COMPARE NYU MSFM vs CMU MSCF

[remylebeau]

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!

 

[Junyong Choi]

I am considering enrolling in one of the two programs.

I wish to work as a quant analyst/trader in an investment bank or a hedge fund.
I also wish to work as a HF trader.
I prefer to work in the US, but also don't mind working in Shanghai or in Europe.

I majored in Engineering Physics as an undergrad, and have no work experience other than a 6-month of internship at a trading company.


I don't have much experience with computer programming, so I am leaning towards CMU, where I would be able to strengthen my computer skills the most.

However, I am also attracted to NYU for its small class size and its network with Wall Street.
I also like that NYU is more math-oriented, for I have relative strength in math.


Please tell me what your opinions are.
Thank you!

 

[Dave Lee]

Being NYC will be much easier for you to land a job, since you don't have much work experience. No program will make you become a programmer unless u r a cs major.

 

[ABA]

I am also currently facing the choice between these 2 programs.
I have been selected for NYC campus for CMU.... with the location factor being discounted, what would be the best choice in order to break in quant industry.....

 

[ABA]

@Andy Nguyen, it would be nice to know your take on the strengths of these 2 programs. Thanks!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

@Andy Nguyen, it would be nice to know your take on the strengths of these 2 programs. Thanks!

It's nicely summed up here
https://www.quantnet.com/mfe-programs-rankings/

I would caution that the days of getting a trading jobs are long gone. In fact, graduates from these programs should expect to get more risk management, regulation jobs. I know graduates from these programs turn down such jobs and instead wait for HFT jobs. It's their loss and the program's loss.

On the career support front, CMU MSCF has a more organized structure to support students since they are run by the same business school.

 

[ABA]

How well is NYU Courants Career Services structured? also how strong are there links with NYU Stern in terms of networking...

 

[MNRC]

Being NYC will be much easier for you to land a job, since you don't have much work experience. No program will make you become a programmer unless u r a cs major.

I can say that even I myself (currently a master's in CS student) am not good at programming. A CS degree does not make you good at programming. It gives you the knowledge and resources to become a good programmer, but you have to do the heavy lifting yourself by actually implementing algorithms and data structures in a programming language. And nobody can teach that to you except yourself. The best way to get ready for a technical interview is to have some real world programming projects under your belt. Hackathons, writing your own iOS apps, anything that forces you to actually implement CS concepts in your own applications. In the CS major (or master's degree program) there are some courses that will require you to code data structures and algorithms for homework assignments, but only if you intentionally search those types of courses out. Otherwise CS classes are mostly theory and you're going to graduate a computer scientist that can spout out concepts from relational algebra all day but not be able to program worth a darn, which puts you in the same position as the other students from non-CS programs.

I'm just bitter because I've been learning this the hard way

 

[DanImp]

Hello,

I have been admitted to NYU Courant MSMF program and I am currently waiting to hear back from CMU (got interviewed a few days ago). I'm trying to understand whether I am making the right decision going with NYU (that's what I think right now), and hopefully someone has more information than me on both programs.

I am interested in quantitative asset management and my objective is not to get a pure quant position. In particular, I would like to get positions in portfolio management or as a researcher for quant driven houses (firms like AQR, etc. etc.). However, I would also be more than happy to end up working in global macro positions (just because of my background, since I am an econ student with some academic experience in the field) and I don't want to close me that door (even if it's pretty clear that there is nothing like a normal path for those kind of positions). I have a good academic profile with a few months of working experience (2 internships in asset management) and 1yr of research assistantship in Macro. I am not a good programmer and I don't come from a pure math background (econ!) and that's definitely something I'll have to work on, especially if I want to get one of those quant asset mgmt roles.

I like the fact that NYU MSMF is a smaller program wrt CMU MSCF and that they are in New York City (also CMU it's in NYC, but it's just not the same, you know what I mean!). From the outside, it also seems that NYU's program is more rigorous than CMU's one, and the Professors are the best guys in their field. That's basically the second reason why I am currently giving my preference to NYU. However, I like a lot the level of transparency of CMU and it's placement stats are simply PERFECT. Unfortunately NYU doesn't release stats with all those details (and I can't understand why, since I expect they are pretty decent too!) but with some research it's clear that their placement should be very similar (maybe CMU's a little better, I can't tell that). What got my attention is that CMU has consistently placed at places like AQR and Citadel over the last few years (3-4 students per class at AQR out of 90 students on avg at CMU over the last 3-4 years), while NYU didn't. I don't know whether NYU's students are perceived as less programming oriented than CMU ones, but another important thing to consider to evaluate the placement stats of those program is that the students in those programs come from different backgrounds (NYU: top math program in China; CMU: more mixed, engineering school in India or top program in China, business or engineering ) . Another curious thing is that CMU's admission rate is TWICE as big as NYU's one (pretty strange, right?!).

What do you think one should prefer, given my career objectives (and assuming one gets admitted to CMU obviously )? What is the best program for placements on the buy side, given that I am interested in portfolio management and not in pure quant roles?

Any comment is much appreciated.
Thanks for your help!

Dan

 

[StayCWaitO]

Hi,

Anyone wants to share their perspective on the comparison of these two programs? Especially on what fields most students from these two would get into after graduation respectively?

For me, it seems CMU has better career service and curriculum plan than NYU (slightly better?), while the only problem for CMU is its kinda online courses (which is not a big issue for many others.).

Again, any comment would be appreciated!!!

 

[zzwang]

I chose CMU over Columbia MFE, and most people I know chose Columbia over NYU. If the relationship is transitional, then that's your answer. I am pretty sure you can switch from NY to Pitts if video class is an issue because I know a couple people who are trying to switch from Pitts to NY. I haven't heard any current student complaining about the class tho.
Just my $0.02.

 

[BoY]

Columbia MFE verus NYU MathFin

 

[My American Dream]

I got in NYU, CMU (ny campus if it matters) and Columbia back then and chose NYU. I would rule out columbia first and choose between NYU and CMU. I felt that NYU is slightly more academic rigorous where as CMU is a lot more job-searching oriented.

 

[Chang Ge]

Hi all,
I am a fresh math & econ graduate from a college in the Boston Area, I recently got admission from these two programs. I didn't find much information about NYU MathFin program on the website.
My concern for these two programs are:
NYC - not clear placement stats
MSCF - two-way video lecture
Is there anyone deciding between these two? Any alumni or current student's advice would be appreciated!

 

[IntoDarkness]

it only matters which school brand you wana carry on later in life. im not a huge fan of either the brand so i would just toss a coin...

 

[Michsund]

Well for me I only got into CMU, but my logic was I like day classes better than night classes so CMU> NYU.

 

[idkmyname]

if you love math way more than coding, go to NYU otherwise CMU.

 

[CourantMathFinance]

if you love math way more than coding, go to NYU otherwise CMU.

You better love coding wherever you go. It’s a crucial skill for later, and you have to do a decent amount even at NYU.