COMPARE Cornell MFE vs Columbia MAFN

[williamyu]

I have a hard time deciding which program to attend. I wonder if you guys have any suggestions. As a Chinese student, I am a little concern about the placement after graduate in Columbia MathFin program because I was told it admits lots Chinese students and it is a short one year program. For Cornell FE, I like the courses better because it is less mathematic intense and have more choices in term of course selection, but it is really expensive, the total cost is around 90,000. It is a 1.5 year program and I wonder if it worth the money?

 

[bronson]

I have a hard time deciding which program to attend. I wonder if you guys have any suggestions. As a Chinese student, I am a little concern about the placement after graduate in Columbia MathFin program because I was told it admits lots Chinese students and it is a short one year program. For Cornell FE, I like the courses better because it is less mathematic intense and have more choices in term of course selection, but it is really expensive, the total cost is around 90,000. It is a 1.5 year program and I wonder if it worth the money?

Hello williamyu,
When did you receive your admission notice from Cornell? Are you on the tracker?

 

[roni]

I emailed Columbia MAMF about a month ago to ask them about their placements and never got a response back. Maybe I should give them a friendly call :\
Check out the reviews we have here:

Columbia University - MA in Mathematics of Finance - Reviews

quantnet.com

Cornell University - Master in Financial Engineering - Reviews

quantnet.com

Also, I am not really sure about Cornell's placements, for Dec 09 they put 70% at graduation and for 2010 Summer Internships the number is 90%(a research with a professor is also considered an internship). These number don't really tell much.

 

[Feynman-Kac]

Hello everyone, I'm a student from China and recently I've got admission from both programs. It's pretty hard to make a decision between them. Better program VS better name.

I'd like to work in U.S. in S&T or hedge funds, and probably go back to Shanghai or Hong Kong in several years.

Two specific things to ask.
1 Does the name Columbia really dominate Cornell in NYC financial industry? To what extent?
2 If I fail to find a full-time job after the graduation of MAFN, but an intern without H1B, can I stay in U.S. with OPT?

Thanks for your advice! Any info about these two programs will be helpful!

 

[Zhanyang]

Hello everyone, I'm a student from China and recently I've got admission from both programs. It's pretty hard to make a decision between them. Better program VS better name.

I'd like to work in U.S. in S&T or hedge funds, and probably go back to Shanghai or Hong Kong in several years.

Two specific things to ask.
1 Does the name Columbia really dominate Cornell in NYC financial industry? To what extent?
2 If I fail to find a full-time job after the graduation of MAFN, but an intern without H1B, can I stay in U.S. with OPT?

Thanks for your advice! Any info about these two programs will be helpful!

I have the same situation with you. I got admitted by both programs, but still not decide how to choose. When do you have to reply for Columbia?

You can stay in U.S. with OPT for the internship. I am not sure how long you can stay. For engineering graduate, the OPT is 12 months and for business graduate, the OPT is 3 months.

 

[SDass]

cornell

 

[KagamN]

vote for cornell

 

[fallenmonk]

I'm in the same situation too. I heard that columbia's career service is abysmal if that helps.

 

[Zhanyang]

Hello everyone, I'm a student from China and recently I've got admission from both programs. It's pretty hard to make a decision between them. Better program VS better name.

I'd like to work in U.S. in S&T or hedge funds, and probably go back to Shanghai or Hong Kong in several years.

Two specific things to ask.
1 Does the name Columbia really dominate Cornell in NYC financial industry? To what extent?
2 If I fail to find a full-time job after the graduation of MAFN, but an intern without H1B, can I stay in U.S. with OPT?

Thanks for your advice! Any info about these two programs will be helpful!

Correction: The OPT time is 29 months for Engineering and 12 months for Business if you find a job.

 

[Feynman-Kac]

I'm in the same situation too. I heard that columbia's career service is abysmal if that helps.

True, but I always think the most important thing is your own ability not the career service. That's why I hesitate.

 

[Feynman-Kac]

Correction: The OPT time is 29 months for Engineering and 12 months for Business if you find a job.

Got your message, we can contact through renren~

 

[Feynman-Kac]

Seems like Cornell got much more fans~Could anyone shoot some solid reasons to surrender me?

 

[Zhanyang]

Got your message, we can contact through renren~

What is your Chinese name?

 

[Sherlock]

I did Cornell and I am quite happy with it. I would be glad to talk to you in details if you have questions - shoot me a message. I believe our program is much more applied than the MAFN which is what might help you in finding a job. I have friends from the FE at Columbia and I personally like the Cornell curriculum and experience more. In terms of finding a job - I would say there is no difference between Columbia and Cornell FE -> not sure how is it with MAFN.

 

[mist]

You can stay in U.S. with OPT for the internship. I am not sure how long you can stay. For engineering graduate, the OPT is 12 months and for business graduate, the OPT is 3 months.

I think this is wrong. Any international students in USA will have 12 month long OPT period. And, STEM students will get additional 17 months.
And, some math finance programs are STEM, and some are not. So, do thorough search if you want that extension.

 

[wzglljp]

you may not be allowed to take courses at the biz school if you department is OR or Math

or can take biz school courses easily, and taking courses...does not really matter

 

[Feynman-Kac]

I think this is wrong. Any international students in USA will have 12 month long OPT period. And, STEM students will get additional 17 months.
And, some math finance programs are STEM, and some are not. So, do thorough search if you want that extension.

Thanks for your correction. One cannot hold an OPT without a job or intern, right?

 

[Feynman-Kac]

I did Cornell and I am quite happy with it. I would be glad to talk to you in details if you have questions - shoot me a message. I believe our program is much more applied than the MAFN which is what might help you in finding a job. I have friends from the FE at Columbia and I personally like the Cornell curriculum and experience more. In terms of finding a job - I would say there is no difference between Columbia and Cornell FE -> not sure how is it with MAFN.

Glad to hear from you! Where did most people from Cornell MFE go to? Cuz personally I quite like to get a job in buy-side, like quant or trading assistant in HF or AM . Does the skill set of Cornell MFE fit this goal?

 

[jimsmart]

I truly agree with you on that what matters most is our own ability. Besides, as far as I know, Cornell enjoys a nice placement mainly because the Director Victoria tries to put the students in risk-related departments in Citi-Bank. Pay attention, risk-related departments not S & T or hedge funds! So if you are interested in risk management, let's vote for Cornell. If you are interested in front office positions, I believe Columbia will have advantages due to the name, the alumni network, the location and so on. Last thing to say, don't rely too much on others like career service, focus on the improvement of your hard skills and interpersonal skills.

 

[Feynman-Kac]

I truly agree with you on that what matters most is our own ability. Besides, as far as I know, Cornell enjoys a nice placement mainly because the Director Victoria tries to put the students in risk-related departments in Citi-Bank. Pay attention, risk-related departments not S & T or hedge funds! So if you are interested in risk management, let's vote for Cornell. If you are interested in front office positions, I believe Columbia will have advantages due to the name, the alumni network, the location and so on. Last thing to say, don't rely too much on others like career service, focus on the improvement of your hard skills and interpersonal skills.

I partly agree that. Do you have a solid record that showed a lot of placement of Cornell MFE is in sell-side risk? Also, the one-year duration of MAFN is a big problem. To directly find a quantitative full-time in the Street is much harder for a Chinese student like me...