COMPARE Cornell MFE vs Columbia MAFN

[pingu]

columbia MAFN has much better employment statistics than cornell, at least for summer 2017.

how do you know this?

 

[qiangouzi]

how do you know this?

from current Columbia MAFN and Cornell students

 

[floseraphim]

from current Columbia MAFN and Cornell students

Don't agree. Almost every one in Cornell MFE find summer internship in U.S or HK (big bank) in 2017. How could Columbia MAFN outperform that? According to my knowledge, the advantage of Columbia MAFN is from its location and the advantage of Cornell is from its better career service and less people.

 

[y zhang clyde]

Hi all,

I have been admitted to the above two programs, and I am having a hard time choosing between them.

For Cornell, I heard their job placement (career service) is way better than Columbia; and the course contents are more practically related to FE. But Cornell locates in a small town hundreds of miles away from New York, would location be a big problem?
For Columbia, well, its career service is "abysmal", quoting from one thread of this forum. Its job placement is a bit too untransparent with only company names and no actual statistics. And Columbia is highly "theoretical", that's also something I am concerned about, I am so tired of learning math all the time : ( However the Columbia brand is too attractive...

I really appreciate any advice, thank you so much!

 

[ApolloChariot]

Columbia MAFN is likely an absolute joke. They use weasel language on their website when giving placement information, gives no stats or anything useful whatsoever, and is significantly inferior to similar programs in the same university.

Doesn't seem to be much of a decision imo

 

[Vin_]

Cornell is 4 hours from NYC, not really a deal-breaker and the third semester is in NYC anyways. I, for one, wouldn't mind being in a campus away from the hustle of NY initially.. gives you space to focus on the curriculum.

Its fine as long as the brand can get you an interview call (or doesn't shun away) and I dont think Cornell is far behind if not equal. That said, I can relate to the Columbia premium, will be tough to reject.

I'd suggest you to look deeply into the curriculum and the courses you're offered in both programs, no point in suffocating your coursework with something you are not too keen to learn, or doesn't help you in the future.

 

[y zhang clyde]

Cornell is 4 hours from NYC, not really a deal-breaker and the third semester is in NYC anyways. I, for one, wouldn't mind being in a campus away from the hustle of NY initially.. gives you space to focus on the curriculum.

Its fine as long as the brand can get you an interview call (or doesn't shun away) and I dont think Cornell is far behind if not equal. That said, I can relate to the Columbia premium, will be tough to reject.

I'd suggest you to look deeply into the curriculum and the courses you're offered in both programs, no point in suffocating your coursework with something you are not too keen to learn, or doesn't help you in the future.

Thank you!

 

[y zhang clyde]

Columbia MAFN is likely an absolute joke. They use weasel language on their website when giving placement information, gives no stats or anything useful whatsoever, and is significantly inferior to similar programs in the same university.

Doesn't seem to be much of a decision imo

That's what I am concerned about exactly, I think I'll choose Cornell then Thank you

 

[Novicequant]

As the deposit ddl for Cornell MFE is approaching, I have to make a decision in this week. I would say both programs are prestigious, but I would like to hear some advice on how to choose between these two.

some of my personal background: undergraduate in Hong Kong, major in finance, minor in mathematics, little programming background (trying my best to catch up), would like to seek internships and graduate job in the US.

Columbia: pros: Big name, US News No.3, bigger alumni resources(maybe?) great location, more convenient to find jobs.
cons: bad career service, class size/cohort size is too large, internal competition. Admitted Chinese students are not as selective as Cornell(heard from others). not flexible curriculum.

Cornell: pros: great curriculum, good one-on-one career service, small class size, slightly better MFE program ranking.
cons: really bad location, brand name not as good as Columbia (especially in China).

I have read another post comparing Cornell, Columbia and NYU, however, there seem to be few discussions on Cornell and Columbia, mostly discussing whether NYU MFE is good or not. So I would like to hear more advice on choosing between these two programs.

By the way, is NYU MFE still sending out offers? There seems to be no decision given out since March, but I haven't got my result (my transcript arrived on Feb, before that so many offers had been sent out)

Thank you all in advance.

 

[Youlan Dai]

. I have withdrawn NYU MFE, very boring program, very bad attitude of their coordinator.

 

[ApolloChariot]

. I have withdrawn NYU MFE, very boring program, very bad attitude of their coordinator.

If you are talking about who I think you're talking about, that's completely understandable. Nobody in my program wanted to deal with this person. None.

 

[Novicequant]

. I have withdrawn NYU MFE, very boring program, very bad attitude of their coordinator.

Are you suggesting choosing Cornell?
And why would you say NYU MFE very boring and the coordinator has a bad attitude( r u referring to how he defended NYU MFE in another post or something else), from what I heard, Peter Carr has made that program completely different and much better than before.

 

[ApolloChariot]

Are you suggesting choosing Cornell?
And why would you say NYU MFE very boring and the coordinator has a bad attitude( r u referring to how he defended NYU MFE in another post or something else), from what I heard, Peter Carr has made that program completely different and much better than before.

It really is irritating how much the line "Peter Carr has made the program much better" is repeated here. There are some egregious evidence of astroturfing (not necessarily you) such as new accounts being made to convince students how great the program is right before the deadline to accept.

NYU Tandon School of Engineering - MS in Financial Engineering - Reviews

Just look at the reviews, there are EIGHT 4/5 star reviews in a 7 day span in 2017. No reasonable person would think it is most likely a coincidence.

 

[Youlan Dai]

It really is irritating how much the line "Peter Carr has made the program much better" is repeated here. There are some egregious evidence of astroturfing (not necessarily you) such as new accounts being made to convince students how great the program is right before the deadline to accept.

NYU Tandon School of Engineering - MS in Financial Engineering - Reviews

Just look at the reviews, there are EIGHT 4/5 star reviews in a 7 day span in 2017. No reasonable person would think it is most likely a coincidence.

Marketing Strategy. Play people's fantasy I love, said Trump

 

[Youlan Dai]

Are you suggesting choosing Cornell?
And why would you say NYU MFE very boring and the coordinator has a bad attitude( r u referring to how he defended NYU MFE in another post or something else), from what I heard, Peter Carr has made that program completely different and much better than before.

No, I am just referring to the coordinator, not Peter ! He is OK.

 

[Novicequant]

It really is irritating how much the line "Peter Carr has made the program much better" is repeated here. There are some egregious evidence of astroturfing (not necessarily you) such as new accounts being made to convince students how great the program is right before the deadline to accept.

NYU Tandon School of Engineering - MS in Financial Engineering - Reviews

Just look at the reviews, there are EIGHT 4/5 star reviews in a 7 day span in 2017. No reasonable person would think it is most likely a coincidence.

Marketing Strategy. Play people's fantasy I love, said Trump

Hi both,
I do thank your kind reply, but I would appreciate it more if you can give more advice on deciding between Columbia and Cornell, instead of NYU MFE, after all, I didn't receive the offer from NYU MFE.

 

[ApolloChariot]

No, I am just referring to the coordinator, not Peter ! He is OK.

Yes I know who you’re talking about. If anything you’re being too generous; the inexcusable rudeness and vitriol shocked me as a student. Experiences with that person were universally negative.