Are Stats or Financial Engineering Masters more valuable?

[joeharristhethird]

I'm soon to start my last year in Econometrics and Operations Research (BSc) and I will need to start applying for graduate programmes soon. I'm unsure whether to apply for master's in stats or financial engineering. My profile with econometrics might be more suited for the MFE programmes but I have more than the basics covered for stats so that's also an option. I'm wondering which is more valuable for a quant position.

 

[markbogorad]

Depends what kind of quant you want to be. Degrees with the title "Financial Engineering" often gears more towards sell side quants. At the same time, a lot of programs have a large enough course variety for you to enter and study topics more relevant to other roles. If you want to experience more variety I'd go with the MFE.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Have you consider the Financial Economics programs? There are a few of them that may lead to a PhD down the line.
We have a few members here from

Columbia University - MS in Financial Economics

3/30/23

Gain the quantitative and theoretical tools for a successful career in finance

• Andy Nguyen
• US

 

[joeharristhethird]

Have you consider the Financial Economics programs? There are a few of them that may lead to a PhD down the line.
We have a few members here from

Columbia University - MS in Financial Economics

3/30/23

Gain the quantitative and theoretical tools for a successful career in finance

• Andy Nguyen
• US

I did consider this programme but between Financial Econ and Financial Eng it just seemed like career prospects, especilaly for Columbia, were better for the MFE graduates. I might be wrong though.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I did consider this programme but between Financial Econ and Financial Eng it just seemed like career prospects, especilaly for Columbia, were better for the MFE graduates. I might be wrong though.

Here is the latest placement info for Columbia MSFE (Financial Economics) PDF file.
Link to Columbia Financial Engineering 2023 employment report.
Hard to say which is better given these reports are a year old. We have some mixed reviews of the FE programs lately and very few for the MSFE.
I would hold on to see what the 2025 ranking tells us.

 

[joeharristhethird]

Here is the latest placement info for Columbia MSFE (Financial Economics) PDF file.
Link to Columbia Financial Engineering 2023 employment report.
Hard to say which is better given these reports are a year old. We have some mixed reviews of the FE programs lately and very few for the MSFE.
I would hold on to see what the 2025 ranking tells us.

When does the 2025 ranking come out approximately?

Also just like a question in general, as a European student, to me, it would seem like Columbia in general regardless of the programme would be an excellent course just due to the reputation. Is it not like that in the US?

Would you suggest maybe Statistics as a programme rather than Financial Economics or Financial Engineering to break into Quant?