I get your point about the numbers not providing the complete picture but it is not the idea of why we provide such data.
It's not intended as a definite table of good and bad programs but rather to provide more reference data for people to make a more informed choices. In this niche field of quant education that is so lacking in transparency, this should be a welcome addition, don't you think?
As I state on our
site's mission, one of our goals is to promote transparency among programs training future quantitative finance professionals.
If you have access to a secret system to help our members better gain insight into these programs, I would be the first person to want to know about it.
Also, let me just say that getting those numbers is no trivial task. For the majority of people here, this is the first time and the only place they see those numbers.
The numbers are interesting in its own right, least they are guarded like trade secrets. I had to jump through hoops, talk to multiple sources, dig through hundred of archived email and documents. About a handful of them are public and the rest is my private sources.
More than a dozen program directors are now aware at these numbers since yesterday, either via our
Sept newsletter or by my direct email. None has said my numbers are wrong. When asked if my calculation is in the right ball park, one said simply "Yup". More than one admitted that this is the first time they see the numbers of competing programs.
I have numbers of other programs but the data points are far and few between to have a historical view of how they progress over the years.
And that's exactly why it's interesting to put the numbers together in one place. You have a better sense to how each program goes in and out of favor, what events explain the sudden jump and drop in each program in a specific year.
Again,
you said something similar in the Acceptance Rate discussion, students will always try to make an ill-advised judgment on whatever numbers they can get.
My (our) job is not to make a decision for people, but rather provide much needed information and let people decide for themselves. We are all adults and I can't be held responsible for someone else costly $100K mistake.