COMPARE Princeton MFin vs CMU MSCF

[latency]

Hi all,
How would one rate these programs against each other? I was curious if it is better to apply to cmu only after hearing from princeton (typically at the end of february) instead of applying to both.
Thanks

 

[Andy Nguyen]

If you know about these programs deep enough, you will see it's an apple-orange comparison. There are more differences between them than similarities.
Apply to both and decide when/if you can get in.

 

[latency]

haha, clever, i guess besides the obvious differences in class size (and school colors), princeton is more flexible in the course work. can you rate my chances of getting in to Princeton/CMU?

gmat 770,
phd in engineering from top 20 school
3 years experience in derivatives trading.
thanks

If you know about these programs deep enough, you will see it's an apple-orange comparison. There are more differences between them than similarities.
Apply to both and decide when/if you can get in.

 

[MSFHQ]

Why would you want another degree when you already have a PhD? Sounds like overkill to me.

 

[latency]

improving my skills.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

can you rate my chances of getting in to Princeton/CMU?

gmat 770,
phd in engineering from top 20 school
3 years experience in derivatives trading.
thanks

I can't until I see your complete application.
Don't expect anyone to give you a meaningful answer with 3 lines of stats. For all I know, you can be an ideal candidate or an immediate reject after a quick 30 seconds glance.

 

[TraderJoe]

Princeton is more prestigious. 2-year program. Based in Benheim (Math dept.)

CMU is better for job placement, career in Finance field, alumni network. 18 month program. Heavy on programming. Based in Tepper business school.

Seriously dude, with PhD from UCLA and 770 GMAT and 3 years experience, you should be looking at MBA from Harvard / Stanford / Wharton / Booth / Columbia / Stern.

 

[alain]

improving my skills.

Student for life? Van Wilder?

 

[ThinkDifferent]

princeton will most likely reject you. they frown upon overqualified candidates (and quite rightly so) , to which you certainly belong.

 

[MSFHQ]

You have a PhD, an MBA is going to make you want to cry, not improve your skills. What exactly is an MBA going to do that a PhD from a top school isn't?

 

[coolharvard]

Princeton is more prestigious. 2-year program. Based in Benheim (Math dept.)

CMU is better for job placement, career in Finance field, alumni network. 18 month program. Heavy on programming. Based in Tepper business school.

Seriously dude, with PhD from UCLA and 770 GMAT and 3 years experience, you should be looking at MBA from Harvard / Stanford / Wharton / Booth / Columbia / Stern.

Most of UCLA engineering programs are among Top 15.

 

[alain]

Most of UCLA engineering programs are among Top 15

based on what criteria?

 

[myampol]

You could do the CMU program in New York (they have a floor at 55 Broad Street in downtown Manhattan, as do Cornell and NYU-Polytechnic) where they have a video relay from Pittsburgh, so you don't necessarily need to move to Pittsburgh for the duration of the program. The classes are in the evening, so you could work in NYC during the day.

For Princeton, it's a full-time/daytime program, so you basically need to move there.

Also, in terms of number of students, the Princeton program is quite small, while the CMU program is rather large.

 

[latency]

thanks for all the inputs guys (and girls?), will keep these in mind if i do decide to apply to mfe/msf programs this year.

 

[latency]

b

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Is this a real dilemma faced by you? Or just scenario analysis?

 

[MSFHQ]

Do you want to be a quant or do you want a quantified general masters in finance? CMU will teach you programming as well as true quant finance. Princeton will give you a broad finance exposure, but with a higher level mathematics exposure than at a more traditional MSF program. I would probably describe the Princeton MFin as a financial mathematics program vs CMU which is financial engineering/programming.

Know what you want to do and become and then decide on the school.

 

[ashwani]

Back in 2006, I applied to these two programs, got acceptance from CMU though I wanted to do MFin Princeton. I find Princeton's program more valuable.

 

[kpranjal]

How is this still an issue? I thought Princeton MFin confirmations had to be sent by some date in March!
Anyways- Princeton and CMU have two very different programs. I would suggest Princeton in case you want a broad overview of finance (including stuff like accounting and behavorial finance) and CMU for more hardcore quant related coursework.
All in all, I would choose Princeton over CMU. Its more bang for you buck! :D

 

[arden]

placements at princeton are much much better. unless you really really really want to get an in depth education on the computational aspects of quant finance princeton's a better choice