COMPARE University of Minnesota MFM vs Claremont Graduate University MSFE vs North Carolina State University MFM

[Tsao]

I'm an international student who was admitted to the FE programs of those three universities. Which one should I choose? By the way, I read bigbadwolf's comment on MFM program at Minnesota. Is this program really that bad?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

North Carolina State University - Master in Financial Mathematics - Reviews

quantnet.com

Claremont Graduate University - MS in Financial Engineering - Reviews

quantnet.com

NCSU MFM - North Carolina State University - MSc Financial Mathematics

I just received an admission to NCSU but I have absolutely no idea about the quality of the program. According to the rankings, NCSU is ranked at 11-15. But, no one in the forum seems to talk about it very much. Are the quality and reputation of the program not as up to par compared to some...

www.quantnet.com

D

COMPARE Thread 'UCLA MFE vs CGU MFE vs USC MFE'

3/22/11

I have been accepted to all three. I have visited all three a number of times and I am currently of the state of mind that CGU>USC>UCLA. UCLA MFE is pretty new and it shows. It is a year long with a summer internship, which essentially makes it a 9 month program. This seems way too short for any sort of graduate degree. Also, it didn't seem very organized at all. USC MFE has a nice curriculum but I find it strange that its in the school of engineering. In my eyes, this is both good and bad. Bad for obvious reasons, its in the school of engineering which clearly doesn't have much to do with...

• docahk
• Replies: 40
• Forum: Program Reviews & Comparisons

Those are reviews/comments made directly by graduates of those programs.

I haven't come across any grad of the Minnesota program, save BBW.

 

[bigbadwolf]

I'm not a grad of that program, Andy.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I'm not a grad of that program, Andy.

Let me correct myself.
I haven't come across anyone with first hand knowledge of the Minnesota program, save BBW.

 

[bigbadwolf]

For the U of M program, a review of the teaching performance of the gent teaching 5001 and 5011 in the fin math program can be found here:
http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=1154438&page=1
(Pages 5 and 6 contain reviews of his teaching of 5001 and 5011).
He is teaching things like the Banach-Tarski paradox in 5011; his lectures can be found online. He knows no finance. What he worships is the grading curve as an end in itself: the curve gives the illusion that something of worth is being taught. He was also the director of the "program" till last year -- and if the reviews of his teaching performance look abysmal, his administrative performance was even worse. Not sure whether he was shunted aside or left of his own accord.

To put it euphemistically, the program is low quality. To be more blunt, it is a pile of steaming horse manure. Anyone who wants to splurge $24,000 and a year of his/her life is welcome to do so. I'm interested in the placement rate.

One has to wonder about a math department and a university that allows such a travesty of a program to continue. I know there are other bad programs as universities fall over themselves to cash in on the quant training bonanza, but so far this is the worst program I've seen.

 

[Tsao]

Thank you Andy! I got a lot of useful information here these days. I read those comments on CGU and NCSU yesterday. Thanks anyway. The alumni list on Minnesota's site looks really terrible. It shows that very few of them found jobs in financial institutions. CGU may be my best choice, though its tuition is much higher. (I got a 20% discount)

 

[bigbadwolf]

The alumni list on Minnesota's site looks really terrible. It shows that very few of them found jobs in financial institutions.

Some of the alumni already had those jobs before they started the "program."

 

[Tsao]

Thank you, bigbadwolf. Those comments on the professor really frightened me. In addition, a program with no alumnus in the industry seems no use to me.

 

[bigbadwolf]

Thank you, bigbadwolf. Those comments on the professor really frightened me. In addition, a program with no alumnus in the industry seems no use to me.

But wait! There's more! Courses 5031 and 5032 are known as "Practitioner's Seminar": this euphemism allows the program to literally drag people -- er, "industry professionals" -- off the street to lecture the students. No teaching experience or savvy required. The programming courses -- 5091 and 5092 (introducing and using C#) -- and the courses based on Hull -- 5021 and 5022 -- are competently taught. But that is not remotely enough in today's competitive market. The alumni are not going to get jobs.

