RPI Financial Engineering and Risk Analytics

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1/1/10
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131
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Hi,
I have been recently admitted for Financial Engineering and Risk Analytics program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for Fall 2010.
I have a got an unofficial review of the financial engineering and Risk analytics program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Information:

Degree: MS in Management with concentration in Financial Engineering and Risk Analytics
Link: http://www.lallyschool.rpi.edu/public/academic-programs/msprog/fera
Location: Troy, NY, 3-4 hours by road to the Wall Street
Faculty: Finance, Economics, and NYU's faculty.
Offered by the B-school, Lally School of Management
Tuition: $38 000
Duration : 1 year (3 semester, 30 credits, and 10 courses)
Program started in Fall 2009.
FERA students also took part in the National Financial Mathematics Career Fair, which is usually limited to the good schools.
http://www.lallyschool.rpi.edu/Members/nashj2/news-items/lally2019s-ms-fera-program-participates-in-national-financial-mathematics-career-fair/


Here's what a current student says:

Congratulations! Welcome to be a FERA! It is an amazing program. I like
it very much.
It's a very good choice for you to start your further broad, in US, in Lally.

I am really busy these days, but I will try my best to answer your questions~:)

1)How long does it usually take people to finish the program, and What
made you choose this program?

Usually, it takes ONE year to finish the FERA program. You will have 5
courses every semester and each course deserve 3 credits. So all together
after one year study, you need 30 credits to get your MS degree.
About the reasons why I chose this program, It's hard to say. Anyway, It
is a good program, and it becomes better.

2) What is the quality of teaching? Are the professors helpful, with
After-hours help, TA's etc?

The professors in Lally are all world-class professors. You can not only
learn the acadimic knowledge but also be affected by their personalities.
They are very nice and helpful teachers and friends. You as a MS may not
be allowed to work as a TA. But there are many other on campus work chances.

3) What are the chances of fetching an assistantship/part-timer in any of
the department of Lally or at RPI? And how much can one earn through them?

YOu need to contact the Lally admission faculty to ask for the
information about assistantship or scholarship or other financial aids. I
don't have any of them.

4)How understandable is the curriculum of the FERA? I have just completed
my under graduation(mechanical engg)and I am preparing for CFA level I.
Would CFA help? How strong of a component is programming? What
programming languages are taught/used?

Well, don't worry about your just graduating from undergraduate. I am in
the same situation. As long as you would like to contribute yourself into
the study, you will be ok, and even be the best. CFA is a good choice.
I'm glad that you are preparing for Level I. You can choose courses
according to your interests and yoru background. And since RPI is famous
for its engineering, you can also audit courses from other schools say
Engineering or Math, and from which you can learn whatever languages you
want to learn.

5)With the current economy it is hard to find jobs? How has this affected
the FERA placements? What about internships? And is it really hard for
the international students to find one? Did companies come on-campus to
recruit? How strong is the Lally alumni connection?

It is not easy to find a job, especially for international student. But
usually Indian students have good english speaking and writting skills,
so you have much more chances then other international students.Since
this program is only one year usually, you may not be supposed to find an
internship but a full-time job. But you can if you want. There are many
on-campus recruit activities and career fairs every semester. Just keep
your eyes on such informations, don't miss any of them.

6) Are there a lot of projects used in courses or its basically
midterm/final exam kind of set up?

Yes! The study work here is not a casual level, but a professional
level.But each course has different course requirement. And your advisor
will help you on choose courses which fit you best.

7) How much does it cost for living expenses per month, if staying off-campus?
It depends. There are many different off-campus housing places. If you
want to live alnoe, it may be more expensive. I suggest you find a
roommate before you come here, and it will be much easier.

8) Also, FERA being a relatively new program, how far could one bank on
the success of RPI and Lally?
Well, this question need to be answered by yourself. How success do you
bank on yourself? Lally and RPI will offer us good chances with their
best efforts. Whether you can catch them and make best use of them is the key.

