Selecting the Best Quant program

[Chathura Dissanayake]

Hi,

I applied and got selected to the following quant programs:

- MQF - Singapore Management University (SMU)
- Mathematical Finance - University of Birmingham - UK
- MFE - Stevens Institute of Technology - US

(I have also applied for MFE - NTU but no response from them yet)

Right now my plan is to join MQF - SMU program.
However after I got the offer from Stevens yesterday I met with a dilemma whether I should choose Stevens over SMU. Birmingham also is an option.

It seems that Stevens is better in terms of the curriculum and the quality of teaching, but their career services look poor.

What do you the best in terms of the career services ? Singapore has been a preferred choice for me specially because of the job opportunities and SMU's focus on career services.
I understand that all the above programs are not top tier ones. Can someone please give me relative comparison of the above (including MFE - NTU) so that I can make a better decision

Thanks & Regards
- Chathura

 

[AshokKumarMuthusamy]

I am not is US but from what I heard,

=> Come to US only if you get into some top tier schools. Even if you are into some top tier program, you may need some past relevant experience and crazy networking to break into the field.
But everyone accepts that though it is very difficult it is not impossible. Guys who worked hard are in good positions. In this forum, you can find stories about people who successfully found good jobs even when the markets were at the worst pace.

=> Singapore on the other hand is comparatively safer. Low Tuition is also an advantage. But you may have to decide if you will be satisfied with the quality of education and types of job roles available in Singapore.

There are many threads about Quant programs in Singapore - explore them.

 

[Chathura Dissanayake]

Thanks for your valuable comments.

I already looked into other good MFE programs at NUS and NTU in Singapore.
However my GRE was not sufficient to apply for NUS, therefore I only applied for NTU and SMU.

Unless I get selected to NTU MFE program, I have decided to stick with SMU MQF program based on the current options I have listed above. If anyone has different thoughts please share

 

[Ken Hu]

Hi Chathura Dissanayake, You are excellent! I also apply to SMU MQF, but till now didn't get any response. So i am fearing the worse. But wondering when did you apply, and did you go for interview?

 

[Einstein]

Hi,

I applied and got selected to the following quant programs:

- MQF - Singapore Management University (SMU)
- Mathematical Finance - University of Birmingham - UK
- MFE - Stevens Institute of Technology - US

(I have also applied for MFE - NTU but no response from them yet)

Right now my plan is to join MQF - SMU program.
However after I got the offer from Stevens yesterday I met with a dilemma whether I should choose Stevens over SMU. Birmingham also is an option.

It seems that Stevens is better in terms of the curriculum and the quality of teaching, but their career services look poor.

What do you the best in terms of the career services ? Singapore has been a preferred choice for me specially because of the job opportunities and SMU's focus on career services.
I understand that all the above programs are not top tier ones. Can someone please give me relative comparison of the above (including MFE - NTU) so that I can make a better decision

Thanks & Regards
- Chathura

I got admitted to pursue a Master study in Financial Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology too. Please guys, I want your opinion about Stevens Institute of Technology. Is it y good University? Do you know someone who got a MFE from S.I.T?

 

[Chathura Dissanayake]

Hi Chathura Dissanayake, You are excellent! I also apply to SMU MQF, but till now didn't get any response. So i am fearing the worse. But wondering when did you apply, and did you go for interview?

Hi Ken, normally SMU's admission process is very fast. I submitted my application on 2013-02-17 and had a skype interview in about two weeks time. Within couple of hours after the interview I got the offer from SMU.

However, according to their website, you will know the outcome of your application latest by end June. Therefore you can still have a hope. If you go to the Quantnet Tracker you can get an idea about the time taken for SMU MQF's admission process. May be you can also try to contact the the program manager and get an update of your application.
Good luck !