COMPARE Boston MSMFT vs Stevens MFE

[lighnity]

Hello Everyone!

I hope you have been accepted from the MFE programs that you dreamed of, and if not, I hope you get acceptance letters from there asap.
I have received admissions to Boston MSMFT and Stevens MFE, and I have had difficulty deciding where to enroll.
I only have a few days to make the final decision, so it would be really helpful if you could provide some insights on the two programs.

Some background about me: studied Economics + Computer Science in my undergrad, have full-time experience for 1.5 years in quantitative research(mostly handling factor models/portfolio optimization), International student

My goal is to 1) get a quant job in the US right after my master's graduation, 2) ideally QR in sell-side banks, and 3) finally, get a Macro QR role in hedge funds.

Heae are some information I have collected:


Reputation & alum network:

• BU undergrad has a better reputation than Stevens, but their graduate business school rankings are similar in the US News ranking.
• Based on BU's historical Quantnet ranking and LinkedIn, the BU alumni network would be great, but Stevens's ranking has been growing since 2021, and their BS Quantitative Finance program outcome has been amazing. Some of them choose an acceleration master's program in their school, so on Wall Street, the influence of both programs would be similar or not that different I guess.

Employment statistics:

• According to Quantnet's job placement data, BU's employment rate has been declining since 2022. I'm also confused by the discrepancy between Quantnet's job placement data and their webpage job report data.
• Stevens's employment rate has been growing. However, I'm unsure how many roles are related to the quant research role.

Career Service:

• BU's career service includes a resume/CV coach, job search strategies, a mock interview, and interaction with industry experts.
• Similarly, Stevens's career service provides personalized support through resume reviews, interview preparation, industry advice, internship and career leads, networking opportunities, and more.
• I heard BU's director changed in 2021, and I'm not sure about BU director's industry connection.
• Stevens's director also changed in 2019, and the director seems to have many industry connections since he has worked in various IBs on Wall Street. But I'm not sure program director's connection would be a major factor...

Curriculum:

• Many people have said that BU's curriculum is quite rigorous mathematically, and their theoretical side is balanced with the practical one since some lecturers come from the industry side.
• Stevens curriculum, as they said, has been renovated to provide the most relevant skills and information. Thus, there are many electives, and I like the core courses (Stochastic Calculus, Pricing, and Hedging, Computational Methods in Finance, Portfolio Theory, and Advanced Derivatives). But there's no review about Stevens's recent curriculum, so I'm wondering how hard these courses are to get me through, landing me into Hedge Funds eventually. (I know with an MFE degree, it's hard to get quant researcher roles in Hedge Funds just after graduation, but I want to know at least the necessary knowledge that I have to know for that role)

Location:

• This is a huge point for me unfortunately. You can criticize me for this point, lol. I've never lived in NYC and only visited there last year. I really liked that moment, and I want to live there for at least a year. When I look at Boston pictures, I feel bored. Even though I can come back to NYC after graduating from BU, I don't want to postpone because I could eventually be stuck to the Boston area if I get a job there. But if there's any weak point in Stevens MFE compared to Boston MSMFE, I'll enroll in MSMFT.
• Besides my affection for NYC, I want to start my first quant job at Bulge bracket banks because I heard these employees support visas well. So, because of this, attending the university near NYC and doing extensive networking would be better.

In short, I have concerns to BU MSMFT about its low ranking and job statistics in recent years, and its Boston location.
Stevens MFE, about the low reputation and the lack of recent curriculum reviews.

I would greatly appreciate any additional information you could provide to help me make a decision, even if it's a small or obvious one.

Thanks for reading this and have a good day!

 

[lighnity]

Thanks very much for your vote! It would be helpful if you write any reason