COMPARE NYU MSMF or CMU MSCF?

[Carlo]

I've been facing this dilemma for the past week, and so I've decided to hear what fellow QuantNet members have to say. This is a pretty common topic, so instead of regurgitating known facts about each program, I'll just give a bit of info about me, and hopefully those with some knowledge of each program can give me some advice as to what they think is a best fit.

Note: I'm not considering the NYC CMU campus – I don't find the idea of spending $50k+ for distance learning very good… Also, because of a scholarship, cost is almost identical for both schools

Some stuff about me:
• Just graduated from undergrad, Economics/O.R majors; Math/Finance minors
• No finance experience
• Have a fair amount of programming experience in C++/VBA
• Have a pretty balanced background of Math (Calc-based Prob & Stats, linear algebra) and finance (couple of classes in valuation and derivatives)
• Ideally I want to work in either quantitative portfolio/asset management or product structuring
• I'm fairly introverted
• I love city life, but I could live in Pitt for a few semesters

What I like/dislike about each program
•NYU
Like that its curriculum is well-structured, but you can still chose a few electives. Location is excellent, career placement has been good, weekly seminars and classes being taught by practitioners are good ways to network and get skin in the industry.
Don't like that compared to CMU, it looks like there is a smaller breadth of classes, it's only based in the Math Dept. and it can seem a tad bit too theoretical.They are not very clear about their placement statistics. Also heard some bad things about quality of teaching and availability of professors, as well as nonchalant T.A.'s

•CMU
Like that it has a wide curriculum with focus on applications, great placement, transparent about job statistics, nice campus, program is a cross of 4 schools yet classes are unique. Also seems more acclaimed than NYU, and has top-notch career services since it's in the B-School.
Don't like the location since it makes it seem like it'd be hard to network and might make it harder for me to get a job; the fact that professors are not current practitioners doesn't thrill me much either.

How important would you say location is for somebody like me? I've visited NYU already and will be visiting CMU next week, but in the meanwhile, I'd still love to hear everyone's thoughts Thanks guys!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Note: I'm not considering the NYC CMU campus – I don't find the idea of spending $50k+ for distance learning very good
I've visited NYU already and will be visiting CMU next week

Do you know that the professors from Pittsburgh will travel to NYC to teach several times during the course so you will have your chance to watch telecast regardless of where you end up living.
When I visited the CMU NYC campus, I noticed that some students prefer watching recorded lectures later over attending telecast sessions, most often when the Pittsburgh professors are in town. Having access to recorded lectures is a great advantage but the downside is some people will have excuse not to go to class regularly.

Who have you met at NYU? Did you attend a class there and talk to few students?

 

[Carlo]

Thanks for the response Andy. I do know about the telecast from NYC to Pitt, but I still feel that being in an actual campus, where I have physical access to a professor, and more than one floor to study in, is a definite advantage I appreciate in the Pitt campus. I believe both campus' students have access to the recorded lectures, which is good.

As for NYU, I met with Robert Kohn, the Chair of MSMF, who gave me a tour of Courant and discussed the program with me; Melissa Kushner, the program administrator, who had a Q&A about placement, curriculum, life in NYC, etc. with me and another admit; and a couple of current students (both had internships secured in NYC) whose names escape me. I sat in Stochastic Calculus by A. Kuptsov, and found him to be a very thorough professor, although I don't know if I was just lucky, or (hopefully) everyone in the department is as good as he was that day.

Having gone through this, do you think being in NYC is a definite plus for someone with my background and goals?