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COMPARE Georgia Tech QCF vs Boston University Mathematical Finance

Joined
11/30/14
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3
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11
Hi,

I got an admit from both Georgia Tech and Boston University. I also got an 18k Scholarship from BU. I need help in evaluating the two Universities. GaTech is better ranked than BU and also the program director is taking a lot of effort in making the program better ( is what I've heard) whereas BU has the advantage of being in Boston(financial city). I want a course which is more focused to the Math and Finance aspect of the course and not very technical. I've heard that the finance oriented courses is not Gatech's strong point. I would really appreciate if you guys could weigh in the pros and cons and help me in taking a informed decision. Thanks.
 
So how do I evaluate?

Well, there's the rub: How to make an evaluation when the reviews are mostly fake? If you go with ranking programs like Carnegie-Mellon, Princeton, Berkeley, Baruch, you'll be okay (though with the exception of Baruch, they cost an arm and a leg). Once you venture outside the top 8 or 10 programs, things get dicey. If any program is stressing its "affordability," just trash the application form -- what they mean is the (relatively) low cost is meant to compensate for shitty teaching, worthless faculty, and non-existent job prospects. Likewise, if a program is too generous with tuition assistance and scholarships, try to find out why. Remember that in the USA you never get more than what you pay for -- but you can get substantially less. Baruch is the only exception in the area of FE.
 
Well, there's the rub: How to make an evaluation when the reviews are mostly fake? If you go with ranking programs like Carnegie-Mellon, Princeton, Berkeley, Baruch, you'll be okay (though with the exception of Baruch, they cost an arm and a leg). Once you venture outside the top 8 or 10 programs, things get dicey. If any program is stressing its "affordability," just trash the application form -- what they mean is the (relatively) low cost is meant to compensate for shitty teaching, worthless faculty, and non-existent job prospects. Likewise, if a program is too generous with tuition assistance and scholarships, try to find out why. Remember that in the USA you never get more than what you pay for -- but you can get substantially less. Baruch is the only exception in the area of FE.

Whats your take on UW and UIUC? I thought they were supposed to be pretty good programs… Also, I didn't see MIT on your list, I guess that's a no-brainer.
 
Whats your take on UW and UIUC? I thought they were supposed to be pretty good programs… Also, I didn't see MIT on your list, I guess that's a no-brainer.

My list wasn't comprehensive. I'm not competent to talk about some of the second-tier programs -- it goes without saying that there are many good ones (in terms of content and teaching). Another complicating feature is that different programs emphasise different things and some of them may not strictly speaking be hard-core quant programs but still be very good for what they do (e.g., Princeton's MSF).
 
Baruch has a batch size of 20~25. How high are the chances of an international candidate having 2 years of relevant work ex to get into Baruch MFE?
 
dat bu review was like watching a comedy. but yeah, out of top 7, you are kinda throw money away
 
Although I agree with the premise that if admitted to a top 7 program you should go there, I would not rank BU as a bad program. I also took part of the 2014 class (just graduated), and I could say that I learned a lot, had a great time and did not cheat.

Although I decided to come back to my own country to work, I did have an offer to work in risk management in a major company in Boston but declined to join. Also, many friends (including international ones) have great offers in the US. I'd say the only waste of money is coming here and then cheat in homework and exams. People often forget that what you are paying for is education.

A number of programs are equally shitty (if not more so). It's just that people don't bother writing reviews. And a lot of the reviews one does see are obviously concocted, not authentic.

Also, as a counter argument to this, more often an angry customer writes a bad review on a product than a satisfied customer writes a good one.
 
Even I assume that Boston MF would be a better choice as far as the curriculum is concerned. (at least the way it appears to me as an international student from India) . But the quality of teaching , reputation, ROI are also the things we worry about (only seniors can reply to this).No idea how the degree and the graduates are perceived in the financial industry particularly around the financial district which is not very inaccessible to MIT and Harvard grads
 
Admit from BU MF(with 10k schol) .. Waiting for NYU (both campuses), Columbia and Rutgers ..;)
 
But the quality of teaching , reputation, ROI are also the things we worry about
I can say quality of teaching is very good (with the exception of a few courses). However, you need to be willing to bust your ass off. No one could come here and think they can take it easy and have a respectable GPA. I think this should be true for most FE degrees.

Reputation I can say is not the best. There are strong connections with few companies, but expect that to have a good placement after school you will need to network a lot.

ROI is unclear, it depends on each student. I have a very biased view on this since most of my friends already are placed with a good salary, but I know this is not true for everybody. Of course, for students who cheat ROI is incredibly low, not only because they are not learning anything, but also because they won't be able to speak intelligently about finance in an interview (so probably wont get a job); so basically they are paying for a sheet of paper and respectable GPA, but that is it.
 
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I can say quality of teaching is very good (with the exception of a few courses). However, you need to be willing to bust your ass off. No one could come here and think they can take it easy and have a respectable GPA. I think this should be true for most FE degrees.

Reputation I can say is not the best. There are strong connections with few companies, but expect that to have a good placement after school you will need to network a lot.

ROI is unclear, it depends on each student. I have a very biased view on this since most of my friends already are placed with a good salary, but I know this is not true for everybody. Of course, for students who cheat ROI is incredibly low, not only because they are not learning anything, but also because they won't be able to speak intelligently about finance in an interview (so probably wont get a job); so basically they are paying for a sheet of paper and respectable GPA, but that is it.

Thanks diego for the honest reply.. It seems you are a grad from the BU program ..but I got to talk to some seniors from other FE programs . This is what they exactly quoted "The program has a decent reputation in the industry but your prior experiences, networking matter a lot (in fact this is the maker or breaker when it comes to placement) " Since many people are out there who have relevant experience and complete know-how of the job market so reputation of the grad degree gives you an upper hand but nevertheless the vicinity to financial district and a holistic pedagogy adds to its advantage.
If possible , can you please throw some light on how effective the career service at BU is?
 
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