaching assistant informed us in no uncertain terms that he expected most of the class to fail the second homework. The teaching assistants were often unable to help with the homeworks, leading me to believe that they frequently did not understand the material any better than we. Students did so poorly in the class that he announced his intention in the final lecture to simply give all students 'A's in lieu of a final exam (though he was later overruled).

Professor Mykland's disregard for his teaching obligations is legendary; there are discussions on Wilmott Forums of his lack of concern for his audience's comprehension all the way back in 2005 and it seems that little has changed. Unfortunately, data analysis and statistics are fundamental to financial mathematics, and for those of us who did not enter with graduate degrees in statistics, we were left woefully unprepared for the remainder of the courses (particularly stochastic calculus and statistical risk management) as well as job interviews. As a particularly pointed example, I was unclear on what a "standard error" was until I engaged in a program of self-study after his course...in which I got an A-.

Materials used in the program
Primary texts included:
- Hull's _Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives_
- Carmona's _Statistical Analysis of Financial Data in S-Plus_
- Ingersoll's _Theory of Financial Decision Making_
- Bjork's _Arbitrage Theory in Continuous Time_

I also found Baxter and Rennie's _Financial Calculus_ to be an excellent introductory text, though it was not used directly in the courses.

Programming component of the program
Excel, R for statistical analysis, MATLAB for numerical methods, C++ with Quantlib for some interest-rate derivatives work. The introductory programming courses were taught in C# and covered basic ASP.NET. Many of the homework assignments had a programming component.

Projects
There were few "projects" per se, though much of the homework was group work.
Career service
Unknown; I didn't use them.

Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
Many of the Chinese students formed a fairly tight social group, I suspect due to shared language. The remainder of the students were very outgoing and mingled and worked together freely.
What do you like about the program?
Excellent instruction in a few topics, a good reading list, U of Chicago name on the diploma, meeting a lot of great people.

What DON’T you like about the program?
The general disregard for the quality of education received by the students.
Suggestions for the program to make it better
- Dismiss Per Mykland.
- Solicit feedback from students to ensure that professors generally are doing a good job, and reward them or remove them accordingly.
- Ensure that professors are aware of how their courses fit into the overall curriculum. Many of them seemed unaware of what students entering their classes would and would not be expected to know.

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
I am employed by an investment bank as a software developer, and would like to find more quantitative challenges in the near future.

Other comments
If you have a graduate level of statistical experience, are very comfortable with PDEs (and preferably SDEs), and are willing to put up with having to fight to learn in some classes, you could get a lot out of this program. Otherwise, I would suggest going elsewhere.

I am a domestic student with a finance undergrad. Commenting on the professors, career development office (CDO), courses, etc.

Professors:
Roger
Roger is, as of this writing, the head of the program. That is the least of his credentials. More impressive: Roger has intuited the Black-Scholes pricing formula. Rattle off five input variables and he’ll compute output on the spot for all standard option types. Get him going on exotics and the temperature generally increases 1-3F in his immediate proximity, which is nice in the winter.

Mark
Mark is the personification of pedagogy. You won’t understand regression in his class, you’ll become the best linear estimator of a curve. I heard he was offered Fed Chair but declined it because teaching is his vocation. Understand the potential you have as his student. Mark will find and nurture that potential. He will imbue you with knowledge so arcane it will leave you speaking in tongue. All of that, and he’s handsome. Unfair!

Seb
Rumor has it, Seb’s first words were “100110100011…” He won a collegiate robotics competition at the age of four. He never conducts class from the same location twice (he once proctored a final while scuba diving 40 miles from the Seychelles archipelago). Some believe he employs holographic clones to teach at multiple universities simultaneously.

Brian
Brian is akin to a war veteran. Not the wars you know, but the wars that are too large to be seen. He fought in the great battle of the algorithms in the early 90’s and knows what actually happened during the flash crash of 2010. He is somewhat of a walking mosaic of corrected market inefficiencies—what were once lesser quants’ alphas.

