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NYU MSMF NYU MSFM professors teaching ability

Joined
2/15/11
Messages
23
Points
11
Hey Guys,
If you've seen my previous posts I'm deciding between attending CMU-pitt or NYU. I have to decide by this sunday and I'm still struggling to make the decision. I may be leaning towards NYU at the moment (after visiting both campuses over the last week), but I'm kind of concerned about things I've heard about the teaching quality

CMU: most people were very pleased with the professors/TAs general classroom experience and professors willingness to help students outside of the classroom

NYU: mixed responses really, some people said the teaching quality really varies and some people said the TAs are very unhelpful
obviously, theres always the issue of the professors being practitioners which means they have less time to spend with students who need extra help
However, most people usually say (and I got to see this first hand by sitting in on a seminar/class) that the NYU program really incorporates the practicality of everything taught better just because the professors can bring in what they see/hear in their day jobs into the classroom

anyone have any insight into the respective teaching at either university? Or any other advice/info about the programs would really be appreciated!
 
CMU.
There is a reason why it's tier1. And I checked the placement of NYU last year, a lot students have internship in Asia.
 
CMU.
There is a reason why it's tier1. And I checked the placement of NYU last year, a lot students have internship in Asia.
I'm sure its easier for a NYC-based program to place its students in NYC. I believe the reason they go back to Asia is either because they want to or their communication skills are not strong enough to work in NYC.
 
Hey, take it easy. There is no point to worry about teaching ability of Profs and TAs, since NYU has one of the most prestigious programmes in the world. If I were u, I would go to NYU for sure.
 
Famous professors/practitioners do not translate into great teachers/communicators. Sometimes, you get a rare combo but often times, you have to take the good with the bad. This is what you get when majority of the teaching is done by practitioners.
Many TAs are PhD students who never took courses in MFE so they are not that helpful and just merely glorified graders. Pay is not that great so there is not a lot of incentives for the TAs to do a great job.
A lot of programs have this problem. When the proper incentive is not there for teacher/TA to do their best, don't complain.

You compare CMU versus NYU. CMU utilizes full-time faculty from various of their depts while NYU uses lot of practitioners so you have to decide which aspect is more important and compelling to you.

It's good that you have a chance to visit both campuses in person. If you can't decide, just image the uninformed decision many people have been making without this first hand experience.
 
Hey, take it easy. There is no point to worry about teaching ability of Profs and TAs, since NYU has one of the most prestigious programmes in the world. If I were u, I would go to NYU for sure.

this is exactly the kind of thinking that leads to people applying to terrible programs and thinking they're fantastic (not saying that applies to nyu necessarily).

(i don't expect any sheeple to change after reading the following, but hey, why not give it a shot?)

brand name is overrated. going to an ivy league/whatever school isn't all it's cracked up to be. might it open doors? absolutely. but what's more important is that you go to a place that's good for you and that will help you learn and be the most prepared for the working world that you possibly can be.

that said, this doesn't mean that going to podunk u for an mfe will prepare you as well as either nyu or cmu. but do some research...find out facts...think for yourself, even if it might be more difficult than just bleating along with the rest of the herd. chances are, if you aren't able to think for yourself, you're not long for this industry anyways.
 
What is your background? Do you know for sure that you want/can be a quant( e.g. modeling, strats, research, etc.)?
I think both programs are amazing.
Btw, I know a person who graduated from Columbia MFE two years ago and he said that he was self teaching himself throughout the program (according to him, many faculty member suck at teaching). If you are not a person who can do this, I would consider going for the school with better teaching.
 
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