COMPARE Baruch College MFE vs Columbia University MFE

[cxiao]

I got the admissions from these two schools. I am just wondering how would you guys choose. My plan is to stay in North America in the foreseeable future. I might go to Canada since I am a PR there.

Here is how I see the pros of each program. Let me know if I am off.

Baruch
1. Dedicated faculty (esp. Dan) who will help you find an job.
2. Strong faculty with wall street experience. Curriculum seems more practical.
3. It seems Baruch place more emphasis on programming, which I think is critical.
4. More detailed info on the website.

Columbia
1. Extremely strong brand. This will probably be my last degree and my last chance to get a degree from a prestigious universities.

Any input will be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[yo yue]

depends what your goals are... if you just wanna stay NYC, then Baruch... but outside US, for Canada, whereas Quant is not a big part of the investment world... go with Columbia... I would imagine unless you are doing model vetting or Desk Quants (very few stuffs there), lots of stuff you learn from master will be overkilled... if you are not applying them anyways, why not pick a brand as for Canada, I know people like credentials from big names...

or go to baruch for technical stuff and grab a MBA from top tier B-school later on...

 

[damonloveavril]

depends what your goals are... if you just wanna stay NYC, then Baruch... but outside US, for Canada, whereas Quant is not a big part of the investment world... go with Columbia... I would imagine unless you are doing model vetting or Desk Quants (very few stuffs there), lots of stuff you learn from master will be overkilled... if you are not applying them anyways, why not pick a brand as for Canada, I know people like credentials from big names...

or go to baruch for technical stuff and grab a MBA from top tier B-school later on...

That's a very fair point