COMPARE Carnegie Mellon University MSCF vs Stanford University MCF

[BillLi]

I don't understand any difficulty you have here. You seem to get hung up on the famous Stanford name.
You want a job, then you need to have some kind of clear idea and evidence that the program you join will provide reasonable career services.
Stanford is an academic program with no track record of placement data. Maybe most of their grads go on to PhD program or join other sectors in the Silicon Valley.
Maybe they admit only a few students each year who will be perfect PhD candidates. We just don't know.

I would urge you to ask Amy at Stanford about the numbers. Going there without knowing how you will end up post graduation is a really bad idea in this market.

Thanks Andy. I don't know which Amy you are talking about, but I am going to send the email to one of the admission staff, although I don't think I'm going to get any reply that is useful.

It is so strange that people cannot find much information about this program, even in quantnet. I guess it is because the class is small and mainly open to students in Stanford.

I really need to dig out more information before I can make the decision.

 

[BillLi]

Have you already gotten into both? Just checking, some people like to ponder choices when choices don't exist :x

I was under the impression that it was existing PhD students who do a MFE to enhance their profile at Stanford, rather than people getting the MFE to segway into a PhD.

Agree with Andy about finding out more facts. But I don't think you can go wrong with either program. I happen to think there might be an advantage to job placement at Stanford because the program is relatively smaller, but I could be wrong. I know at least Capula recruits from the Stanford MFE program because supposedly one of their senior partners is from Stanford.

And don't easily dismiss CMU's name. It might not be as prestigious as Stanford from a general view but in terms of engineering and technology, it's first class.

Thanks Neoz. You are right, both programs should be very good. It's a matter of which one best fits me. As I said, I am going to dig out more and hopefuly I can contribute some information here.
BTW, nobody would want to go through such tough choice before he is even admitted. : )

 

[neoz]

Will cost some money but if it's really that difficult, fly to both campuses and check out the vibe there. Try to sit in classes and have lunch with students etc..

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Thanks Andy. I don't know which Amy you are talking about, but I am going to send the email to one of the admission staff, although I don't think I'm going to get any reply that is useful.

Amy Duncan but it appears she no longer works for the program anymore.
Through doubtful, I would be delight to learn more if you receive anything from them. Their admission stats page have not been updated since 2011.

 

[BillLi]

Will cost some money but if it's really that difficult, fly to both campuses and check out the vibe there. Try to sit in classes and have lunch with students etc..

Too late to do so. I'm located in HK.

 

[BillLi]

Amy Duncan but it appears she no longer works for the program anymore.
Through doubtful, I would be delight to learn more if you receive anything from them. Their admission stats page have not been updated since 2011.

That's why I'm a little bit worried. That program is not trying very hard to promote itself. I guess it's because it's Stanford and the statistics department ranked no. 1. It's like "we are good so we don't care" attitude...

 

[Andy Nguyen]

The only Stanford Math Fin grad that I came across is a member here who returned and working currently in India.
You may want to track whereabouts of their graduates using the students profile pages and LinkedIn.

 

[unhappy_mscf]

Easy choice, Stanford.

 

[wzglljp]

Easy choice, Stanford.

great comment!

 

[smallberrys]

That's why I'm a little bit worried. That program is not trying very hard to promote itself. I guess it's because it's Stanford and the statistics department ranked no. 1. It's like "we are good so we don't care" attitude...

Stanford is closing down their FinMath program this year, and expecting to have an MFE-ish thing run by their MS&E department (the current FinMath program is/was run by Statistics, which may explain its more academic/theoretic reputation).

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Stanford is closing down their FinMath program this year, and expecting to have an MFE-ish thing run by their MS&E department (the current FinMath program is/was run by Statistics, which may explain its more academic/theoretic reputation).

It's breaking news if confirmed. Can you elaborate on sources, links a bit? thanks

 

[smallberrys]

Saw it in a rejection email from the program!
I have seen no other confirmation about the news,
but the email I saw was reliable.

