COMPARE Columbia MAFN vs NYU Tandon MFE

[Sophia Cao]

still you did not say where you do your internship, also how is the registration for classes going?

we all know... small class, but you see---it is per course...which means... many students cannot take the class they want, right? Maybe you can indulge us and describe the registration process for classes.

Well, as I said I will do my internship in New York City. I said the class size is small but not per course. That is a huge difference, some popular courses or core courses will have different sections offered each semester, and each section will have a class size of around 30 people. So you do not really need to worry about you cannot get into the class you want. At least now, I did not hear anyone saying that they did not get into the class they want. For each section, there are about 30 people, and core courses usually have 3 or 4 sections offered each semester, so all the students can get into the course they choose. The registration process is just like all the U.S colleges, second-year students choose first and all the students in the same year have their enrollment appointment at the same time. So there is never "many students cannot take the class they want". At last, I like your saying that at the end it's you and what you have studied so far, but remember when the program is trying hard to help every student, with your personal hard working, you will get much more than working alone. What I see in this MFE program is that they value every student and tries hard to help every student whatever in job searching or academia.

 

[cge]

Well, as I said I will do my internship in New York City. I said the class size is small but not per course. That is a huge difference, some popular courses or core courses will have different sections offered each semester, and each section will have a class size of around 30 people. So you do not really need to worry about you cannot get into the class you want. At least now, I did not hear anyone saying that they did not get into the class they want. For each section, there are about 30 people, and core courses usually have 3 or 4 sections offered each semester, so all the students can get into the course they choose. The registration process is just like all the U.S colleges, second-year students choose first and all the students in the same year have their enrollment appointment at the same time. So there is never "many students cannot take the class they want". At last, I like your saying that at the end it's you and what you have studied so far, but remember when the program is trying hard to help every student, with your personal hard working, you will get much more than working alone. What I see in this MFE program is that they value every student and tries hard to help every student whatever in job searching or academia.

Sophia, you said you received an offer and not that you accepted as well, the confusion comes from there. Congrats.

To me your post is more “recruiting students” post which is fine. However, it makes me wonder, does the program need this, it is not doing well?


You said:

“The registration process is just like all the U.S colleges, second-year students choose first and all the students in the same year have their enrollment appointment at the same time”.


About this, if you want to help prospective applicants, you should check with an administrator in your program since it may be misleading future applicants, we do not talk about colleges in US but about MFE programs right? Interesting twist…

This does not happen in many other programs. By the way, did you write this or you had some help?

Now to all applicants, prospective applicants:
Good luck and be careful what you read, do more research, use all information you can get. Do not do the “wishful thinking”.
Once again, if you cannot aim for top programs, then extend your search to the top six programs.

Good luck to you all to get in your “dream” program (not college )

 

[Sophia Cao]

Sophia, you said you received an offer and not that you accepted as well, the confusion comes from there. Congrats.

To me your post is more “recruiting students” post which is fine. However, it makes me wonder, does the program need this, it is not doing well?


You said:

“The registration process is just like all the U.S colleges, second-year students choose first and all the students in the same year have their enrollment appointment at the same time”.


About this, if you want to help prospective applicants, you should check with an administrator in your program since it may be misleading future applicants, we do not talk about colleges in US but about MFE programs right? Interesting twist…

This does not happen in many other programs. By the way, did you write this or you had some help?

Now to all applicants, prospective applicants:
Good luck and be careful what you read, do more research, use all information you can get. Do not do the “wishful thinking”.
Once again, if you cannot aim for top programs, then extend your search to the top six programs.

Good luck to you all to get in your “dream” program (not college )

Isn't the program part of the college.... I did not see any confusion or misleading here and I am not twist anything here. Of course, if someone really wants to be confused, no one can stop him.

Anyway, I really hope that this sharing from a current MFE student is helpful for those who are really choosing a program to go or really in a dilemma. What I am sharing is my true experience in MFE, and if you have more questions regarding the registration process, you can also email the registration office to get a more official answer.