The people who put together this half-assed program are culpable for cynical indifference to the plight of the suckers (er, students) who graduate from the "program." This is in sharp contrast to programs like Baruch.

 

[Tsao]

Thanks again! I found it a great place here with many members who are always ready to help others. Thank you! Your advice helped me a lot!

 

[clarkchao]

Thanks again! I found it a great place here with many members who are always ready to help others. Thank you! Your advice helped me a lot!

Hi
I also got admission of NCSU and CGU...I don't know which one I should choose...

can you list some reasons for choosing CGU?

thanks a lot

 

[Tsao]

NCSU is also appealing:
1) You have access to the courses of North Carolina University and Duke University.
2) Less tuition.

The reasons I choose CGU:
1) It looks like that I can have more opportunities to get in touch with people in business in CGU. I know Los Angeles is not a financial hub too. But compared to Raleigh it's more competitive. I think there are more internship opportunities at LA. Also a current student in CGU told me they provide even the first year students with chances to get internship in New York and Boston, though you have to be a top student.

2) I'm majored in math here in China, so I like the flexibility of the courses in CGU. I'm good at math and programming.(I hope I can say so. I've learnt all the math course listed on the site, but maybe not that deep and thorough) I wish I can be more farmiliar with financial markets and learn to use those mathematical tools.

3) I know it's difficult for international students to find a job in the US. But I won't give up without a try. I keep learning and practising English everyday, trying to talk to native speakers as often as possible. It means nothing that you get a 120 in toefl test when you are communicating with someone in English. So I'd like to go to somewhere near a metropolis, where it's easier to hunt for jobs and internships.

I think it depend on your goal to make a decision. May be I'm wrong on something I mentioned above. Please correct me if you know something different. If I want to go back home after graduation, I'll choose NCSU because it'll cost me less.

 

[clarkchao]

NCSU is also appealing:
1) You have access to the courses of North Carolina University and Duke University.
2) Less tuition.

The reasons I choose CGU:
1) It looks like that I can have more opportunities to get in touch with people in business in CGU. I know Los Angeles is not a financial hub too. But compared to Raleigh it's more competitive. I think there are more internship opportunities at LA. Also a current student in CGU told me they provide even the first year students with chances to get internship in New York and Boston, though you have to be a top student.

2) I'm majored in math here in China, so I like the flexibility of the courses in CGU. I'm good at math and programming.(I hope I can say so. I've learnt all the math course listed on the site, but maybe not that deep and thorough) I wish I can be more farmiliar with financial markets and learn to use those mathematical tools.

3) I know it's difficult for international students to find a job in the US. But I won't give up without a try. I keep learning and practising English everyday, trying to talk to native speakers as often as possible. It means nothing that you get a 120 in toefl test when you are communicating with someone in English. So I'd like to go to somewhere near a metropolis, where it's easier to hunt for jobs and internships.

I think it depend on your goal to make a decision. May be I'm wrong on something I mentioned above. Please correct me if you know something different. If I want to go back home after graduation, I'll choose NCSU because it'll cost me less.

Ok! Thanks for sharing your ideas with us.

I got your idea.

Actually I was considering the captial market of LA. I know, compared with LA, Raleigh was not brilliant. But I do not know whether students in Raleigh have great chances to find intern in Charlotte.

I also come from China, doing actuarial science during my undergraduate. It seems there's not many topics about the program in NCSU in chasedream, and the same can be said about that there.

several friends of mine who studied in Columbia (MSOR). They recommended me financial mathematics in NCSU because they know little about such program in the west coast of USA, except for Stanford.

For your reason "Also a current student in CGU told me they provide even the first year students with chances to get internship in New York and Boston, though you have to be a top student.", I also have heard of that. But I am not sure about this. It is better to ask it by email to double confirm it.

Location ...location ...maybe poly is better than these two? I have no idea.

I do not know how to choose these.Really