COMPARE Columbia - MFE vs MS&E

[Byron]

Hello everyone!

I just got my accept into Columbia's MS and E program on Saturday, and looks like I'm going to take it up. I went back and forth between MBA and MFE the last few months - and MS and E seems the perfect fit for me, so I'm quite excited about the program. We do about half the courses at IEOR in Columbia and can choose to do half at GSB, mainly at the Decision, Risk and Operations division.

Anyone else in the same boat as me? I have an undergrad in Computer Science from IIT Bombay, and have been working in Finance for close to three years, most of it as a Quantitative options trader for a fund, so MFE seemed like overkill. I'm hoping that the location, brand name and Business school tie up will open some doors to Wall Street. Would be nice to find more people who're planning to attend, or are considering. Any ideas/advice?

 

[cashcow]

hi when did you get interview?

thx

 

[Byron]

Had my interview on 11th. Got the accept email on 26th. Looks like no one else in the forum is attending the program.....

 

[onthesc]

if you dont mind me asking, what is your career plan after the program (i know you said wall street, but what?) I'm just kind of curious because some of my classmates in undergrad contemplated about doing similar programs (I think duke has one that they market pretty hard, and some other schools). However, they are engineers and they are doing the program to get a managerial postilion in engineering firms. Congrats either way.

 

[Byron]

The Duke MEM and Stanford MS & E are great programs, but they differ in structure to Columbia's program - Duke's is run by the business school, and Stanford has a separate department. Columbia's comes under IEOR, in collaboration with DRO at the business school - so it is/can be made more finance centric, probably helped by being located in New York. I have a few friends working in finance who also applied, but didn't get in .

As for me - I have an open mind about career plans. The program just seemed to suit the kind of coursework I wanted to do - I didn't think I need programming or basic "introduction to finance" courses. I'm keener on more in-depth courses on Risk, Stochastic Calculus and very interested in taking up some business school courses while keeping myself technical. NY location helps too. I'm confident that I'll have the coursework arsenal to compete with FE grads for finance/quant jobs after it, given that I do one already. If some other great option opens up, I can live with that too! Any inputs?

 

[coolharvard]

incorrect... Duke's MEM program is in Engineering school, and its curriculum is less quant oriented than Columbia and Stanford's programs.

 

[Byron]

My bad. Thanks for the correction.

 

[cashcow]

Hello everyone!

I just got my accept into Columbia's MS and E program on Saturday, and looks like I'm going to take it up. I went back and forth between MBA and MFE the last few months - and MS and E seems the perfect fit for me, so I'm quite excited about the program. We do about half the courses at IEOR in Columbia and can choose to do half at GSB, mainly at the Decision, Risk and Operations division.

Anyone else in the same boat as me? I have an undergrad in Computer Science from IIT Bombay, and have been working in Finance for close to three years, most of it as a Quantitative options trader for a fund, so MFE seemed like overkill. I'm hoping that the location, brand name and Business school tie up will open some doors to Wall Street. Would be nice to find more people who're planning to attend, or are considering. Any ideas/advice?

hi, Can I ask what is your background? such as GRE GPA ...

thanks

 

[sandy]

Hey!

Even I got into Columbia's MS & E Prog and I'm looking forward to accept the offer.. Did u get any funding?

 

[sritama]

Hi, I too have received admission offer for the Master's program from Columbia MS & E. I do not have any prior experience working in the Financial domain, but I am currently doing the CQF program (Certificate of Quantitative Finance - www.cqf.com). I would like to make a career switch in the financial industry - a technical job in any of the financial companies will be a good option since I have worked as a developer and a quality engineer in the software industry for the past 9 years. Does someone has any idea about my prospect of getting jobs in the financial industry after the completion of this program?

 

[roni]

@Forza and others,

Do you know what the class size they expect for the MSOR program? or what was the class size last year?

Thanks.

EDIT: oops, wrong thread

 

[Forza]

@roni,

In terms of the incoming MSOR class size, no idea. I e-mailed Adina to see if there is an open house coming up, and if there is one, I will be there and that will be one the my questions to ask.

In terms of actual head count in the courses, they vary from 30 to 200 based on what I can see on the Columbia IEOR course website. Hope that helps!

Are you still interested in the program? I thought you were going to Brauch for sure?

 

[roni]

@Forza

I thought so, too. But I got the impression that no matter where you go, the chances that you get a quant job(e.g. strategies-desk quant) straight out of grad school with no work experience are low. Actually, the vast majority of them are PhDs.
So, now I'm considering all three options all over again.

 

[Forza]

Ah ok, well sounds good. Let us know if you are coming to MSOR.

 

[sandy]

Did anyone confirm the admit? I was required to pay $2500 non-refundable deposit after accepting the offer. How abt you ppl? And what are u planning for the housing there? any fundaes??

 

[sandy]

Hello everyone!

I just got my accept into Columbia's MS and E program on Saturday, and looks like I'm going to take it up. I went back and forth between MBA and MFE the last few months - and MS and E seems the perfect fit for me, so I'm quite excited about the program. We do about half the courses at IEOR in Columbia and can choose to do half at GSB, mainly at the Decision, Risk and Operations division.

Anyone else in the same boat as me? I have an undergrad in Computer Science from IIT Bombay, and have been working in Finance for close to three years, most of it as a Quantitative options trader for a fund, so MFE seemed like overkill. I'm hoping that the location, brand name and Business school tie up will open some doors to Wall Street. Would be nice to find more people who're planning to attend, or are considering. Any ideas/advice?

Hey! Are you accepting the offer? Any funding? Did u send the financial docs required for I20?

 

[Byron]

Yes! Accepting. Haven't had time to look at the I20 requirements as yet.

 

[CCN]

Hi,

I am a rising senior and will be applying to grad schools next semester. One of the schools on my list is Columbia. I am deciding between MFE and MS&E programs. Both of them are under IEOR dept. I'm leaning more toward MFE. However, I would like to get your opinions on whether I am making the right choice.

How does the job aspect look for both programs? The courses in both programs look very interesting, so that's not a problem. Getting a good job after graduation is what I worry about the most. To me it seems like MFE prepares you for a quant job while MS&E prepares you for a consulting job. Am I correct? I'm fine with both kinds of job, so that's not really a problem. Another thing is that the MS&E program is very new. Is it well respected in the job market? How is it compared to Stanford MS &E program?

Thank you!!! any comments are welcome

 

[coolharvard]

MS&E is a joint program between IEOR dept and Business School.

But you're right that MSFE is more quant oriented, so you better have a solid math background.

 

[Jen]

I apologize for reviving a threat that's a year old.
For a finance career, do you think Columbia's MS&E will open doors, or should I do MSOR with finance track instead?
Currently, I have an offer from MS&E.

Thanks!