 

[Dessembrae Ultor]

Isn't the program part of the college.... I did not see any confusion or misleading here and I am not twist anything here. Of course, if someone really wants to be confused, no one can stop him.

Anyway, I really hope that this sharing from a current MFE student is helpful for those who are really choosing a program to go or really in a dilemma. What I am sharing is my true experience in MFE, and if you have more questions regarding the registration process, you can also email the registration office to get a more official answer.

Thank you for sharing your experience, Sophia. As a prospective student, I can assure you it didn't come across as misleading or confusing, not to me at least. I appreciate the insights you gave us here.

 

[Michsund]

I

Sophia, you said you received an offer and not that you accepted as well, the confusion comes from there. Congrats.

To me your post is more “recruiting students” post which is fine. However, it makes me wonder, does the program need this, it is not doing well?


You said:

“The registration process is just like all the U.S colleges, second-year students choose first and all the students in the same year have their enrollment appointment at the same time”.


About this, if you want to help prospective applicants, you should check with an administrator in your program since it may be misleading future applicants, we do not talk about colleges in US but about MFE programs right? Interesting twist…

This does not happen in many other programs. By the way, did you write this or you had some help?

Now to all applicants, prospective applicants:
Good luck and be careful what you read, do more research, use all information you can get. Do not do the “wishful thinking”.
Once again, if you cannot aim for top programs, then extend your search to the top six programs.

Good luck to you all to get in your “dream” program (not college )

I agree that this Sophia person seems sketchy. They made an account on Tuesday and so active on it as well. What’s the chance you make an account to tak about how much you love NYU mfe just before the deadline ???

 

[OriginalThinker]

I am sorry for asking a basic question: Columbia Mafn means - masters in Financial Engineering course are you talking about? I got an offer from Columbia Financial Engineering and NYU Tandon and UCLA. so I am also confused. But the fact that Colmbia offers many programs, i wanted to confirm if we are talking about same financial engineering course or something else.

 

[Shimai Zhang]

I am sorry for asking a basic question: Columbia Mafn means - masters in Financial Engineering course are you talking about? I got an offer from Columbia Financial Engineering and NYU Tandon and UCLA. so I am also confused. But the fact that Colmbia offers many programs, i wanted to confirm if we are talking about same financial engineering course or something else.

mafn means master in mathematics finance. Congrats on the MFE admission! It's a tier 1 program better than Tandon and UCLA (tier 2 I think). Do you mind sharing some info about your backgroud? Still waiting for Columbia MFE stressfully...

 

[OriginalThinker]

GRE - 325 , CFA level 3 cleared and work ex in Investment bank Global Market dept.

Do you know approx cost for Columbia MFE?

and they are sending out invites on weekly basis. Last Friday they started. then Today few admits were sent out. so be positive

 

[Shimai Zhang]

GRE - 325 , CFA level 3 cleared and work ex in Investment bank Global Market dept.

Do you know approx cost for Columbia MFE?

and they are sending out invites on weekly basis. Last Friday they started. then Today few admits were sent out. so be positive

Thanks a lot! Sorry I don't know the cost... It will be more expensive than Tandon, but I believe this program worths it!

 

[Shen Zhongheng]

Received Tandon's offer and I did some homework these days, there are my opinions:
1. Tandon is undoubtedly upwards with P.Carr, you can see that most negative comments about Tandon were from students who have graduated before P.Carr's arrival. I have consulted some students who entered this program AFTER P.Carr's arrival and ALL of them gave me positive feedback, both in curriculum and career service
2. Tandon's previous reputation is indeed disappointing....
3. The tuition of Tandon is relatively low
4. MFE in Tandon is a 2 years program, that is very attractive for me, the pressure will be significantly lower...(Imagine that you have to complete all courses and do internships and find jobs in a single year....)
Tandon may be the most controversial program in my opinion,....Hope there will be more information (especially from those who know this program very well)
BTW, I would greatly appreciate that if you can let me know your final decision

