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NCSU MFM Compare: NCSU MFM vs UW CFRM vs UIUC MSFE

Which program is better for a quant career?

  • Total voters
    11
Allison_

Allison_

Joined
2/23/24
Messages
5
Points
1
Hello guys! I am an international student applying for 24 Fall master's programs. I have received these admissions. I wonder which program is better for me if I want to build my quant career in the US after graduation.

here are the pros and cons I have summarized for now:
NCSU:
pros: great employment rate and salary; small cohort; moderate tuition (around $61000);
cons: university ranking;

UW:
pros: university ranking and reputation; comparatively cheap tuition (around $45000);
cons: placement data;

UIUC:
pros: curriculum arrangement (including internship project); university reputation;
cons: placement data; comparatively expensive tuition (around $78000);

please help! any suggestion will be appreciated!
 
NCSU is one of the nations best universities in the world for math and stats, you are 3 hours from Charlotte, the second largest banking hub in the USA, and NCSU has a 100% placement rate. I think you gotta go to NCSU over the other two if those are your options personally. And I would also say that being from the US, in my view UIUC is not any more prestigious than NCSU. You could potentially make the argument that in the tech field that UW is more well-known, but I don’t personally think that UW’s notoriety is observed much in the finance world.
 
Last edited:
kombuchalover said:
NCSU is one of the nations best universities in the world for math and stats, you are 3 hours from Charlotte, the second largest banking hub in the USA, and NCSU has a 100% placement rate. I think you gotta go to NCSU over the other two if those are your options personally. And I would also say that being from the US, in my view UIUC is not any more prestigious than NCSU. You could potentially make the argument that in the tech field that UW is more well-known, but I don’t personally think that UW’s notoriety is observed much in the finance world.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your detailed reply! I am really impressed by the placement of NCSU MFM program, it is also my preference. However, given the employers (in my country)' attention to QS ranking, I hesitate to choose NCSU in case I had to return to the native market to find a job.
 
Because these 3 programs are located in 3 different part of the US, they have their own local flavor on job types/employers the graduates typically get. You don't necessarily get easy access to the wide variety of jobs that people in NYC get. You can still apply and get a job in NYC if you are qualified.
Just look through their internship and job placement stats to get a better sense of where and what types of jobs to be expected out of each of them.
 
Thank you! Your advice helps a lot, I will search for the detailed placement of these programs!
 
Andy Nguyen said:
Because these 3 programs are located in 3 different part of the US, they have their own local flavor on job types/employers the graduates typically get. You don't necessarily get easy access to the wide variety of jobs that people in NYC get. You can still apply and get a job in NYC if you are qualified.
Just look through their internship and job placement stats to get a better sense of where and what types of jobs to be expected out of each of them.
Click to expand...
Thank you! Your advice helps a lot, I will search for the detailed placement of these programs!
 
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