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CMU MSCF CMU MSCF seems to have a perfect mix of..

Joined
12/16/14
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CS, probability and mathematical modeling and 'buy-side' emphasis in terms of careers that I am looking for.
However its rather expensive at ~ 81K.
What FE programs does anyone know of with a similar programming content?
Coming at from the other angle, are there any CS programs with a strong finance emphasis?

Thanks in advance
 
CMU MSCF is losing (at least) two tenure-track/tenured faculty members in math finance this summer. Ask their program or senior professors in math finance. Applicants should be aware.
 
What kind of programing does CMU do? C++?
Why does it matter? You should be good enough to pick up any widely used language at your new job. My personal belief is that CMU is a watered down MS in CS and a watered down MBA combined.
 
Why does it matter? You should be good enough to pick up any widely used language at your new job. My personal belief is that CMU is a watered down MS in CS and a watered down MBA combined.

It is nothing of the sort. The program is heavily math-oriented and programming is only used to put the theory into practice.

There are 4 programming classes and they are very different from anything you might see in an MS CS. There are very few classes that a typical (non-quantitative) MBA could take and survive - corporate finance and presentation skills, and maybe macro. Definitely not the math or statistics classes. There's little overlap between MSCF and MBA / MS CS.
 
Why does it matter? You should be good enough to pick up any widely used language at your new job. My personal belief is that CMU is a watered down MS in CS and a watered down MBA combined.

Non sense, man.

You can say anything related to math is a watered down advanced MATH degree, anything related to computer/IT is a watered down advanced CS degree.

You seem to ignorant about the word "inter-discipline", which does not simply join different degree programs together.

In CS degree, you never learn how to implement financial models in computer program, how to do simulations, numerical methods for derivatives pricing. Meanwhile, not every CS technology is applicable to the financial world. Similarly, MBAs never learn stochastic calculus for finance, optimization models, etc. Overlaps indeed exist, but their orientations are totally different.

Where there is a demand, there is a supply. That's why MFEs emerged.
 
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Why does it matter? You should be good enough to pick up any widely used language at your new job. My personal belief is that CMU is a watered down MS in CS and a watered down MBA combined.
Whatever you say.
 
CMU MSCF is losing (at least) two tenure-track/tenured faculty members in math finance this summer. Ask their program or senior professors in math finance. Applicants should be aware.

Please see the below response from Professor Steve Shreve:

"The twenty-five half-semester courses in the MSCF program are taught by nineteen Carnegie Mellon faculty from across four departments. In addition, we have the assistance of industry practitioners in several of these courses. Two of the Carnegie Mellon faculty are leaving at the end of this academic year. Each of these professors taught one course in the MSCF program. One of these courses was the elective Advanced Derivative Models, and it will be replaced by a new elective, Statistical and Machine Learning II. The other course is Stochastic Calculus for Finance I, and a new instructor has already been selected. We are constantly updating our curriculum to provide our students with the skills they need to succeed in the rapidly changing financial services industry. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that we update the MSCF curriculum and/or change instructors in courses." -- Steve Shreve
 
Please see the below response from Professor Steve Shreve:

"The twenty-five half-semester courses in the MSCF program are taught by nineteen Carnegie Mellon faculty from across four departments. In addition, we have the assistance of industry practitioners in several of these courses. Two of the Carnegie Mellon faculty are leaving at the end of this academic year. Each of these professors taught one course in the MSCF program. One of these courses was the elective Advanced Derivative Models, and it will be replaced by a new elective, Statistical and Machine Learning II. The other course is Stochastic Calculus for Finance I, and a new instructor has already been selected. We are constantly updating our curriculum to provide our students with the skills they need to succeed in the rapidly changing financial services industry. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that we update the MSCF curriculum and/or change instructors in courses." -- Steve Shreve

Two things are very common:
A. tenure-track faculty come & go, but it takes a while - possibly years - to replace. MS programs assign their courses to lecturers/adjuncts as cheap & fast alternatives (& they might actually teach better).
B. tenure-track faculty come & go, CMU is not alone. I doubt if students care even if they're informed.
 