 

[Dessembrae Ultor]

Received Tandon's offer and I did some homework these days, there are my opinions:
1. Tandon is undoubtedly upwards with P.Carr, you can see that most negative comments about Tandon were from students who have graduated before P.Carr's arrival. I have consulted some students who entered this program AFTER P.Carr's arrival and ALL of them gave me positive feedback, both in curriculum and career service
2. Tandon's previous reputation is indeed disappointing....
3. The tuition of Tandon is relatively low
4. MFE in Tandon is a 2 years program, that is very attractive for me, the pressure will be significantly lower...(Imagine that you have to complete all courses and do internships and find jobs in a single year....)
Tandon may be the most controversial program in my opinion,....Hope there will be more information (especially from those who know this program very well)
BTW, I would greatly appreciate that if you can let me know your final decision

Hey Zhongheng! I decided to go with Tandon. The factor that ultimately convinced me to make this decision is the absence of any dedicated career services at Columbia MAFN. For an international student with no relevant professional experience or connections in the industry, that is a scary proposition, however vaunted the reputation of the university may be. I just felt like this was the less risky of the two options.

 

[billyvan]

Hey Zhongheng! I decided to go with Tandon. The factor that ultimately convinced me to make this decision is the absence of any dedicated career services at Columbia MAFN. For an international student with no relevant professional experience or connections in the industry, that is a scary proposition, however vaunted the reputation of the university may be. I just felt like this was the less risky of the two options.

Valuable decision and reasoning! If I'd given the choice, I would do the same as you did. Even though someone says Carr is the key point of tandon's boost, and columbia's halo may shine upon on you longer, a good career start is always beneficial. MAFN's placement really fails his gorgeous brand.

 

[Michsund]

I would join MAFN. The curriculum is tough and if you understand the material well you will be very competitive. Many of the professors are practitioners, some of whom I meet in person. I would recommend MAFN over tandon if you actually wanna learn.

 

[Zhibai Luo]

Hello Shimai, I am currently a first-year student in MSFE from NYU Tandon. Congratulation on your admission of Columbia and NYU Tandon first. I want to share some experience in Tandon to provide some suggestions and hope that would help you make a decision. I know a lot of people in China cares a lot about the rankings of school or the reputation of the school, yes it is one of the factors that you should consider. But when the two programs are in a similar tier, I think it is more important to think about what you can learn and what you want to get from the Master program. The career service in Tandon is really great, our placement director Sara is very dedicated and that is what Columbia MAFN does not have. When you are finding an internship, school resources is very important and Peter and Sara do bring a lot of great resources. In Tandon, you also have a lot of opportunities to work with professors even with Professor Peter Carr, and this is a great chance to improve yourself. My experience in the U.S tells me that what really matters is what you have done and what you can do rather than what your school ranks. By the way, NYU also has a great reputation around the U.S, which does not really have much difference with Columbia. And you don't really need to worry about people came Tandon because of Peter Carr or Sara, they came for them is because they are actually making the program better and better. So it does not really matter why they came for them or the program itself, it is the same thing. Last year, I also received an offer from UCLA's MFE which is also a great program, but at last, I decided to come to Tandon, attracted by its various courses offered every semester. This course variety is very unique from other schools. And now I firmly believe that I make a great choice and really enjoin my life studying in Tandon. Looking forward to seeing you join us. Let me know if you have any concerns or questions.

Hello, can we talk personally in Wechat? It would be very kind for you to add me 229332268, please. I have been admitted in NYU MFE this year. I am very grateful if you would contact me.~

 

[melissa yt]

I've received the admissions from NYU Tandon Financial Engineering (8k scholarship), Columbia Financial Mathematics and Berkeley IEOR. Struggled for several days and cannot decide where to go. My considerations of the pros and cons of each program are as listed.

