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COMPARE NYU MathFin vs. CMU MSCF (NYC, Scholarship) again..

La_Fin

Joined
4/9/12
Messages
1
Points
13
Hi all,

I'm kinda torn between CMU and NYU now and reply deadline is approaching..

A little bit background of myself: graduated from one of top 15 US colleges, econ and math double major, one internship in an asset management firm and one internship at capital markets in a top BB, but no full-time working experience. I was hoping to work in algo trading or structuring after graduation.

I'm more concerned about placement. CMU seems to have very good placement record. But the class size of CMU is really big. They are launching a online program this year so I guess the class size will be even bigger. However, I can't find much information on NYU's placement so it's hard to compare.

Any advice would be most welcome!

La_Fin
 
if you are any good, why should you worry about placement? Remember, the school is not going to hand you a job.
 
ruruouni, to tell the truth, I'm trying to decide between NYU and CMU Pittsburgh. Though I've heard lots of good things about CMU that makes me more inclined that way, Courant has been my dream school for years. I'm a math grad, so the fact that Courant is the #1 school in applied math appeals to me.

Since both are stellar programs with exceptional career services, the question isn't so much which program to attend; it's which program to give up.
 
remylebeau said:
ruruouni, to tell the truth, I'm trying to decide between NYU and CMU Pittsburgh. Though I've heard lots of good things about CMU that makes me more inclined that way, Courant has been my dream school for years. I'm a math grad, so the fact that Courant is the #1 school in applied math appeals to me.

Since both are stellar programs with exceptional career services, the question isn't so much which program to attend; it's which program to give up.
Click to expand...

That's quite an enviable position to be in ! From your post it seems like you really want to go to NYU ! From what I read its an exceptional school with a top notch math department. But as you said, you cannot go wrong with either school and its a question of which school to not attend .! Good luck in your decision process !
 
remylebeau said:
ruruouni, to tell the truth, I'm trying to decide between NYU and CMU Pittsburgh. Though I've heard lots of good things about CMU that makes me more inclined that way, Courant has been my dream school for years. I'm a math grad, so the fact that Courant is the #1 school in applied math appeals to me.

Since both are stellar programs with exceptional career services, the question isn't so much which program to attend; it's which program to give up.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same position. Trying to decide between NYU and CMU NYC campus is so difficult. Have you been talking to graduates from those programs at all?
I agree, you can't go wrong with either of these programs. Definitely not a bad position to be in.
 
For those who are interested to compare NYU and CMU, NYU has some information on the full-time positions accepted by students here. The equivalent for CMU can be found here. Even though NYU's placement information reveals only selected positions, I think it's not a stretch to imagine that they've published the bigger names that would interest prospective students.

Comparing the two, we can see that there are graduates from both programs accepting positions in identical areas. E.g. Citigroup (Sales, Trading & Quant Analysis), Goldman Sachs (Global Portfolio Solutions Group), Morgan Stanley (Risk Management / Market Risk). The remainder of the positions differ by employer, but I don't see any obvious difference in role, going by the job title. The conclusion I'm inclined to draw from this is that the placement opportunities of both programs are comparable. Therefore I shall be using other metrics to decide which program is more suitable for me. (The first thing that comes to mind is how much I wish to be in New York. The second thing is how much I wish to be taught by faculty vis-a-vis by practitioners.)

I'm not sure how helpful it will be if NYU publishes detailed placement/internship stats. I don't foresee that I will decide to attend a program because its graduates earn on average a few thousand dollars more a year, or because more of its graduates take up positions in my dream company. After all, it's all too possible that I will end up in the 50% (assuming median = mean) of the cohort making less than average. Or that the average of my cohort is different from last year's because the students themselves are different. I think it may actually be a good thing that NYU publishes only selected placements, as it helps prospective students to not get too caught up in averages and statistics. At least students should not come away with the belief that the average salary is how much they should expect to command upon graduation.

Finally, good luck to all students here. There is sufficient information contained within these pages to tell us how the programs differ, but we will never find sufficient information to paint us a complete picture of what life in the next one and a half years is going to be like. Let's just make the best decision we can now, with all available information, and go forth with no regrets!
 
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