COMPARE MIT MFin vs Chicago MSFM

[billyvan]

Yet I still wanna remind you one thing which is the majority placement of well-known mfe porgrams, except exceptional students from cmu or baruch, is basic quant jobs in sell side. This may sound discouraging, but this is indeed the truth. Well-known here includes cmu, baruch, both 2 in columbia, nyu fm, cornell, uchicago, mit, where over 60% students end up in banks. Top buy side recruiters usually aim at phds or US bachelors.

 

[Youlan Dai]

Yet I still wanna remind you one thing which is the majority placement of well-known mfe porgrams, except exceptional students from cmu or baruch, is basic quant jobs in sell side. This may sound discouraging, but this is indeed the truth. Well-known here includes cmu, baruch, both 2 in columbia, nyu fm, cornell, uchicago, mit, where over 60% students end up in banks. Top buy side recruiters usually aim at phds or US bachelors.

Do top buy side accept students with two master degrees (like LSE+Cornell MFE or CMU MSCS + Cornell MFE)?

 

[nqh]

Yet I still wanna remind you one thing which is the majority placement of well-known mfe porgrams, except exceptional students from cmu or baruch, is basic quant jobs in sell side. This may sound discouraging, but this is indeed the truth. Well-known here includes cmu, baruch, both 2 in columbia, nyu fm, cornell, uchicago, mit, where over 60% students end up in banks. Top buy side recruiters usually aim at phds or US bachelors.

So, it doesn’t matter what program I take, there’s few chances to get in a buy side firm?

 

[Michsund]

Yet I still wanna remind you one thing which is the majority placement of well-known mfe porgrams, except exceptional students from cmu or baruch, is basic quant jobs in sell side. This may sound discouraging, but this is indeed the truth. Well-known here includes cmu, baruch, both 2 in columbia, nyu fm, cornell, uchicago, mit, where over 60% students end up in banks. Top buy side recruiters usually aim at phds or US bachelors.

This seems desiptive on the fact that people from many schools do get buy side jobs. Many asset managers hire out of many mfe’s. While I agree many good jobs are mostly taken by Ivy League PhD and bachelors degree holders many get food jobs. I know mit places some people at citadel and Princeton had placements at cubist and citadel as well. Also many programs have placements in aqr so I wouldn’t say that there’s no hope.

 

[Michsund]

I’m gonna do a mit and uchicago comparison tomorrow so look out for that since many people have been asking me for that.

 

[billyvan]

This seems desiptive on the fact that people from many schools do get buy side jobs. Many asset managers hire out of many mfe’s. While I agree many good jobs are mostly taken by Ivy League PhD and bachelors degree holders many get food jobs. I know mit places some people at citadel and Princeton had placements at cubist and citadel as well. Also many programs have placements in aqr so I wouldn’t say that there’s no hope.

You mean deceptive? All right, indeed as you said some exceptional mfe students got incredibly amazing job in top companies like citadel, which I never deny. But I also mentioned them too. Of course hope is always there, but the competition is extremely fierce. And I doubt as for these lucky dogs, whether the program or their own amazing capacity finally put them in such positions. Anyway, job seeking is always the work up to our own, but not the program name.

 

[billyvan]

So, it doesn’t matter what program I take, there’s few chances to get in a buy side firm?

Well, top buy side may be true as your words. But you see, there are still myriad trading firms in chicago, which is not attractive enough to these amazing guys, but pretty good position for mfe students as a career starter. If your target is only top companies, well, whichever then. But if you dont aim so high, uchicago would be a better place to begin with. Just like why cornell seems to be able to place more students in banks? Location. Uchicago owns the location merit, take advantage of that if you really love trading!

 

[billyvan]

Do top buy side accept students with two master degrees (like LSE+Cornell MFE or CMU MSCS + Cornell MFE)?

As fresh graduates, I have to say only a few are lucky enough to be recruited. I saw some citadel offers on baruch's placement statistics, but didn't pay much attention to cmu's. But after you have gained experience, the gate might be broader. So I would recommend uchicago still, may have more chance to gain relevant exp.
And you know what? Citadel locates in chicago, hahahahaha.

 

[Michsund]

Your saying banks as if they are such bad things. Buy side isn’t everything, some people wish to stay on the sell side. Goldman Sachs qis is an example of a very prestigious banking position. Just make the best of your opportunity and you’ll end up where you want, simple.