Tandon MFE:
pros: location; duration of the program (1.5yr-2yr) which is good for job hunting; MFE is friendly to a finance major student, not so theoretical; relatively good career service (e.g. boot camp, maybe some referring chances).
cons: too many ppl (>100), which leads to fierce competition; maybe brand (no offense)

Columbia MAFN:
pros: location; Ivy; brand; higher bar for admission
cons: too theoretical; no career service at all; heavy burden on study such that I'll have no time for finding a job

UCB M.Eng IEOR:
pros: brand; attractive capstone; strong in machine learning
cons: short duration (9months); technical; not many finance-related companies in West Coast

As far as I'm concerned, I'm a finance major student, with relatively limited math and CS background. I want to find an internship or job in the US.
Hope that anyone could give any suggestions or supplement anything to the pros and cons on program comparison. Thanks a lot!

 

[Michsund]

MAFN on the fact that the UCB program sounds like a cash cow and NYU Tandon isn’t as good as mafn in my opinion.

 

[melissa yt]

MAFN on the fact that the UCB program sounds like a cash cow and NYU Tandon isn’t as good as mafn in my opinion.

Thanks a lot for your advice. I just wrote an email to Berkeley to request for more detailed information.

 

[idkmyname]

UCB's program is only 9 months and it can be difficult to find a job as a fresh grad. Columbia MAFN's placement is relatively low according to QuantNet, but employment rate after three months raise significantly, and I assume that lots of international students who are unemployed at graduation go back to the homeland to find a job. NYU is well-known for finance and in this field, it's every major company's target school. Also, Columbia MAFN also has too many ppl. But as Dr. Peter Carr promised, NYU Tandon will have small class size. The placement is better than Columbia MAFN. If I were you, I will choose Tandon. Just part of my opinion, hope it helps. Good luck mate!

 

[melissa yt]

UCB's program is only 9 months and it can be difficult to find a job as a fresh grad. Columbia MAFN's placement is relatively low according to QuantNet, but employment rate after three months raise significantly, and I assume that lots of international students who are unemployed at graduation go back to the homeland to find a job. NYU is well-known for finance and in this field, it's every major company's target school. Also, Columbia MAFN also has too many ppl. But as Dr. Peter Carr promised, NYU Tandon will have small class size. The placement is better than Columbia MAFN. If I were you, I will choose Tandon. Just part of my opinion, hope it helps. Good luck mate!

Thanks a lot for your detailed analysis and sound advice! I believe I'll finally choose one that really matches me.

 

[Liu Guixin]

Tandon MFE:
This is a program that seems to have earned both good and bad reputation. You can find conflicting reviews/comments about this program on Quantnet. Acclaimers owe the program's success to Peter Carr's dedication to students' career prospect, and the small class size. Others criticize the program as one that does not teach necessary "hard skills" to bring students into advantage in their job-hunting stage. Nevertheless, the program seems to be constantly improving, especially when it comes to Quantnet ranking.

Columbia MAFN:
It seems definite that this program is more theoratical than Tandon MFE. Harder courses means greater challenges, but also greater chances for you to stand out in the job interview, if you were able to handle the heavy study pressure. However, the "placement rate" is perticularly low (less than 40%) according to Quantnet statistics. This might be because Columbia's career service is far from good, and there're too many students competing (MSFE, MAFN, MSOR, and even Stat, they learn more or less the same things). I assume many of Columbia MAFN students are international, and they end up leaving US to find a job in their home country.

BTW, another drawback is that the course selection is not as flexible as that of Tandon MFE.

UCB's program:
Sorry I do not know much about it. So no comments.

Suggestions (if we just compare Columbia and Tandon):
Considering your background (somewhat limited maths background) and your aspiration, Tandon MFE will give you a higher chance to secure a job (thanks to highly-customized course options, less fierce competition, and Peter Carr's help). However, if you aspire to be a TOP quant, than Columbia should be a better decision. Also, Columbia will throw you in a better situation than Tandon, if you were not able to find a job in US.