Lawler
Long ago the world was deterministic. How deterministic? Too deterministic, if you asked Greg Lawler. That’s why Lawler invented randomness. And so, as Lawler prescribed, the world became flush with unpredictability. This pleased Lawler because he, ever the opportunist, had already written “Stochastic Calculus” and would go on to enjoy heightened book sales.

CDO+
Emily
Emily’s voice is like a summer’s breeze
Gracing quantlets’ hearts in need
Her song brings rest, salvation, ease
Her melody cures all student pleas

Meredith
If you’re reading this years from now and Meredith is no longer there, two things are certain: 1. That sucks for you 2. Meredith is still making the world a brighter place, as she did within those hallowed halls of the Stevanovich Center for Financial Mathematics. Meredith is the program’s best kept secret. Some say UChicago is where fun goes to die, but that was before Meredith arrived. You’d be best served getting to know her as quickly as possible. She quite literally can open doors for you (to the locked kitchen for a timely refreshment), or if you’re lucky, she may just end up being the sister you never had.

Courses:
Any course offered by the above instructors is worth your time. They’re great instructors and teach the most critical modules.

General
Job market
You’re typically well-suited for trading / market making and quant research coming out of this program. Your success on the job market is predominantly a function of your individual effort, which is true for any program, but with that said, their career development team is immensely helpful and a resource to utilize in your hunt. If you join the program with passion and intention (vs. uncritically following a path others left for you), then I think you’ll get everything you want out of this program career-wise.

Project Labs
Project Labs are my favorite aspect of the program—I did one every semester. Never will it be easier to get exposure to different sub-fields of quant finance (for those with an open-mind exploring the industry). Project Labs are quick, concentrated exposures to problems actual practitioners are facing. Most of all, they help you expand your network. I find that the average aspiring quant underestimates the importance of networking. You’re awkward, but take responsibility for it and don’t make that mistake. Networks are like cheat codes for getting the best finance jobs.

I’ve fielded occasional concerns from international students about the UChicago brand value, specifically whether it carries outside the US. UChicago is an institution. UChicago invented the free market!!! Ever heard of it?!? Your employers have. I digress.

Wrapping up: the program is definitely one where you come out the other end better equipped to *actually* solve real world problems. You’re paying for a skillset, career opportunities, and a great experience. Chicago is a beautiful and well connected city, your classmates are smart and accomplished, and I am increasingly proud to be an alumni.

Background
Master's degree in computer science. Worked for a bank as a risk analyst and currently working as an energy trading strategist for a major energy company. I am located in Singapore and report to boss in UK.
I studied part-time in the Chicago MSMF Singapore program since Sept 2009

Did you get admitted to other programs?
No

Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
I only applied for UChicago MSFM Singapore as it seems the best choice in Singapore or even Asia in terms of reputation.

Application process
The website was and is outdated. Most of the information regarding this program was found in online discussions. They responded my emails selectively.

Courses selection
1. Course selection is not flexible. I like Statistical Risk Management, Mathematical Foundation Option Pricing and Fixed Income so far.
2. Singapore students can study in Chicago for 1 or 2 quarters our of 3 quarters. a lot of us chose to go to Chicago in Spring quarter Apr - Jun
3. We can choose one course from Chicago Booth, which is only available in Chicago campus

Quality of teaching
1. Practitioners teaching Fixed Income are good. because the course is reduced for some reason they insist offering additional seminar which is not counted in grading.

2. the class is like a video-conference bringing people from Chicago, Singapore and Stamford together. the video quality is good. we can ask questions using a microphone. all classes are recorded and can be played back later.

3. Teachers for each course normally come to teach in Singapore for 2 weeks, giving lectures and office hours.

4. Singapore program has local TAs for every course, mostly previous graduates. They are very helpful. Without TA's help it's not possible to figure out homework. In terms of homework, TAs are much more useful than lecturers.

Materials used in the program
Notes are enough

Programming component of the program
Matlab is dominant. There's C# class but i haven't taken. For me not much programming except the Matlab programming in statistical risk management and regression analysis.

Projects
so far i haven't done any project, expecting one for Regression Analysis.

