MSF/MFE program selection, ideas guys

[AaronPierce]

Hi there, I'm an international student and I have been admitted to several different masters' programs. Just want to hear your advices on which program I should accept.

First one is University of Maryland. I got an admission from its Master of Science in Finance program. The program is held in DC campus. Too many Chinese, heared there will be more than 100 students in there and most of them will be Chinese. Also the program is too short, it only last for 1 year. Besides, DC is not a major financial center. It is a political center. Don't know how much it can help me find a job. The good thing is, it is a fairly good university.

Second one is Rutgers University in New Brunswick. I got admitted to its Financial Statistics and Risk Management program, which is held in the Statistics department. The course setting is attractive, but considering the program starts accepting students from this fall, placement is unclear.

Third one is the Master of Science in Financial Engineering program in Polytechnic Institute of New York University. Got a scholarship of $9,000. The program lasts for 2 years. Good news is that maybe, hopefully, I can get a NYU diploma by my graduation, stating that I graduate from New York University School of Technology and Engineering, instead of Polytechnic Institute of NYU. Bad news is the good news is not for sure. The program is best located among all three programs above mentioned. I can also select 2 or maybe 3 courses from NYU Courant Institute.

Your advices, ideas, thank you!

 

[lonely]

@aaron,

I thought this program is 3 semester long, between how much poly degree cost?Getting rid of Polytechnic Institute would be great actually. Now looking at your list Poly seem better option among others, but I heard it also has very large class size, plus most of the students are from some unknown colleges in India and Chinese

 

[AaronPierce]

@aaron,

I thought this program is 3 semester long, between how much poly degree cost?Getting rid of Polytechnic Institute would be great actually. Now looking at your list Poly seem better option among others, but I heard it also has very large class size, plus most of the students are from some unknown colleges in India and Chinese

I contacted several students in Poly and they said the class size is around 70 students in 2009 and 2010. This year it will be probably the same number of students accepted there. So I guess the info presented on Quantnet is false.

Regarding class composition, I heard about half of students will be Chinese and very few Indian students. Nowadays Chineses students are everywhere.

 

[Paul Mithouard]

I contacted several students in Poly and they said the class size is around 70 students in 2009 and 2010. This year it will be probably the same number of students accepted there. So I guess the info presented on Quantnet is false.

Regarding class composition, I heard about half of students will be Chinese and very few Indian students. Nowadays Chineses students are everywhere.

Why not Rutgers? it seems like a good school. i do not know about the placments but theyr are pretty aware of quantitative finance, since they have 2 programs

 

[lonely]

@aaron

that's a good news, I thought it was 200+ seeing quantnet info. But for job search you will be own your own, positive side is that you will be based in New York so you can network and interview a lot, that helps big time

 

[alain]

... since they have 2 programs

Correction, they have 3 programs.

 

[AaronPierce]

Why not Rutgers? it seems like a good school. i do not know about the placments but theyr are pretty aware of quantitative finance, since they have 2 programs

Location? I guess... Yeah there are now 3 quant programs there, but held in three different departments. The MMF program is held in Math dept. and MQF in Business school.

 

[AaronPierce]

@aaron

that's a good news, I thought it was 200+ seeing quantnet info. But for job search you will be own your own, positive side is that you will be based in New York so you can network and interview a lot, that helps big time

Thanks. Then ur suggesting that Poly is a winner against the other two programs?

 

[lonely]

@aaron,

Your Rutger program does not seem as comprehensive as Poly's program from Quantitative finance perspective otherwise Rutget as University is not bad as such. Their other two program's seem more appropriate. Poly's program looks good curriculum wise but I am not aware of the quality of teaching there.

 

[AaronPierce]

@aaron,

Your Rutger program does not seem as comprehensive as Poly's program from Quantitative finance perspective otherwise Rutget as University is not bad as such. Their other two program's seem more appropriate. Poly's program looks good curriculum wise but I am not aware of the quality of teaching there.

Heard teaching quality ain't bad. Although I really don't know how much I can learn from a 1.5 credit course.

 

[lonely]

I think if program has good list of maths courses (which it has)coupled one good course on derivative pricing, rest of them 1.5 credit should fine.

 

[AaronPierce]

I think if program has good list of maths courses (which it has)coupled one good course on derivative pricing, rest of them 1.5 credit should fine.

