Rutgers MQF VS Stevens MFE

[NMT]

Hello Everyone,

I have received admits from Rutgers for MQF and from Stevens for MFE.

I am confused as to which admit I should accept for my masters degree.

It would be really helpful if someone could state the pros and cons of both these programs as it would help me taking a decision.

 

[jarryds]

Hello Everyone,

I have received admits from Rutgers for MQF and from Stevens for MFE.

I am confused as to which admit I should accept for my masters degree.

It would be really helpful if someone could state the pros and cons of both these programs as it would help me taking a decision.

I don't know anything about Stevens, but I do know about MQF. In my opinion the coursework was lacking the quantitative rigor I was looking for. Most of the courses were more finance, economics, and basic math/stats. The program kind of seems like a dressed up MBA. I even spoke with people in the program who echoed that the courses were not very tough. In their words: "It seems like people were just looking to get good grades instead of actually learn quant material." But it all depends on your career path. I am interested in heavy quant, maybe research, so I needed a more mathematically advanced program. I was in a group chat with other incoming MQF students, and they were more interested in PM/less quantitative work. A lot of them were interested in getting a CFA charter. Most MFEs are professional degrees, and MQF is definitely pushing that agenda. If that is what you want, great. But if you are thinking research/maybe PhD/going outside of quant using your degree (data science/tech), I would stray away from MQF.

Also if I recall there is a huge price gap between the two. MQF was still too expensive for me and I got a scholarship.

Also take all of the opinions on here with a grain of salt. Nobody has the right answer. Most of the people you see commenting here are in the same position you are in. Kind of like the blind leading the blind. Find coursework you like, try to contact faculty/current students and see what you think. My recommendation is go to LinkedIn, searching by school and finding the people that went to the programs. Try to connect with them and ask what they liked about it and how far it got them.