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Berkeley MFE vs CMU MITS
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<blockquote data-quote="Ran You" data-source="post: 265131" data-attributes="member: 36882"><p>Hope someone could give me some suggestions on how to choose between the two programs.</p><p></p><p>I have physics & data science background and some quant trading internship experience. I originally planned to apply for MFE programs but found myself very attracted to computer science. So I applied to some CS programs which I would be likely to get in. I finally got offers from Berkeley MFE Spring 2021 and CMU MITS (Master of Information Technology Strategy) Fall 2020. </p><p></p><p>I am willing to go to either program. My main expectation for graduate study is to find a job in the US after graduation. I hope I would become a quant trader or researcher. I know it's extremely hard. And I am open to data scientist (works for both programs) or software engineer (only if I choose CMU). I guess CMU MITS is in general a weird choice for people in this forum. Personally (probably because I have no background in finance/econ/biz), I mostly like technological parts of quant work, like programming, CS, DS, probability, etc. and I have no passion in finance as a subject in a theoretical sense. And I believe the quant industry needs people with hard core technical skills, like stats/coding/analytics/systems. And a CS program might be good for building up some tech skill sets in the long run. But I'm concerned that I might be too naive on this issue. </p><p></p><p>Here are some pros and cons for both programs: </p><p></p><p>CMU MITS (Master of Information Technology Strategy)</p><p>Pros: </p><p>- A program under the School of Computer Science (#1 CS school)</p><p>- High priority and large freedom in course selection, can take basically all popular ML/Software/Systems courses at SCS</p><p>- Very high quality courses and competitive environment</p><p>- Small class size, like 20 per cohort</p><p>- Good placement, lots of Amazon AWS, heard 100% since the program started</p><p>Cons: </p><p>- No internship, must take a summer semester in order to complete 4 semesters in 1.5 years</p><p>- Bad location, Pittsburgh, not like NYC or bay area</p><p>- Significant internal competition, so many talented programmers, 1000+ CS masters applying for similar jobs every year</p><p>- Not a popular program, the program is originally designed for cybersecurity, not a traditional CS/DS program, though it turns out to be flexible</p><p>- Generally new and small, no public stats on placements and salaries etc.</p><p>- Not so well known as Berkeley in non IT-related fields</p><p>- Lack of help in job search, basically just LeetCoding, resume, coding tests, interviews, etc.</p><p></p><p>Berkeley MFE</p><p>Pros: </p><p>- A traditional MFE program with stable historical placement data</p><p>- Good placement numbers, at least up till now</p><p>- Responsible program director and great career services</p><p>- High bar in admission, admitted students seem to have very outstanding background</p><p>- Good program reputation, and good school title</p><p>- Good location, near bay area</p><p>- A 12-week internship covered (most likely)</p><p>- Target on obtaining a quant job</p><p>- Network resources, alumni, fellow students, professors, lecturers etc.</p><p>Cons: </p><p>- An MFE program in a business school, courses are mostly finance-related, technical courses (required to complete online) are not taught on campus</p><p>- Probably unlikely to learn very technical things, like ML/CS/Systems/Software, as in CMU SCS</p><p>- Knowledge taught in traditional MFE programs are becoming more and more esoteric and useless</p><p>- Most likely to be placed in banks, still needs strong individual Math/CS abilities to land a job in buy-side</p><p></p><p>I'd really appreciate it if someone could give me some suggestions on career path and the current situation in the quant industry. Thank you!!!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ran You, post: 265131, member: 36882"] Hope someone could give me some suggestions on how to choose between the two programs. I have physics & data science background and some quant trading internship experience. I originally planned to apply for MFE programs but found myself very attracted to computer science. So I applied to some CS programs which I would be likely to get in. I finally got offers from Berkeley MFE Spring 2021 and CMU MITS (Master of Information Technology Strategy) Fall 2020. I am willing to go to either program. My main expectation for graduate study is to find a job in the US after graduation. I hope I would become a quant trader or researcher. I know it's extremely hard. And I am open to data scientist (works for both programs) or software engineer (only if I choose CMU). I guess CMU MITS is in general a weird choice for people in this forum. Personally (probably because I have no background in finance/econ/biz), I mostly like technological parts of quant work, like programming, CS, DS, probability, etc. and I have no passion in finance as a subject in a theoretical sense. And I believe the quant industry needs people with hard core technical skills, like stats/coding/analytics/systems. And a CS program might be good for building up some tech skill sets in the long run. But I'm concerned that I might be too naive on this issue. Here are some pros and cons for both programs: CMU MITS (Master of Information Technology Strategy) Pros: - A program under the School of Computer Science (#1 CS school) - High priority and large freedom in course selection, can take basically all popular ML/Software/Systems courses at SCS - Very high quality courses and competitive environment - Small class size, like 20 per cohort - Good placement, lots of Amazon AWS, heard 100% since the program started Cons: - No internship, must take a summer semester in order to complete 4 semesters in 1.5 years - Bad location, Pittsburgh, not like NYC or bay area - Significant internal competition, so many talented programmers, 1000+ CS masters applying for similar jobs every year - Not a popular program, the program is originally designed for cybersecurity, not a traditional CS/DS program, though it turns out to be flexible - Generally new and small, no public stats on placements and salaries etc. - Not so well known as Berkeley in non IT-related fields - Lack of help in job search, basically just LeetCoding, resume, coding tests, interviews, etc. Berkeley MFE Pros: - A traditional MFE program with stable historical placement data - Good placement numbers, at least up till now - Responsible program director and great career services - High bar in admission, admitted students seem to have very outstanding background - Good program reputation, and good school title - Good location, near bay area - A 12-week internship covered (most likely) - Target on obtaining a quant job - Network resources, alumni, fellow students, professors, lecturers etc. Cons: - An MFE program in a business school, courses are mostly finance-related, technical courses (required to complete online) are not taught on campus - Probably unlikely to learn very technical things, like ML/CS/Systems/Software, as in CMU SCS - Knowledge taught in traditional MFE programs are becoming more and more esoteric and useless - Most likely to be placed in banks, still needs strong individual Math/CS abilities to land a job in buy-side I'd really appreciate it if someone could give me some suggestions on career path and the current situation in the quant industry. Thank you!!! [/QUOTE]
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