Program advice to career: UW vs NCSU

[tpnv]

Greetings to QuantNet community,

Hope everyone doing well and got the result to their program of interest. I am looking for your advice to either of the program I got admitted to:

I have back ground in Operations and B-Analytics from Oregon and prior MS in Analytics & DS from Rutgers. I am interested in the field of finance/fintech and wanting to break into working on the side of DS/ML/AI, I have pretty much experience in working DS during volunteer and collab industry project during my Master, but my degree is pretty much not really intensive and catch attention of employers therefore I am looking forward to something more quantitative challenging.

My goal as mentioned is more focus toward DS/ML/AI within the bank, insurance, fintech, tech side, my second preference is more of risk analyst and optimization. I am not international student therefore the sponsorship is not an issue for me. I am also waiting for my other PhD application but it does not look bright as the competition is really high for PhD this year.

Thing I love from both program is:
- NCSU: perfect placement score with a great alumni network .
- UW: Under applied math department, course is tailored to the skills in demand in both quant and tech side.

Some factors that I am hesitating:
- NCSU: quant ranking is great but overall ranking is not much well know compare to UW
- UW: Not too great of placement score, most student I chat have decision to go to PhD program after Master.

If you have any insight, please let me know as your insight is valuable for my program decision.

Thank you for your time!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

If you are comfortable with having a job in risk with a regional employer in Charlotte area, NCSU will serve you really well. Many students from that program seem to be happy with the ROI. They seem to create a niche for themselves in that area.
UW is well-known and have connection with big tech employers in the area (Amazon, Microsoft, etc). It may become a PhD pathway like you mention.
DS/ML/AI is a growing part of quant finance programs. I'm not sure how it's set up to compete with dedicated MS in DS/ML/AI programs. This is something you have to reach out to the program's staff directly asking them whether the program can prepare for the job profile you target.
Remember you are the customer and have certain expectation. They should be able to make a case if the program and your career goal are a good match.

 

[tpnv]

If you are comfortable with having a job in risk with a regional employer in Charlotte area, NCSU will serve you really well. Many students from that program seem to be happy with the ROI. They seem to create a niche for themselves in that area.
UW is well-known and have connection with big tech employers in the area (Amazon, Microsoft, etc). It may become a PhD pathway like you mention.
DS/ML/AI is a growing part of quant finance programs. I'm not sure how it's set up to compete with dedicated MS in DS/ML/AI programs. This is something you have to reach out to the program's staff directly asking them whether the program can prepare for the job profile you target.
Remember you are the customer and have certain expectation. They should be able to make a case if the program and your career goal are a good match.

Thank you so much for your insight, this is really valuable advice. I’ll definitely reach out the both to see how both has to offer in term of the career service they have.

 

[tpnv]

Last Bump!
Thank you everyone for your vote and helping me throughout the process.

Wish everyone the best and reach further success in your education/career!