COMPARE Master Programs Comparison: Which quant program to choose?

aksrandhawa said:
please every body forget football and concentrate on MF..i m seriously duoble minded..is there any 1 out there who can remove my confusion????? :sos:
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All joking aside, I would pick BU. Rutgers isn't a bad school, but the fact that they have 2 competing programs gives me a funny feeling. That's just my 2 cents. But if you aren't looking to land a high-paying and work on the Street, USC isn't a bad choice. Good weather for the most part. I wouldn't go to Cali though, I'm not to keen on the earthquakes.
 
Sanket Patel said:
All joking aside, I would pick BU. Rutgers isn't a bad school, but the fact that they have 2 competing programs gives me a funny feeling. That's just my 2 cents. But if you aren't looking to land a high-paying and work on the Street, USC isn't a bad choice. Good weather for the most part. I wouldn't go to Cali though, I'm not to keen on the earthquakes.
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Concerning rutgers, i just looked it up now and noticed that the MSMF program has been boosted with additional faculty and a new course on credit derivative modelling. The advisory board is pretty strong too.
 
of course Princeton. two of my friends are in their program, they really enjoy their life there.
 
When making decision, you need to get input from people who actually attending or graduated from the program. People here are as helpful as how much they know about these programs. It's clear that not many people who have first hand experiences about the programs you ask so as desperate as you need help, I'm afraid you need to do real work on your own now.

Call up the people at that program, ask them to let you talk to current/past students, attend the open houses, email and talk to the directors.

I did all those things when I researched the Baruch program. I scouted the net for Baruch alumni and talked to them extensively. I asked them hard and soft questions. I emailed and talked to the director in person. I attended several open house. I met current students in and out of the class. Having current students who spent considerable time answering my questions speaks volume about the Baruch program.

There are plenty of people out there giving advice who have no clue what they are talking about (less here than other forums). You need to know who to take advice from.

Decision to join a program is not made by a poll here or by popularity. I'm afraid that you haven't done much research the right way. Once you do, you should be the one who knows more than most of us.

I should point out that back when I was doing research about the Baruch program back in 2006, there was no Quantnet. I used the only available source then (Global-Derivatives). I learned very quickly that the level of noise there is extremely high. It's very difficult to get reliable signals.
So I was in your shoes and understand your frustrations. On the same token, my experience has been that you should not rely too much on forum opinions.
 
Mathematics: Graduate Program: Mathematical Finance Program: Student Profile

I found their admission stat a little bit confusing. in 2006, 18% out of 150 was admitted. but the intake was 25. i am not sure whether the number accounted for two classes. But it was, then the class size is extremely small which is a gd thing i suppose. on the other hand, if it was only one class, the enrollment rate was ridiculously high.

I just dont understand why they would not publish the stat. When I emailed the program coordinator about the placement stat and other info, she didnt reply at all.

did anyone out there reapply the next year even if they had admit in the first place?

I am a third year. So taking another year to finish my BS doesnt really matter.
 
perrewperrew said:
I found their admission stat a little bit confusing. in 2006, 18% out of 150 was admitted. but the intake was 25. i am not sure whether the number accounted for two classes. But it was, then the class size is extremely small which is a gd thing i suppose. on the other hand, if it was only one class, the enrollment rate was ridiculously high.
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18% of 150 means they admitted 27 students in which 25 students enrolled. High yield rate which can be explained by a number of ways. One is that those students only applied to USC. Second is that they only got admit there.
I just dont understand why they would not publish the stat. When I emailed the program coordinator about the placement stat and other info, she didnt reply at all.
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I would be surprised if she does reply. It's rare to see a program's director actually responds to some strangers bugging them about some placement stat.
 
she is not the director. She is just a coordinator who is responsbile for communicating with applicants and answer their questions. I thought these are part of their jobs. maybe I am wrong. But then I dont know where I can get my questions answered.
 
Hi,

I have been admitted to both the programs, which one should I go for.

Please provide your comments.
 
Congratulations!!! You should go to the program you think it's better for you. At least, you have the choice. There are plenty of applicant without that choice but again that choice is completely yours. You make your decision and you live with it.

Think about this, if you are indecisive making that decision, why somebody will trust you with their money to make decisions for them (manage it for them)?
 
@ alain,

I know I have to make the decision.....but I am seeking everyones view/opinion
 
I can express my preference but it should in no way affect your decision. So I won't do it :)

You need to do a side by side comparison of everything in the two programs:
courses offered, course syllabi, schedule flexibility, employment assistance, tuition, location

As we all know, NYU part-time is different from full-time in terms of placement assistance, were you admitted to full-time or part-time program?
Do you want to live in the financial center or prefer living in a smaller city far from major employers?
 
I was admitted to both the full time programs

@ alain,

I think experience/views is always good to know :)
 
Well :)

I would go to NYU because I like NY, I want to be close to employers, it is probably a bit cheaper than CMU. More important : as a person interested in Stats and with Stats background I would choose NYU since it offers full semester courses in Time Series, Statistical Arbitrage, Auto/Algo Trading, Portfolio Management. If your interests are not similar to mine, then my post is of no use to you. Anyway, my profile is not typical for MFE :)
 
Hey everyone,

This forum is being of a good help for me so once again I'd like to thank all of you for being so active in answering my questions

I'm currently in touch with a Columbia OR grad student. He graduated 1 year ago and is now working as an associate trader within BNP Paribas, a French IB in NY ...

According to him, the coursework is very flexible except the 3 mandatory math classes that every OR student has to take. He did the same thing and took most of FE classes enabling him to write on his resume: OR with FE specialization

He also had the opportunity to choose between Columbia OR, Princeton's MFIN and Berckley... He ended up going to Columbia because all the programs were offering quite the same classes, Princeton was in 2 years which was discouraging then Columbia has great reputation in NYC. Their bad placement record this year is due to bad market conditions due to subprime crisis... Many good programs are having bad placement record this year due to market conditions, I don't think Columbia is the only one...
 
If Columbia allows you to major in OR and take most of FE courses, then it could be almost no different from their FE program. :)

In that case, I do not understand why the FE program suggests going for OR in case of rejection.
I would understand it if by doing so they make you take classes like supply chain management that might not always attract the top students.
 
hsyam said:
I was admitted to both the full time programs

@ alain,

I think experience/views is always good to know :)
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Asking for experiences and views is very different from asking about where you should go.
 

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