Career service
1. We visited a couple of banks in Singapore
2. Our resumes are compiled and sent to banks
3. Other than campus recruitment, quite a few immediate openings have been sourced by local career service.
4. nothing specific to intern

Student body
Ethnics are quite diversified and balanced. we are also invited to Chicago Booth alumni gathering in Singapore.

What do you like about the program?
I am much more confident about my math now. previously i picked up some models on my own, which can't compare to what I learn in the program in terms of both coverage and depth.

What DON'T you like about the program?
1. the most important course Stochastic Calculus should be taught much better.
2. the management doesn't care much about publicity. i think for a professional program this is very important. the more people appreciate the program the more value that the current students and previous graduates get.

Suggestions for the program to make it better
I would hire a public relationship manager to advertise the program better.

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
as a quant strategist in energy trading. i want to expand my skill set further and look for more challenging opportunities, e.g. trading, portfolio manager, deal originator, etc

I recently graduated from The University of Chicago's Financial Mathematics Program in December 2022. I will work as a quantitative analyst of a top custodian bank in US.

My Background
Previously I worked six years as an economist and strategist for a leading financial institution in Asia. My motivation ,target and goal is to learn most top-notch quantitative skills from math to programming to utilize extensive datasets and to provide more convincing investment ideas.

Career Development Office(CDO)
Emily is the most professional, committed, compassionate, enthusiastic, kind, nice, sweetest and the most responsive and the most supportive and the most helpful professional in this program. She CARES student and knows all the answer to the career questions that graduates had. Without her help and support, I would never be able to secure the job offer.

During the interview process, Emily followed up with my job hunting and provided professional and instant response. What Emily offered is the industry standard. Emily provides insightful guidance and customized advice based on different personal background. Regarding to career path choices, there is a lot to consider. Emily will discuss with you all the opportunities and let you know the possible outcome. Emily is there for me when I had to make life-changing decisions.

Career Development Office provides world-class career service and helps with resume writing, LinkedIn updating, Technical Interview Seminar and Mock Behavioral interview Lab.

Student Service
Meredith is always there for students to talk to and share everything from visa consultation, course selection, course registration process, to accommodation for exams. She is extremely helpful with any concern or question that I had.

Meredith organized our events and classes from architectural boat tour to painting class. She is extremely involved with our cohort. The University of Chicago's Financial Mathematics Program seemed more intimate because our cohort felt more like a community.

Course recommendations
There is more to come. You will have the flexibility to choose fixed income and time series courses from the Booth and math & stat courses from both department.

Roger Lee : Mathematical Foundations of Option Pricing/Numerical methods
Professor Roger is not only smart but he also makes sure every student understand the materials. Roger had a magic and a great way of getting everyone understand the hard Math concepts.
What Roger teaches is not only the theory and but also the real world application of it. Roger will go over brain teasers and interview questions that students have seen during interviews at top firms.

Mark Hendricks : Portfolio Theory and Risk Management I
Professor Mark CARES students and is extremely dedicated to his course. Mark designed the homework rigorously and guided students to figure out the thought process. Mark combines python programming applications of portfolio theory using Harvard Business Case study approach in homework and for discussions. That really helps students to understand the real-life applications and essence of quant portfolio theory.

Professor Mark will also prepare statistical interview questions from time series, regression to financial markets analysis like fixed income. Based on my interview experience with banks and funds, most of the questions had been discussed thoroughly in the class and in the seminar/workshop.

Gregory Lawler : Stochastic Calculus
Professor Lawler is the best and the most respected mathematician contemporarily and the pioneer in the stochastic field such as probability and random processes. His lecture is easy to understand and his course is fun and interesting.

Chanaka Liyanaarachchi : High Performance Computing
HPC is the most useful programming course that I took in The University of Chicago's Financial Mathematics Program. Professor Chanaka will dive into various applications from OpenMP to CUDA. We will have the opportunities to have exposure to modern technologies.

Jon Frye : Portfolio Credit Risk: Modeling and Estimation
Professor Jon is the economist and risk specialist from Chicago FED. The lecture that Professor Jon taught in class is industry standard from PD/LGD to vasicek credit risk model. The homework that Professor Jon gave is to ensure students understand the risk management inside and out.