It's funny how the presumably official response does not say what they're replacing the two leaving math finance profs with (lecturers? adjuncts? professors who don't know/care about finance?)

Meanwhile, another program has a big acquisition:
Finance & Risk Engineering at NYU Tandon School of Engineering·

We would like to introduce the new Chair of the Finance and Risk Engineering department here at the Tandon School of Engineering: Dr. Peter Carr.

Seen here shaking hands with his predecessor, Professor Charles Tapiero, Dr. Carr was previously the Managing Director, Global Head of Market Modeling for Morgan Stanley, and also the Executive Director of the Masters program in Mathematical Finance at the NYU Courant Institute of Mathematical Science. Previously, Dr. Carr served as a faculty member at Cornell University.

Dr. Carr is a top international researcher in the area of financial engineering, where his specializations include research on derivatives and the modeling of volatility. He possesses a unique ability to bridge the world of academic research and the professional finance community. Dr. Carr was named the Quant of the Year by Risk Magazine and was honored as the Financial Engineer of the Year by the International Association of Financial Engineers and Sungard. He is also the past recipient of the ISA Medal of Science.

We look forward to Dr. Carr’s leadership in raising the department of Finance and Risk Engineering to even higher levels of excellence. Please join us in welcoming Dr. Carr to our community, and we wish him nothing but success.
 
It's funny how the presumably official response does not say what they're replacing the two leaving math finance profs with (lecturers? adjuncts? professors who don't know/care about finance?)

Meanwhile, another program has a big acquisition:
Finance & Risk Engineering at NYU Tandon School of Engineering·

We would like to introduce the new Chair of the Finance and Risk Engineering department here at the Tandon School of Engineering: Dr. Peter Carr.

Seen here shaking hands with his predecessor, Professor Charles Tapiero, Dr. Carr was previously the Managing Director, Global Head of Market Modeling for Morgan Stanley, and also the Executive Director of the Masters program in Mathematical Finance at the NYU Courant Institute of Mathematical Science. Previously, Dr. Carr served as a faculty member at Cornell University.

Dr. Carr is a top international researcher in the area of financial engineering, where his specializations include research on derivatives and the modeling of volatility. He possesses a unique ability to bridge the world of academic research and the professional finance community. Dr. Carr was named the Quant of the Year by Risk Magazine and was honored as the Financial Engineer of the Year by the International Association of Financial Engineers and Sungard. He is also the past recipient of the ISA Medal of Science.

We look forward to Dr. Carr’s leadership in raising the department of Finance and Risk Engineering to even higher levels of excellence. Please join us in welcoming Dr. Carr to our community, and we wish him nothing but success.

group_clapping.jpg
 
Please see the below response from Professor Steve Shreve:

"The twenty-five half-semester courses in the MSCF program are taught by nineteen Carnegie Mellon faculty from across four departments. In addition, we have the assistance of industry practitioners in several of these courses. Two of the Carnegie Mellon faculty are leaving at the end of this academic year. Each of these professors taught one course in the MSCF program. One of these courses was the elective Advanced Derivative Models, and it will be replaced by a new elective, Statistical and Machine Learning II. The other course is Stochastic Calculus for Finance I, and a new instructor has already been selected. We are constantly updating our curriculum to provide our students with the skills they need to succeed in the rapidly changing financial services industry. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that we update the MSCF curriculum and/or change instructors in courses." -- Steve Shreve

I have to say, that's a condescending message (it's sounds like "we make changes all the time, we don't have to *you*). It also suggests that the 2 tenure-track profs are leaving as a *consequence* of the change of curriculum. I don't know, maybe they're leaving for better jobs elsewhere. Sometimes no response is better than a bad response...

And then, NYU Tandon's transparent positive & exciting announcement....what a contrast.
 
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