COMPARE Columbia MFE vs Columbia Math Finance

[KPC]

Thanks, KPC!
I will most likely be taking MAFN for the upcoming Fall, so your post has been very helpful and encouraging.
Could you also comment on the career prospects at MAFN, provided that you have programming background and take the right courses like you have done? I'm coming from electrical engineering background, and thus pretty confident with MATLAB, C, C++, Python, Java. How tough is it to get that first interviews?

Career prospects in MAFN in general at columbia suck man ! infact i did my undergrad in electrical engineering too :P but i have a strong programming background ! if you have a programming background then you will get shortlisted. There are lot of people who will tell you that you need to start looking for jobs from day 1. I wouldnt recommend it because with 95% confidence you'd fare badly in the interview. Try to learn the stuff in the first semester ! and then start applying from the 2nd semester !

 

[KPC]

Thanks a lot KPC
I hope incoming or students interested in the Columbia MAFN will take good notes of your suggestion.
Can you talk a bit about career services there? Is there anything the program (not the university) providing to help their students with career preparation? I have a quick question here and some good info is coming in.
Is the 9 month duration of the course a big problem with students trying to find internships and jobs?

I hear a lot of people mention that IEOR dept is a lot richer than the Math dept so they can afford to hire dedicated career staff, practitioners, etc while the Math dept seems to be run like a traditional math dept. What is your take on this?

Career services suck andy. The program doesnt offer any help. I dont know how to answer the question whether the 9 month program is good or bad it varies from student to student. if the student is smart then 9 months is adequate, if the student isnot smart then i dont think even 1.5 years is adequate. People who can tackle the mathematical rigour can handle the 9 month duration. Now coming to internships and jobs i'm really not sure as i'm not looking for jobs(i'm a PHD aspirant) but from a neutral perspective graduating in 9 months, i think you will have more time to look for jobs once u graduate ! Again it depends on what job one needs !

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Fair point. Do you think you are in a position to comment on the type of applicants the Columbia MAFN program is a good fit for? And not good fit for?
Same question for Columbia MFE program, since you are somewhat familiar with their courses.
Thanks

 

[KPC]

If the student is familiar with programming then MAFN is a good program provided he takes the good courses. if the student doesnt have any programming background then he might consider taking MFE and take up programming courses in MFE which i'd not recommend strongly. If one wants to learn programming one has to take up courses(Basic programming and design and analysis of algorithms)in the computer science department and not in the IEOR department.

 

[KPC]

This is a very subjective issue ...Students who can handle the pressure should opt for MAFN, and those who cant should opt for MFE and peacefully complete the program in 3 semesters ! If one wants to get into asset management and risk management then one should opt for MFE, there are no courses on asset/risk management in the MAFN program. Asset management and risk management are generally over subscribed so only the IEOR students can get registered into these courses.

 

[vashok]

agreed with kpc, actually it doesnt matter which program you are enrolled in. The employers dont really distinguish between MAFN MFE or any of the other programs at columbia. It is just viewed as a quantitative degree from columbia. What matters is whether you know the fundamentals ( stochastic methods, linear regression, time series, etc). You can be in any of the programs and take any class you want at Columbia. I think i know who KPC is we have taken classes together haha

 

[diegosanaz]

Just to know, my dream program would be MAFN al Columbia, I have begun my application. The course of Application Programming for FE would be a most for the profile I would like to have at graduation, but it says that it is for IEOR students only. Were the classes you took from IEOR also like this or are this rules new??

 

[Actually G]

Hi, I will likely be enrolling in Columbia's MAFN program this Fall 2014.

I wanted to know if the coursework in the MAFN program that covers topics found in the Columbia's MSFE core course IEOR E4007: Optimization Models and Methods for Financial Engineers?

Any information/thoughts in this regard would be helpful.

Thanks

 

[pingu]

I wanted to know if the coursework in the MAFN program that covers topics found in the Columbia's MSFE core course IEOR E4007: Optimization Models and Methods for Financial Engineers?

Is this a question?

 

[Actually G]

Is this a question?

Sorry - there was a typo -- but to clarify:
I basically want to know if the courses part of the MAFN program would adequately cover the topics in the E4007: Optimization Models and Methods for Financial Engineers, or if I should take a separate optimization course as an elective in the MAFN program.

 

[Jedison]

Don't know if this has been addressed already but the FE is not (necessarily) a one yr program. As per the website http://ieor.columbia.edu/curriculum/259?tid=329. In the past I believe courses started in the summer for incoming students whereas now they don't start until the fall. You can opt to continue courses the following summer to graduate in a year or complete an internship instead and do it in 1.5 yrs.