Project Lab
The project lab that I did with my cohort did help me secure the job. We will be able to be in touch with the current developments in finance through their relationships with practitioners.

Cohort
I had true friendship for life when I was in the University of Chicago. I would say that they were my family. Most students are very friendly and willing to help.

The University of Chicago's Financial Mathematics Program
The program has a great team of dedicated professors, career and academic counselors, classmates and students. Its reputation in the quantitative finance industry will open doors for you and you will realize how much you have learned and grown during the 16 months. I would describe this program as the most challenging and most rewarding academic endeavor of my life, and would recommend it to anyone with a passion for learning more about the quant side of finance.

Summary
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.

The University of Chicago's Financial Mathematics Program changed my life. This is one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life.

I graduated from the UChicago Fin-Math program in 2022 Dec and I am starting my full-time quant trading role at a market-making firm in Chicago in 2023 Feb.

My background:

Undergrad -- Finance & Data Science major with a math minor
Full-time experience -- one year at a wealth management firm

What I liked about the program:

1. Location
- I finished my 4-year undergrad program in NYC and figured that NYC was not for me. I wanted a better blend of a big city but also having some nature / peace and quiet. Since I wanted to become a quant trader, Chicago seemed like the ideal choice being the trading / market-making industry hub, but also having the peace and quiet that I wanted. Its proximity to job opportunities also allows easy networking / coffee chatting.
- The city's architecture is also very nice. There are also a lot of museums that are definitely worth going to.
- The city's rent is much lower than other major cities. (Almost half of NYC's.)
2. UChicago's positive academic reputation
- The school overall is known for its academic rigor, reputable professors, and beautiful campus. With the Fin-Math program, you get access to not just the top-tier Fin-Math courses and professors, but also resources from other programs such as the Booth Business school, the stats program, UChicago Law School, etc..
- Some Fin-Math professors (namely Roger Lee, Mark Hendricks, Seb, and Greg Lawler) are amazing lecturers and have classes that have an amazing blend of theory + practicality.
- There are also out-of-Fin-Math professors (namely Mei Wang in the Stats department) who also teach very good classes.
- There are tons of research opportunities
- There are some times free / discounted social activities (show tickets, Michelin restaurant meals, skiing, etc.) that are posted by the school that's kinda neat.
3. The Fin-Math program's resources
I categorize this program's resources by its (1) courses, (2) career development, (3) other general / life resouces.
(1) courses:
- All of the classes taught by the professors listed above are highly recommended, plus the other recommended classes in other reviews.
- You also get access to non-Fin-Math classes like those in Booth, the stats department, and even the law school for Fin-Math credits.
***But since class schedules / professors may change every quarter, it's better to ask Meredith & alumni what classes to take (or avoid..) when the time comes.
(2) career development:
- Emily Backe in Fin-Math's career development office (CDO) is extremely resourceful, kind, and responsible. She can not only give you the perfect interview prep but also lead you to just the right people you need to speak to for your job search, interview prep, etc..
- Other professors (Roger, Mark, and Seb) will also help you with technical interviews. Their interview prep sessions are extremely useful.
- There are also industry professionals (called IPO) helping you with further interview prep.
- The program is designed in a way such that you get to meet students from a class above you during your first quarter at the program. This makes sure you have students to talk to who can tell you about their school + work experiences, and
(3) other general / life resources
- Meredith is the go-to for all your questions. She is fun, resourceful, and knows EVERYTHING about the program and its people. She will give you her most honest opinion (and all the intel she gathered from all the profs & students) on what classes to take or avoid. She will also lead you to any help you may need since she knows everyone... quite literally.
- The class size is fairly large (~100 people per class), which mean there's a larger variety of students from different background, etc. Students are all very nice here -- you can definitly make life-time friends from the program. Also, many students are very knowledgeable and have many years of work experience -- you can always learn a lot from your classmates.

