Question about the Ranking

[mark_z]

So as you guys may know, average salary differs per state; Cali and NY are give one the highest average salaries in the US. Since 15% of ranking criteria is basked on average salary, how is that fair for other schools in areas where average salary is lower? In my opinion, I think curriculum is major successful factor for how good a program is, how is that absent from ranking criteria? One last thing, acceptance rate is worth 2.5%, well, let's see ranking is up, so is the number of applicants, therefore the acceptance rate is lower, and vice versa for those schools with lower ranking; the 2.5% could puts them in vicious circle. I just have these questions in mind, and I could be absolutely wrong, who know, if anyone have any thought on the matter, please share.

 

[Bryce E]

These programs are typically aimed at people who want to enter industry right after graduating, why wouldn't average salary be a deciding factor? Sure it is not perfect as schools report salaries differently, but it happens to be the best we have.

You think that the curriculum is important. You are right. How a "good" curriculum is defined though is subjective and wouldn't make any sense to include in a ranking system as different people want to learn different things.

I don't understand your last point so I can not comment on it

 

[Onegin]

Yes, feedback loops exist and they are vicious. But if a program isn't competitive, it's better for everyone if it closes. I don't think the 2.5% from the ranking is the main driver of such a loop.

The salary could be biased, but I think your argument is a bit of a red herring. It assumes a kind of uniform distribution of geographies and salary ranges for quants. Is that the case? What percentage of quant graduates actually working as quants find jobs in a market center like NYC, Chicago, SFO, Boston, Philly vs any other location? I tihnk there are definitely pockets (sup, DFA! AUSTIN!), but the vast majority of quants are working near market centers.

MBA programs have a similar issue with purchasing power parity with their international graduates; someone going back to country x might have the same lifestyle (or better) at $20k USD that a Chicago graduate would have at $120. If we want to go international, you might have a point again, but again I think quant program candidates self select for market centers, where comp tends to converge more than in other industries.

Please let me know if I'm off base. I don't know a lot about the other schools you mention, I'm just making a bunch of assumptions.

 

[mark_z]

Yes, feedback loops exist and they are vicious. But if a program isn't competitive, it's better for everyone if it closes. I don't think the 2.5% from the ranking is the main driver of such a loop.

The salary could be biased, but I think your argument is a bit of a red herring. It assumes a kind of uniform distribution of geographies and salary ranges for quants. Is that the case? What percentage of quant graduates actually working as quants find jobs in a market center like NYC, Chicago, SFO, Boston, Philly vs any other location? I tihnk there are definitely pockets (sup, DFA! AUSTIN!), but the vast majority of quants are working near market centers.

MBA programs have a similar issue with purchasing power parity with their international graduates; someone going back to country x might have the same lifestyle (or better) at $20k USD that a Chicago graduate would have at $120. If we want to go international, you might have a point again, but again I think quant program candidates self select for market centers, where comp tends to converge more than in other industries.

Please let me know if I'm off base. I don't know a lot about the other schools you mention, I'm just making a bunch of assumptions.

Actually your response makes a lot of sense, better placements would be in cities like NYC, San Fran, Chicago, therefore salaries would not be a bad factor, and yes I agree with you, for international placement, PPP could be miss leading, unless schools or ranking agencies adjust for that.