Internship opportunities are less as compared to job opportunities. Also most of the folks who are not able to get paid internships are mostly the ones with no prior relevant work experience. That does not mean that people don't find good jobs. From my perspective the best job if you graduate from an ivy League school would be eithet a trader or front office analyst/associate. However, as per the stats only 10 percent around 7-8 folks are able to get these kind of roles. Most of them end up going to banks. Columbia was my dream university and few days back i was very confident about joining it(mathfin for now) but the return on investment i see is not good. Also my research tells me that it won't be an intelligent bet. But again with the Columbia brand name you can definelty bag good jobs as well. At the end of the day i think it all comes to what skills you have because no course can instill that in you within 12-15 months timespan.
I would rather not do an MFE at all. The MFE program works great for folks with fewer work experience and gives them a decent chance of landing a front office position. If a grad school is your only path to a front office position in US, i would rather look at quanty mba like Wharton/Booth which have pretty established channels towards funds. If you persist that an mba is out of question and mfe is the only rout, i would prefer Columbia. The location and name is significantly stronger and honestly, a difference of 20 or 30k is insignificant if you are willing to compromise your lifestyle for a couple of years after graduating. Of course, all of this is under the assumption that you are an equally competitive candidate for a buyside position.
The difference is just not just 20k or 30k. Its much more than that (gatech fees plus living expenses = 55k-60k). Also i think Wharton/Chicago mba would be best for PM kind of roles not if someone wants to become a trader.
I see. I also have an offer from Cornell Tech Masters in Computer science. Do you think that's better?
Just my two cents. I feel it's better to get a generic CS Math Degree than a super specialisation like FE, unless you're very certain about the future goals which FE can help you achieve.
Ga Tech graduates end up in NY as well. It's just that you have to work harder and network than you would do when you are in a college located in NY.
Hey Thanks for the post link , Transcending provided a detailed breakdown of comparing Columbia and Chicago but didn't really talk much about Gatech.
Actually I'm in a different situation than yours. I've applied in the third round for chicago and already have my admit from gatech. I've dropped a note to Chicago asking for an early result.
Yeah to a certain extent I agree with what you mentioned Math being more important for such roles.