Thank you! That would be helpful.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Regarding the info on quantnet about NYU-poly program, please see www.quantnet.com/wiki/NYU_Poly
The info is edited by Poly faculty so it can't be wrong.
About the large class size, people misread what was written. In 2009, they admitted 200+ students of which about 70 students enrolled. There is nothing on quantnet that said the program has 200+ students in each cohort.
That said, the program has hundreds of student at any given time, making it the biggest one.

 

[AaronPierce]

Regarding the info on quantnet about NYU-poly program, please see www.quantnet.com/wiki/NYU_Poly
The info is edited by Poly faculty so it can't be wrong.
About the large class size, people misread what was written. In 2009, they admitted 200+ students of which about 70 students enrolled. There is nothing on quantnet that said the program has 200+ students in each cohort.
That said, the program has hundreds of student at any given time, making it the biggest one.

Then isn't it the same for programs like CMU or UMich for etc.? They have hundreds of students at any given time too.
What's your opion on Poly then? I really would like to hear your advice Andy.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

You can't really compare programs with comparable size because they have far different resources dedicated to the students. CMU, for example, split the students in two campus, is from business school and have full-time career services people.
Poly does not have that level of resources available to the students. They are in Brooklyn, not Manhattan, the center of NYC. There is a big difference.
Going to Poly, you will have very stiff competition, first, to get noticed and then to compete. Opportunities for students in other local programs (Baruch, NYU, CMU,etc) outnumbers those to lesser known programs like (Poly, Fordham, etc). That means you have to be outstanding, outshine your peers, work harder than them, and willing to go the extra miles to get a job. Being at Poly Brooklyn does not help at all but it shouldn't stop you if you are very determined.
Don't expect to go there, be one unknown student among the hundreds. If you know the hurdles and confident you can outwork other people, then you may want to consider it.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

As for the Rutgers FSRM program, make sure you read this
http://www.quantnet.com/forum/threads/rutgers-to-launch-third-quant-master-program.5228/

There are always risk to go into a brand new program. It's rare that they will get it right on the first year. They will get better eventually but it takes time and you do not want to spend time and money for someone's experiment.

 

[AaronPierce]

You can't really compare programs with comparable size because they have far different resources dedicated to the students. CMU, for example, split the students in two campus, is from business school and have full-time career services people.
Poly does not have that level of resources available to the students. They are in Brooklyn, not Manhattan, the center of NYC. There is a big difference.
Going to Poly, you will have very stiff competition, first, to get noticed and then to compete. Opportunities for students in other local programs (Baruch, NYU, CMU,etc) outnumbers those to lesser known programs like (Poly, Fordham, etc). That means you have to be outstanding, outshine your peers, work harder than them, and willing to go the extra miles to get a job. Being at Poly Brooklyn does not help at all but it shouldn't stop you if you are very determined.
Don't expect to go there, be one unknown student among the hundreds. If you know the hurdles and confident you can outwork other people, then you may want to consider it.

Truely their main campus is in Brooklyn, but some courses are taught at downtown Manhattan campus, which is in the same building where CMU and Cornell rent.
Any info on the merger between Poly and NYU? Some Poly students told me they can use NYU's career service from next year.

 

[figoliuxi]

Andy's replies are always informative. That's awesome.
Hey, man(or a woman), I have some sort of similar questions with yours. My pool includes IIT, Poy and CGU. And for poly, also I am worried about how much I can get from the 1.5 credit hours courses. And I have chatted with a current student about the trick. She told me that they just learn some basic ideas but not learn deeply. Good thing is they can choose as many as they can and put them on the resume. Bad thing is they learn nothing or rarely anything from the 6 week courses. Personally I think MFE requires us learn as a engineering student, which means we should explore the basics and logics and the applications. So, I think the courses in poly are not good. For the other two programs, Maryland is famous for its finance research and MBA. And considering you personal interests, Rutgers may be a rigorous choice. At least you can learn as much and as deep the quantitative techniques as you think, even though you are a white mouse.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Truely their main campus is in Brooklyn, but some courses are taught at downtown Manhattan campus, which is in the same building where CMU and Cornell rent.

I've been in that building so I know what it looks like.

Any info on the merger between Poly and NYU? Some Poly students told me they can use NYU's career service from next year.

Using NYU career services is different than using the job/internship leads available to NYU MSFM students.

 

[Paul Mithouard]

I've been in that building so I know what it looks like.

Using NYU career services is different than using the job/internship leads available to NYU MSFM students.

What is career service purpose if it is not to gather Job/Internship leads?