What I didn't like about the program:

1. City's infrastructure & weather
- Many parts of the city, including but not limited to public transportation, road design, how people don't know how to drive, bad DMV systems, etc. are designed poorly and are extremely inefficient (and sometimes have bad service)
- Too cold.. brrr
- High crime rate (esp around school, aka the Hyde Park area)... However, you do have to be careful everywhere (plus most American major cities do have issues with high crime rates, although not necessarily as bad as Chicago's hyde park area..) Just be vigilant and try not to walk around alone in dangerous neighborhoods, especially when it's dark.
2. Career development office's flaw(?)
- For a while during my time in the program, Emily Backe was gone and the program's CDO was near non-existent with very insufficient support. It's awesome that Emily came back but the program's CDO is very Emily-dependent. Hope CDO hires more reliable staff soon so Emily doesn't need to be overworked...
3. Some classes were poorly taught and were a waste of money & time
- These classes are
4. Minor things that don't necessarily concern others
- Fin-Math's graduation for my year was meh ... The merchandise we got included a bag that has very low quality (had 2 holes already after using it once)
- The winter can be depressing with the school almost empty (most students take online classes in the winter). But it get's better in the spring & fall.

Overall:

- I wanted to give 3.5/5 but QuantNet doesn't let me. Since Emily's back, I'll round it up to a 4/5.
- I didn't give it a 5/5 mainly because of (1) the bad courses that the program offers and (2) the inconveniences caused by the city's bad design / insfrastructure. However, I still gave it a score higher than 3/5 because you still can get what you want from the program.

Status:
Graduated from UChicago MSFM in December 2023. Will begin working as a Quantitative Strategist in February 2024 in NYC.

Highlights:
- Comprehensive and rigorous curriculum with 4 concentrations available (Financial Computing, Financial Data Science, Options and Derivatives, Trading and Risk) that makes it an extremely focused and goal-oriented program.
- Good interview preparation provided both by CDO (mock interviews, technical interview workshops, company info sessions with a chance to speak with recruiters) as well as through coursework (August review and September Launch which occur before classes start, classes taken in the first quarter prepare you for internship interview questions as well).
- Project Labs offered with reputed companies spanning a variety of project topics. I received two interview requests for a full time role with the company I did a Project Lab with.
- Strong alumni network that participates in panels to help with interview preparation, course recommendations, and general career advice.
- Location advantage with career treks offered to trading companies based in Chicago. NYC based companies also heavily recruit from FinMath.
- Special shoutout to Meredith and Emily who will help you in any way possible and will always give you a shoulder to lean on :)

Course Recommendations:
Any class taught by Mark / Seb / Roger, Quantitative Trading Strategies, Credit Markets, Project Lab.

This program will challenge you in the best way possible and will not only empower you with academic knowledge but also a preparedness for job interviews and professional competence. With a staff that goes above and beyond to help and an alumni network that is so involved, the FinMath program is indeed an exceptional one!

Overall, the program’s pretty solid and would provide an excellent platform for you as long as your expectations are tempered.

Courses/Instructor:

The coursework is well structured and should equip you with knowledge you’d need to get the job done. The first term is comprised of mandatory core courses which, imo, are excellent for interview prep and for equipping you with the basic skillset you’d need as a quant on a day-to-day basis. Next term onwards, you can tailor your degree based on what you want to study using electives (and there are a lot of them). There also freedom to pick courses from other departments (up to 3, I think) and with the right mix of outside department and cross-listed courses you can virtually tailor your degree to focus on anything and everything

Student Quality:

Competitive and smart cohort, overall. But it is a big cohort (~150) so there is of course variability and diversity.

Career Services:

They really do try to put in their best efforts to get a job. Very responsive and will provide you with all resources you would need to prepare including recommended reading and putting you in touch with alumni. There’s also a constant flurry of networking events (which some find useful but I am, personally, not a big fan of). But don’t expect that the career services will just get you a job. That is still very much something you’ll have to do yourself. They will, however, provide you with resources which will surely help you on the job hunt path.

