Columbia MFE Columbia MFE: is it worth it?

[GordonGekko]

Hi everyone,

I am an European student and have been admitted to Columbia MFE. I am waiting to hear from NYU but now I am facing the issue of deciding whether going to the US (Columbia or NYU) is worth the price. The tuition fees are non neglectable and life is pricey in NYC. And what about jobs? Considering the pending situation, I am not 100% sure to find a nice job in trading/quant desks right after the end of the program.

I really need some advice here. Can you tell me about the jobs? The quality of this program, outside the reviews on quantnet? The salaries? The opportunities in NYC?

Thanks a lot.


As a side note, for students desperatly waiting to hear from Columbia MFE, I was invited to interviews round only last thursday, did the interview on Monday and received the decision the same day. Don't lose hope.

 

[danb]

Hi everyone,

I am an European student and have been admitted to Columbia MFE. I am waiting to hear from NYU but now I am facing the issue of deciding whether going to the US (Columbia or NYU) is worth the price. The tuition fees are non neglectable and life is pricey in NYC. And what about jobs? Considering the pending situation, I am not 100% sure to find a nice job in trading/quant desks right after the end of the program.

I really need some advice here. Can you tell me about the jobs? The quality of this program, outside the reviews on quantnet? The salaries? The opportunities in NYC?

Thanks a lot.


As a side note, for students desperatly waiting to hear from Columbia MFE, I was invited to interviews round only last thursday, did the interview on Monday and received the decision the same day. Don't lose hope.

hi i got into columbia mfe and had similar questions. i found the post "Columbia MSFEreject, redirected to MSOR" really helpful (a post by catchuec towards the end). i would wait to hear from NYU, just to know your options. you can also see my post "please help: uchicago finmath/ucberkeley mfe/columbia mfe/cornell mfe". two people kindly commented on the job prospects from columbia mfe.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

The ultimate goal for these terminal professional degree is to obtain a job doing what you are trained and pay a fortune for. Anything less than that is a big disappointment.
You know how much the degree will cost you, what you will learn. The uncertainties will be in the shape of the job market a year from now and what resources will be available to you to be successful.
While paying up to 100K in hope of find a job on Wall Street is always a risky proposition, especially now, at the very least you should know what to expect at each program.

A call to either program to get answer to all of your questions would be a very natural thing to do?

 

[bullion]

I wonder how would anyone with either inside info (current students) or authority (working professional) will come out and invalidate Columbia MFE's worth. It's all relative, and it's just plain offensive...

But of course, a education is a value proposition you should scrutinize closely.

Can you tell me about the jobs?

No one can tell you flat out that NO YOU WON'T GET A NICE JOB IN TRADING/QUANT DESKS, but I can safely tell you (hopefully without much backlash from the QuantNet crowd) that you need to distinguish yourself for such coveted positions. Demand for traders is quite low these days in comparison to demand for developers. CMU, NYU, and Baruch have historically done so with strong focus on computing, and Columbia seem to rely more on its overall brand name. The value of the brand differs drastically at different location and phase of the economy cycle, and that's a judgment only you can call based on your ability and willingness to take those risks.

The quality of this program, outside the reviews on quantnet?

catchuec has recently done a survey on current students and alumni. You should contact him or students directly for more information. Alternatively, you can go through their curriculum and find each course description / syllabus to decide for yourself

The salaries?

The salaries depends on your level of entry and product groups. Although Columbia MFE does not publish its placement status in details, most graduates who have obtained comparable positions as bank associates can expect a starting base salary of around 100k (the number is closely watched by peer banks and MBA schools). Hedge funds can be much more lucrative but also more volatile.

The opportunities in NYC?

This is a lot harder to gauge. There will always be opportunities for the best candidates, and there will always be people left in the cold. The banks are reducing head counts, so even the best programs are seeing changes to their recruitment partners and placement demographics. My conversations with admissions staff seem to indicate that recruitment for MFE graduates are seeing major shifts from sell-side to buy-side firms. But whether you can secure a job on the buy-side will depend primarily on how good of a trader you are. So if you can make money in the stock market, then you'll have nothing to worry about.