9) How many students are there in your batch, and have they received any
job offer/offers?
There are 7-9 FERAs this year I think, since we choose different courses,
and we don't have much time to get-together. Others are all americans.
And these days we are really busy preparing interviews and mid-term exams
for courses. More detail information, you may want to ask the faculty.







Any more inputs about the program would be great enough for me to make a decision about the school I would be attending.


Bharadwaj
 
This is a new program and they don't have a window for internships, and you'll be paying 38k USD for the experience. I'd rather take my chances elsewhere or go for a strong IEOR program.

You are aware, you'll be competing with students from Columbia, Cornell, NYU, Baruch, CMU for jobs!!!
 
FERA students also took part in the National Financial Mathematics Career Fair, which is usually limited to the good schools.
Not true. Any program and any current student can sign up, pay a fee and go to the event. The feedback from student participants the past couple years has been mixed. There doesn't seem to be any organized recruiting going on, more "fair" than "career".

I find the answer by the current student a bit odd, there is little direct, solid info but rather run around, marketing "it's all good". It's understandably frustrating to get info for a brand new program.
 
Have you guys checked out the curriculum? I do (partially) believe that this does seem to be a case of direct marketing. But 4 out of the 7-8 students have already got job offers. Their curriculum is very flexible, and although they do not have an internship opportunity, one can do an intern, if found one, in the summer semester by dropping few courses.

Sure the competition with the best lot is a concern, but then competition has got to be everywhere. One cannot say I can't go to Illinois Inst of Technology, MS Finance because there is University of Chicago out there, or one can't say I would not go to University of North Carolina at Charlotte, MS Mathematical Finance because there are University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and NCSU to compete with. It's just that at NYC, it is a general tendency for there being more number of schools as the number of jobs are relatively more.

Also, the alumni connection at Lally School of Management and RPI are really very strong. I agree that it is relatively a newer program, but I might even say that this program has the potential to replace one of the programs in the top 20 list on the quantnet in the years to come by (sure can replace Kent State University or Florida State University).
 
FERA vs MSOR

Hi ,

I've been offered a place at FERA...and i'm expecting a place at MSOR at Columbia
Any reviews on either of the programs would be great...
Especially FERA's track record in the market...I heard they have about 15 students in their graduating class and 1 placed in Morgan Stanley , 1 in UBS.
Waitlisted at UMich MFE.

I'm looking for a quant role,if possible...which course would better position me for that...
 
Hey dude,
Nice to meet you here on Quantnet! I've added you on Gtalk. Let's chat in there.
 
Hi ,

I've been offered a place at FERA...and i'm expecting a place at MSOR at Columbia
Any reviews on either of the programs would be great...
Especially FERA's track record in the market...I heard they have about 15 students in their graduating class and 1 placed in Morgan Stanley , 1 in UBS.
Waitlisted at UMich MFE.

I'm looking for a quant role,if possible...which course would better position me for that...

There has been a lot of feedback about the Columbia program. You can search the forum for posts from financeguy
 
Hi, I have also been offered a place at FERA in RPI.

Have you received the financial aid email?
 
Yes, I did. They would be declaring it by tomorrow I reckon, if one happens to be on the first pool of applicants.
 
Ok, so there is no financial aid avaialble for the MS students.. official notification by the Admissions Director.

Sad!
 
Ok, so there is no financial aid avaialble for the MS students.. official notification by the Admissions Director.

Sad!


lol RPI Tuition is only 38K... Don't complain.

Well...it's a lot for Indian students still..so yeah I guess..
 
Got an update on the placement statistics of the FERA graduates (although they still did not graduate yet)

This is what the Career Services person said:

As a matter of fact, we have confirmed that 3 of our 8 FERA students, or 38%, have accepted offers of employment. I am also happy to say that the employers are JP Morgan Chase, Ernst & Young, and Goldman Sachs.
 
Another update regarding FERA:

Correction of the previous statement:

5 out of their 9 students have secured jobs and also accepted the offers.
 
RPI's FERA has its first graduating class this May. 5 out of the 7 graduating students have secured job offers and the rest have chosen a decision to pursue PHD.
 
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