Career Outcomes:

The job market is in a bit of a mess right now so I am not sure how applicable might this be if/when the market picks up. However, as things stand, if you are coming in without much relevant experience or to pivot, the program will help you to get your foot in. If you are coming in with a quant or aligned background, the program will give you an edge in your attempt to step upwards. But if you are expecting the program will magically get you a QR/QT role at the CitSec/Jane Streets of the world when you weren’t getting any interview calls before, I am not sure it would work out. Front Office roles aren’t very common. A lot of the roles are MO/Risk/Support roles. Buy-side front office roles are even rarer and it would be fairly uncommon seeing folks getting these especially if you need visa sponsorship. That being said, afaik, mostly everyone in the previous batch who was looking for an internship got one and mostly everyone got a job too. The current batch is still in the internship search process and, hopefully, by summers a vast majority of the batch will have internships.

Professors/course instruction: The course material generally leans towards more theoretical and much of the content takes an academic approach. You may use more complex versions of formulas or take assumptions that are not true in real markets or that you would see as a junior at work, but I found this very helpful for deeper understanding when applying said material to real scenarios that are imperfect. Professors in this program are excellent and students are able to take cross-listed courses with other departments as well (notably, CS/Stats). Excellent faculty includes Roger Lee, Seb Donadio, Greg Lawler, Brian Boonstra, and Alex Popovici. Other students also especially liked Mark Hendricks - personally, his teaching style didn't work out for me. Special shoutout to Lek-Heng's optimization class as well.

Students: made a lot of lasting friends here. It's a large cohort so there is a bit of variance in seriousness and background, but you will find that there are many very talented students. Met a couple of guys here who are possibly the brightest I've run into, you know who you are.

Career outcomes: overall excellent. A fair number of students are headed to leading hedge funds and proprietary trading firms. I would say that this program helped me with landing a trading role and understanding markets on a deeper level.

S/o Meredith

Status:
Graduated from UChicago MSFM in December 2022. Started working as VP in Quant Research role at one of the largest banks.

Background:
Engineering from top Indian institution + 10 years’ work experience at Banks in Financial Markets/Derivatives Structuring + CFA

Other Admits:
UCLA MFE, Georgia Tech QCF
Choose UChicago MSFM because of the University reputation and the impressive communication with the program staff during my application process.

My top takeaways from the UChicago MSFM Experience:
1. Career Development Office – UChicago probably has one of the best Career Development Office (CDO) amongst all Quant Finance programs. Emily Backe was leading the CDO till last year and she is the Chief of Staff for the program now. She is simply superb at managing student career aspirations and has institutionalized multiple professional development tools. CDO helps with all career needs like resume building, LinkedIn profile updating, mock technical and behavioral interviews, networking opportunities, relevant job posting feeds and a lot more. You get personalized attention and can speak with Career advisors and alumni from the industry at any time. I personally kept meeting my career advisor multiple times during my summer internship search and she connected me with many of the program’s alumni from the industry.
2. Core Course Curriculum: The curriculum is structured to get you fully prepared for summer internship interviews right from the beginning of the program. Before the official start in the fall quarter, there is a month-long Review on Regression, Python, Probability and Stochastic processes. This helps you navigate for your interviews and continues seamlessly into more advanced course works in Option Pricing, Portfolio Theory, Quant Trading Strategies, and much more during the program.
3. Faculty: The core faculty of Roger Lee (Director and Instructor for Option pricing and Numerical Methods), Mark Hendricks (Instructor for Portfolio Theory and Fixed Income), Seb (Instructor for Python and C++) are all veterans in their domains and cover the topics like none other. There are newer electives in Bayesian Machine Learning and Crypto Assets taken by some industry professionals who are best in their fields.
4. Support System: MSFM is extremely intense where you are expected to learn and perform every day. The coursework becomes challenging quite quickly and you are also required to engage in summer/full time job search. But during my coursework, I never felt stressed out or broken down because of the cohesive environment at institute. Meredith, Director of Academic Services and Administration plays such a huge role in this by helping you at every step. She would advice you on any matter, personal or professional and helps you choose courses according to your aspirations and capabilities.
5. Concentrations and Ability to Tailor what you get from the program : There are multiple opportunities to tailor your course work as per your career aspirations. You can choose your courses to get a concentration in any of (1) Data Science, (2) Trading, (3) Derivatives and (4) Computing. Each of the concentrations have some courses that are taught by well-known industry professionals.