 

[smallberrys]

I've got difficulty in choosing one between these two.
I was told that if one wants a job after graduate, CMU is the right choice. If instead, he/she wants to have the possibility of persuing a PhD, stanford is the perfect one. In other words, Stanford is regarded as more academic oriented?
My final goal is a job but not a PhD, too old to do that. Does that mean that CMU better fits me?
I don't know the placement rate of Stanford as there seems not many people talking about it. On the other hand, it's hard to give up stanford just because of its name.

Does anybody have any idea? I really need more insider's advices. Thanks a lot!

A friend who has involvement with both programs (attending, hiring from, advising) much prefers CMU graduates as versatile, practical, "parachute them into anything" sorts of people.

 

[BillLi]

It's breaking news if confirmed. Can you elaborate on sources, links a bit? thanks

Yes, it's written in the admission letter I received:
"After August 2014, please be advised that the program will transition to a new organizational structure, most likely involving the Department of Management Science and Engineering as a key partner."

I think I'm going to CMU. I cannot get any information or numbers from Stanford. I simply got no reply of my email at all.

 

[BillLi]

A friend who has involvement with both programs (attending, hiring from, advising) much prefers CMU graduates as versatile, practical, "parachute them into anything" sorts of people.

Thanks. Then that approves my decision.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Yes, it's written in the admission letter I received:
"After August 2014, please be advised that the program will transition to a new organizational structure, most likely involving the Department of Management Science and Engineering as a key partner."

I think I'm going to CMU. I cannot get any information or numbers from Stanford. I simply got no reply of my email at all.

It probably will become something similar to Columbia MSOR, no longer a Math Fin program.

 

[yuyuyuyu]

Hi guys, I received offers from both CMU and Stanford and I'm struggling between. On one hand, MSCF is a long-established and courses and career services are great. On the other hand, Stanford is Stanford. Yet there is not much discussion about the MCF online so this kind of stopping me from this program. Does anyone know about the Stanford program? Please give me some suggestions and any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[cheron_jrm]

Hello, congrats on your offers !
Indeed, CMUs is more established and will help you land a great job ! The curriculum is really strong in computing with a good education in math. On the other hand, Stanford may give you a more in-depth background in math, with a strong education in CS. However, you won’t get much help landing a job.
If you have an already strong background in stats, CS, proba... and a good CV, I think Stanford may be a good choice since you may learn top skills. If you lack in some areas, CMU’s well rounded and well structured curriculum may be better, and help you more with job seeking.

Good luck deciding !

 

[yuyuyuyu]

Hello, congrats on your offers !
Indeed, CMUs is more established and will help you land a great job ! The curriculum is really strong in computing with a good education in math. On the other hand, Stanford may give you a more in-depth background in math, with a strong education in CS. However, you won’t get much help landing a job.
If you have an already strong background in stats, CS, proba... and a good CV, I think Stanford may be a good choice since you may learn top skills. If you lack in some areas, CMU’s well rounded and well structured curriculum may be better, and help you more with job seeking.

Good luck deciding !

Thank you so much for your advice! It really makes a lot of sense. In this case, I am more towards Stanford. I feel like my initial motivation to do a graduate program is to learn more skills, and Stanford is stronger in this aspect. Then the only concern left for me is about networking. I'm definitely not good at networking. Do you think that is a deciding factor when choosing programs?

 

[Onegin]

Take this for what it’s worth, but I (working on east coast) haven’t met someone from Stanford working on the field; I’ve met UCLA, UCB, MIT, Princeton, Illinois, CMU, NYU, Cornell, etc. but not Stanford. I don’t know anything about their program. Take a close look at employment outcomes, try to do a search on linked in for alums and see what they are working on 1-3 yrs out. Be careful of choosing a school just based on reputation. Good schools can have lackluster programs, and sometimes less prestigious schools capture lightning in bottle (eg Baruch).