 

[billyvan]

Your saying banks as if they are such bad things. Buy side isn’t everything, some people wish to stay on the sell side. Goldman Sachs qis is an example of a very prestigious banking position. Just make the best of your opportunity and you’ll end up where you want, simple.

Banks bad? Of course not mate! If I misled you in such a way then my apologies. I'm spending hours talking about buy-side positions because the thread holder wants a hedge fund job. Hedge funds, not banks. As for general quant jobs, I have no preference personally.

 

[Simon.ZY]

First of all, the salary has huge bias towards trading jobs. The bonus can be acually higher than the base for a good year. I would say the salary might not be a very trustable figure to consider across all programs. The big banks have higher base, but limited bonus. However, trading firms have lower base, but unlimited bonus as up side. No one asked any corporate finance questions during a quant interview. MIT program is not as quantitative as UChicago FinMath program. So if you want to do corporate finance/ investment banking, MIT program might be a better choice.

 

[nqh]

I’m gonna do a mit and uchicago comparison tomorrow so look out for that since many people have been asking me for that.

Excuse me, but... did you do such comparisson you mentioned before? If you did, I'd pretty much like to see it.

 

[chaplin]

STEM not really changing the minds of too many employers...if they are comfortable sponsoring folk, they will do so - but if they are not, longer STEM eligibility is not enough to make them hire non-US, because the STEM program has its own set of somewhat messy procedures - including the eVerify database which many firms are just finding too invasive and / or too much hassle... sorry to be a downer but i don't want folk to make a big school decision based on STEM status...

 

[Michsund]

I mean I would find out what the internship at both schools. I mean I was very surprised with NYU courants internship rate. I know only cmu and Princeton’s rates so I can’t comment but i would do some heavy research. It would show how well a school does during hard times and as more hard times are probably ahead I would really find this important

 

[PongoShib]

I mean I would find out what the internship at both schools. I mean I was very surprised with NYU courants internship rate. I know only cmu and Princeton’s rates so I can’t comment but i would do some heavy research. It would show how well a school does during hard times and as more hard times are probably ahead I would really find this important

94% for UChicago, for MIT of the 46/47 who sought internships 100% got them

 

[Michsund]

Then I would say that MIT is a very prestigious school but doesn’t offer to much more upside from uchicago. If uchicago is that cheap maybe I would consider it, but if MiT is a dream school then I would choose that. Ultimately my point is uchicago is the more logical choice while MIT could be a consideration if you wanna be a part of that network at a much higher price.

 

[sanchan]

I believe you should consider two factors here:

1. Course content: MIT program is more Finance oriented (I believe it's MFin program) while UChicago is more mathematics and programming oriented. Your academic background should help you decide here. Obviously, your prospective career path depend on your choice here.

2. University brand vs Scholarship tradeoff: Certainly MIT has a better brand over UChicago but to me, almost full scholarship at UChicago makes it win over MIT's brand. If you don't really worry about the tuition fees, MIT is the choice

 

[ActuaryQFI]

I was in the same position as you when I was choosing between Columbia MFE and Chicago MSFM with probably the same amount of scholarship as you about 2 months ago. I ended up choosing Chicago's program. I did not apply to MIT's program because I am very determined to study financial engineering and am less interested in general finance and ethics. In your case, since MIT's program has less of a focus on quantitative finance, I would say that this comparison becomes even trickier. Ultimately, you are choosing between two great programs, each with a different focus. Congratulations and Good luck!

 

[Reusquant]

Hey guys! I recently have received UChicago's MSFM offer and yet have been waiting for the MIT's decision. But I have been wondering about the comparison between the two programs. As we all know, UChicago's MSFM is more related to quantitative finance and the potential job opportunities are more related to prop shop tradings or hedge funds and asset managements firms, while MIT Mfin has good school prestige and good curriculum selection opportunities. Personally, I could not really tell if I am more into very straight quantitative tradings after graduation. I have seen a lot of relatively negative reviews from the graduates of MIT Mfin program, which is about the large class size and separation from cultural groups, etc. So, could you guys give me some insights about which program to choose from, considering the potential salary after graduation and the CDO comparison, etc. Thank you guys!

 

[londongarfield]

Hi Guys, currently I have received offers from both institutions with scholarships offered from both programs. I have aspirations in the quantitative buy-side space, with interests in both trading and research-orientated roles, which program do you guys think is more suitable for me? 18-months track for MIT.