On the whole, the program is fantastic, and everyone takes away so much from it. I personalized gained everything I was looking for – A great career path, a wide and diverse professional network and above all, an excellent learning experience that would go with me for life.

I graduated from UChicago's MSFM program in December 2022 and will be working as a Credit Risk Modeller with one of the top bulge bracket banks in the USA.

My background was in engineering from a top-tier institute in India and I had some work experience in risk management. My goal with the master's was to shift to a more technical role and the program helped me immensely in this endeavor.

In spite of the lower quant net ranking, the U Chicago MSFM program has a few key advantages over most of the MFE programs being offered by other universities. We have one of the best career offices (CDO) out of any university and they help you start applying for internships the minute you accept the offer. The previous director of CDO, Emily is a superhuman and one of the best in the industry, currently, she is the Chief of Staff. CDO provides resume reviews, technical and behavioral workshops and they act like a sounding board for all the frustration that one goes through during the recruiting process. The amount of in-person events with companies in Chicagoland has also increased since Covid.

Academically, the program is rigorous and there is a lot to learn but it is never overwhelming, MSFM allows you to mold your experience according to what you need. The professors are industry-focused and are very patient with students.

Some of my recommendations are:
- Courses by Professor Lee (Option pricing and numerical methods). Professor Lee is the director of the program and his courses are super useful in interviews. He makes sure to cover all the required mathematical principles without making it seem overwhelming. It is critical that you take Professor Lee's courses if you want the full experience.
- Bayesian Inference and Machine Learning I and II from Gordon Ritter. Professor Ritter is one of the best quants in the industry and he has a very unique and insightful way of approaching problems, these courses are a must.
- Python and C++ by Seb. You will know where the term "where fun comes to die" originates from. These courses are intense but absolutely essential if you want to do technical roles in the industry. They helped someone like me with almost no programming background secure a very technical job.
- A course from the math/stat department. UChicago has one of the best Math departments in the world and while rigorous, the courses are great for getting your fundamentals right. One of the best ones for quant finance is the Stochastic Calculus course by the man who literally wrote the textbook for it - Professor Lawler.

- Courses to avoid: Any course by Prof Nygaard.


The program has a great support system too, Meredith takes care of everything and can solve any problem you throw at her, administrative or personal. She personally helped me navigate all the visa complications an international student has to face

Overall, I would say the program is fantastic if you want to delve deep into the world of quantitative finance. You'll have one of the best career offices in the country and the technical and soft skills you'll pick up will help you shape your career according to what you want. It helps that the university is based in one of the best cities in America.

I graduated from UChicago's MSFM program in December 2022 and will work as a Quantitative Equity Trader in the emerging markets pod at a leading mutual fund.

My background was in Economics and Finance, and I had some experience in Quantitative Research. My goal from this master's program was to learn everything I could to become a better quant and discover the things I didn't know or was ignorant about in quantitative finance.

The quant net ranking has s strong bias towards programs in New York and the primary east coast cities. The ranking system unfairly makes UChicago seem like a weak choice when looking at schools. Take the rankings with a grain of salt. Judge each program based on the coursework they offer and the quality of the research the school and program do. By its very nature, the school and the MSFM program require you to be able to do the work and also to research why you want to do it. When I speak to many people in the industry, the program garners commanding respect from everyone because those who know, know. The expectations employers have from graduates of this program are sometimes overwhelming, due to the ecosystem the program has built, from the faculty, staff, and support staff whose goal is to see every one of their students succeed.

If you are looking for a program that spoon-feeds you or a quid pro quo relationship, my advice doesn't apply. This program is for people who are committed to working hard, questioning everything, and working with their cohort to solve problems.

As a quant, I need to back these statements up and show that this process is repeatable and does achieve the desired results. This result is entirely up to you and depends on how hard you work.

The three pillars of this program are its faculty, staff, and support staff.

Professor Roger Lee is one of the most sought-after people in understanding and building options and strategies for both exchanges and funds. His classes, which you will take in the Autumn and Winter Quarter (Options pricing and numerical methods), are enlightening. He has a way of conducting the classes that make you think and understand everything he teaches you. It is measured, every word is relevant, and if you listen to the zoom recording or read the transcript, it is uncanny how precise each word is and how it makes you understand the most complicated concepts in simple terms. When doing your interviews, the interviewers ask many questions related to options. If you understand both of Professor Lee's classes, you will make it to the final round.

