COMPARE Cass VS NYU Tandon

[nick_nicholas]

Hi everyone,

I have been offered from both Cass business school MSc in Financial Mathematics and NYU Tandon (previously name was NYU Poly) - MS in Financial Engineering. I would like to have some information and advice from this community. Which program is better in terms of reputation, academic , etc?

The followings are my additional information.
I would probably be received the scholarship from my employer which I have contingent to come back and work for my employer after graduation.

I have already paid the deposit for Cass since January which was a great amount of money. Is the program at NYU Tandon worth to let my deposit be forfeited?

Any comments would be appreciated.
Many thanks in advance.

 

[mhy]

Do you want to work in NYC or London?

 

[MichaelLewis]

Hi everyone,

I have been offered from both Cass business school MSc in Financial Mathematics and NYU Tandon (previously name was NYU Poly) - MS in Financial Engineering. I would like to have some information and advice from this community. Which program is better in terms of reputation, academic , etc?

The followings are my additional information.
I would probably be received the scholarship from my employer which I have contingent to come back and work for my employer after graduation.

I have already paid the deposit for Cass since January which was a great amount of money. Is the program at NYU Tandon worth to let my deposit be forfeited?

Any comments would be appreciated.
Many thanks in advance.

Here's a Quora response that might help you out:

Why is financial engineering at NYU Poly not very 'looked up to'? - Quora

 

[nick_nicholas]

Do you want to work in NYC or London?

I would got a scholarship from my employer with the contract to come back and work for the company in my homeland which is not NYC and London.

 

[boost]

I just learned that Peter Carr is the new director for the MFE program at Tandon. Should really increase the reputation of the program

 

[pingu]

I just learned that Peter Carr is the new director for the MFE program at Tandon. Should really increase the reputation of the program

could you provide a link?

The following link is from NYU Courant which people think is orders of magnitude better:

Peter Carr Homepage

 

[boost]

could you provide a link?

The following link is from NYU Courant which people think is orders of magnitude better:

Peter Carr Homepage

I don't think its official yet, hence no link. He is executive chair at Courant but will be director at Tandon.

 

[pingu]

I don't think its official yet, hence no link. He is executive chair at Courant but will be director at Tandon.

come back and post the link if/when this becomes a reality.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I will post some announcement if/when this becomes official.
In the meantime, I suggest @nick_nicholas to decide on whichever program based on its own merits. Research on which program has courses that better match your career objectives. Research which program has a better career services and supporting network that leads you there.
I believe programs like Tandon will take a few years to improve even with a new director. Changes take time and perception takes even longer.

 

[Mensa]

I just learned that Peter Carr is the new director for the MFE program at Tandon. Should really increase the reputation of the program

Hey, how did you hear about this information?

I cannot believe that.

 

[Philip_Mitterrand]

Peter Carr is a puffed up academic and relies on his colleagues for the Math!

Being said that, the best programs are the ones with a good student/faculty ratio. You are not going to gain much being in a hordes of 100+ Asian students who barely speak the language, no class cohesion and I would doubt the very intent of the programs that has more than 20+ students.

 

[mhy]

Peter Carr is a puffed up academic and relies on his colleagues for the Math!

Being said that, the best programs are the ones with a good student/faculty ratio. You are not going to gain much being in a hordes of 100+ Asian students who barely speak the language, no class cohesion and I would doubt the very intent of the programs that has more than 20+ students.

What MFE program that you know of has less than 20 students?

 

[Philip_Mitterrand]

Sussex FRIA - Taught by Carol Alexander. Class size 8-10 but selective.
Compared to Imperial/LSE you get a lot of face time with teachers.

 

[Mensa]

Sussex FRIA - Taught by Carol Alexander. Class size 8-10 but selective.
Compared to Imperial/LSE you get a lot of face time with teachers.

Sorry, I have never heard about the university - Sussex. I just searched the program. Do you really think that's a typical MFE, Math Finance, or Quantitative Finance program?

Look at the curriculum:

This is more like a general Finance and Investment program.

I would doubt the very intent of the programs that has more than 20+ students.

This statement almost excludes 99% MFE programs in the world.

 

[mhy]

Sussex FRIA - Taught by Carol Alexander. Class size 8-10 but selective.
Compared to Imperial/LSE you get a lot of face time with teachers.

That's definitely on the extreme end. The smallest program I know of in the US is Princeton (30 students per year) and there's a strong relationship between the faculty and students there.

CMU has 40 per year/campus (NY + Pittsburgh). I have never had an issue with access to professors / TAs at CMU, even in the NY campus. I know people who are close to professors and those who are not. Many of the faculty go out of their way to accommodate students but are disappointed because no one shows up to office hours or contacts them outside of class.

As you mentioned, culture may be an issue though. Asian cultures especially emphasize obedience and submission to authority and students who have never been educated outside Asia may not be as interested in getting connected with the faculty. I've seen this both in undergrad and grad school.

 

[pingu]

Peter Carr is a puffed up academic and relies on his colleagues for the Math!

I don't think you know what you are talking about.

 

[Philip_Mitterrand]

Mensa-
It's a semi quant program. If anyone can solve the attached course samples then they shouldn't be even doing a MFE as you already have enough grips !

Mhy-
The guy who teaches one of the modules was an ex-faculty for Princeton MFE & taught the same course up there.

The point I'm raising you shouldn't be judging a program by the content only rather the exit ops available and networking abilities. Most MFE Programs (excluding the top brands) are a massive rip off and a good ole scam targeted at Asian students. There are smarter ways to burn $40K and be jobless.

 

[pingu]

There are smarter ways to burn $40K and be jobless.

Unless this site is wrong:

https://www.quantnet.com/mfe-programs-rankings/

It's more like > $50K

 

[Ken Abbott]

Peter Carr is a puffed up academic and relies on his colleagues for the Math!

I have worked with him at several firms. You couldn't be more wrong. he's one of the best in the business.

 

[Philip_Mitterrand]

Ken,

Perhaps your working relationship with him gives better insights than mine.