Stevens MFE

[eternal_man]

I haven't seen anything recent on this program on the forums. From what I've seen on the internet, they seem to be boasting how they're in the top 10 for mid career salaries and place value on your college degree. Do any of you guys know what the reputation of this program is like?

Thanks

 

[GoIllini]

Stevens has a reputation in NYC of being a decent (not incredible) engineering school.

People will not recognize it as easily once you get east of Secaucus, though.

Personally, if I could get in-state tuition, I'd go with Rutgers. Stevens is a great school, but I don't think it's worth the tuition premium. If you work in the city and want to go part-time, Baruch may also have a PT option. PT admissions at NYU and Columbia (I forget which of Columbia's programs is part-time, but I've met people who are doing it) is relatively straightforward to the best of my knowledge. If you have a job, if that job is somehow ancillary to Wall Street, and you have the coursework, you have a good shot at NYU and Columbia PT.

If you went to Stevens, it's a respected engineering program; I'd support giving you an interview, but if you're considering Stevens, unless they're bringing the cost in line with in-state tuition at a public school, I just don't see them on the cost/benefit frontier. Rutgers or Baruch offer a better deal in a similar or better quality program (especially for Baruch). Depending on what you're aiming for, you may also consider NYU and Columbia, which offer easier PT admits than you would think. (Actually, that said, Baruch is a very selective program on admissions.)

 

[New Trader]

Someone has got to audit the records/statistics released by schools.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambr...ols-from-its-americas-best-colleges-rankings/

 

[eternal_man]

Stevens has a reputation in NYC of being a decent (not incredible) engineering school.

People will not recognize it as easily once you get east of Secaucus, though.

Personally, if I could get in-state tuition, I'd go with Rutgers. Stevens is a great school, but I don't think it's worth the tuition premium. If you work in the city and want to go part-time, Baruch may also have a PT option. PT admissions at NYU and Columbia (I forget which of Columbia's programs is part-time, but I've met people who are doing it) is relatively straightforward to the best of my knowledge. If you have a job, if that job is somehow ancillary to Wall Street, and you have the coursework, you have a good shot at NYU and Columbia PT.

If you went to Stevens, it's a respected engineering program; I'd support giving you an interview, but if you're considering Stevens, unless they're bringing the cost in line with in-state tuition at a public school, I just don't see them on the cost/benefit frontier. Rutgers or Baruch offer a better deal in a similar or better quality program (especially for Baruch). Depending on what you're aiming for, you may also consider NYU and Columbia, which offer easier PT admits than you would think. (Actually, that said, Baruch is a very selective program on admissions.)

Hi GoIllini,

Thanks for your reply. As you mentioned, these other programs are of course excellent and I will be certainly applying to them. However I'm applying on FT basis as I am currently unemployed.

As for Rutgers, I'm out of state and it seems like Rutgers would be the more expensive option in this case. This being said, I will still apply as I'm looking to keep my options open. Baruch would be a very strong option for me granted I get an offer :D

Stevens seems to be playing low key with their lack of info, but there must be a reason why articles are claiming that people who went to school there seem to be outdoing even Ivy League students in terms of ROI from acquiring a degree.

 

[GoIllini]

Well, alumns tend to be the best source of information on a low key school like Stevens. But there are also cognitive biases involved. My undergrad does very well in the Computer Science rankings relative to its name and I like to talk about that when comparing it with other schools. But when I compare my grad school (an MFE program) to Carnegie-Mellon, I don't talk about rankings. I talk about the name and the success of alumns. Like UIUC alumns, Stevens alumns tend to focus on the graduates who've been incredibly successful or the rankings that help.

I know Stevens alumns who have nice careers outside of finance. And every couple years an analyst class of ~100 graduates will have ONE Stevens alumn. I would not rank it with NYU in terms of the success of graduates, though.

If you're unemployed and you qualify for in-state tuition at SUNY, and you don't get into Baruch, I'd send you to Stonybrook to get a CS or engineering master's degree in a program that has high placement rates. You'll pay in-state tuition, avoid a lot of debt, and get a nice, safe, white-collar job upon graduation that can be a stepping stone to a top 15 MFE program.

I don't really recommend spending tuition on something outside the top 15 if they don't share placement stats. The only thing tougher than being underpaid or unemployed is having $70K of student debt and being underpaid or unemployed. Instead, let's try to find you a good engineering program that you can get into that has a high placement rate and isn't that expensive. I've met a number of SUNY alumns when I was in technology at a BB. And even if it's not an elite job, it's a safe job that pays well, and can get you a part-time MFE from NYU or Columbia, probably on the bank's dime. This MFE would probably open a number of internal doors within the firm to risk management, or perhaps even trading, portfolio strategy, or fixed income research.

There's a lot of ifs in this strategy, but there are fewer ifs on you landing a job and staying out of debt. Worst case, you now have a good shot at a Baruch or a Berkeley.

How does this sketch look to you? And do you have any sort of CS or math background?

Others on quantnet may be able to speak to the viability of other graduate engineering degrees.