Professor Mark Hendricks is another one of those professors who have this knack for distilling knowledge very eloquently. He teaches the Portfolio Theory class and the Corporate Credit and securities class. Even if you don't come from a finance background, you will get up to speed within the first few weeks. His course teaches the basics you need and then gets you to apply those basics to solving and figuring out real-world problems using case studies. He guides you through the thought process and embodies the philosophy of teaching "how to think," not "what to think." He is also one of the best resources in the program to ask for some guidance on interviews or a general chat. No matter how busy he is, he makes the time, which is the dedication you get from this program.

Finally, Python by Seb. You will know where the term "where fun goes to die" originates. These courses are intense but essential if you want to do technical roles in the industry.

The other courses I recommend are from the Math or Stat department. Take advantage of the fact that it is one of the world's best math and stat departments. The professors are simply exceptional. I was fortunate enough to take a Multivariate Statistical Analysis class taught by Professor Mei Wang. This class was one of the best classes I took at UChicago; she taught me all the necessary statistical methods and tools.

The program, from the get-go, starts helping you with your search for an internship. Emily Backe, the program's chief of staff and previously the director of the career development office (CDO), was instrumental in helping me get my internship and a full-time job offer. The CDO provides resume reviews and technical and behavioral workshops, and they act like a sounding board for all the frustration one goes through during the recruiting process.

The special glue or "X-factor" that makes this one of the best programs in the world is the support system we have which is taken care of by Meredith. She is the one who knows everything or will guide you to the right person who can help you. She helps navigate all the logistics of getting your visa, guides you through the program, and advises on what courses to take. She helps organize our classes and events and is an excellent sounding board for all related and not related to the program.

The program was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It was tough and not to mention frustrating at times. The friends you make here will last a lifetime and help you in almost anything; in essence, you gain a family. The city of Chicago is very vibrant and also helps in being very accommodating to students. If you love to learn and put in the effort and hard work, this program is for you. Coming out of the program and looking back, you will see how far you have come and how well this program prepared you to tackle all the challenges you will face, personal or professional.

I graduated from the program in December 2022 and will be joining a mid/large size prop trading shop in Chicago as a quant trader. Looking back to the 15-month journey in Chicago, I found UChicago did a tremendous job in helping me build my career path and explore job opportunities in quant finance industry. Here are some highlights:

Onboarding
Students in the program come from various background. The onboarding process and started 2 months prior to the official start date in order to get everyone to the same page.
This experience helps the most for those who have less experience or knowledge about the industry to get ready early for the short and competitive recruiting season.

Career Office
The career office is the strongest support for students’ recruiting. It’s very impressive when you realize there are only 3-5 people supporting over 100 students with their job search, organizing various career events, always replying to everyone’s email promptly while thoroughly, providing personal counseling any time one needs and continuously updating individualized recruiting strategy.
The support and resources I received from this group of people is invaluable.

Project lab
For those who had limited work experience, this is your best chance to get industry experience on your resume. For those who have had experience, this is a good chance for you to work on some solid projects that industry values or even an official offer.
Like everyone else on this review section, project lab added a lot to my experience. To make it simple, comparing the numbers of interview I received before and after I have a project lab experience, it is obvious to see its value.

LOCATION
In addition to the program itself, location is what I considered the best factor for choosing your school, but the decision criterion might differ for everyone.
Chicago being the biggest hub for prop trading firms in the world has the natural competitive advantage for you to break into the industry. As someone who aimed to get into prop at the beginning of the program, this is absolutely helpful. Not only for job search, but also after you join the industry, you’ll be surprised about how many UChicago alumni you will meet during work from your company, your counter parties, and your brokers.
Crime rate, weather etc. being the negative factors for the location do not bother me the most. I do envy the nice sunshine on a winter day on the west coast, but I guess that’s why have breaks and vacations.

Hope this can help you make the right choice.