COMPARE Stony Brook quant finance VS Florida State fin math

[allabout]

hi,
Anybody would share his opinion to these 2 programs?Thanks a lot

 

[Quant4Life]

I applied to both and was accepted to both, but these were phd applications. Is that what you applied to? Stony Brook doesn't sponsor phd's or masters, but Florida state gave me full TA PhD funding. My understanding is that Stony Brook's program is significantly better. Better overall rankings. Excellent Math ranking and very good applied math program.

 

[Quant4Life]

I would like to hear more people commenting on Florida State's program, especially PhD, is it worth it? or better get a top MFE first?

 

[allabout]

I didn't know stony brook didn't sponsor phds. Really? So you are going to Florida?

 

[Quant4Life]

Yeah I know, that really sucks. I was thinking the same but... I haven't decided yet. Debating between going to NYU for MS MathFin first or straight to phd at Florida... So you also applied for phd programs? What other phd's did you apply to?

 

[allabout]

purdue is the other one I applied but I am on the waiting list.right now I got stony brook and florida state.It seems to me SB is a little better than florida state.It's near NY and the courses is more practical than florida state.
I am thinking NYU ms is the dream school for many of us so if you could get in it would be better to do so.

 

[Quant4Life]

I applied to Purdue as well. Which dept did you apply? I applied to both Math and Stats. Stats admitted me to MS instead of PhD and sort of waitlist for Math... I think both Purdue PhD's are much better then FSU and SB. So did you apply for NYU as well, or any other MS?

 

[alain]

I think both Purdue PhD's are much better then FSU and SB.

why do you think Purdue is much better than FSU and SB? And why do you think the SB is better than FSU?

I'm unable to make a distinction on one over any of the other ones. So, I'm curious how you arrived to those conclusions.

I don't know if you have seen this thread but it doesn't paint a nice picture about SB program:

https://www.quantnet.com/threads/suny-stony-brook-quantitative-finance.2679/

BTW, my cousin went to Stony brook for undergrad and grad school (nothing to do with finance) and says the school is great. I also know couple of people in this forum that claimed FSU is great. So I would like to find out how you figured out one school is better than the other.

 

[Quant4Life]

According to US News SB's science departments are ranked fairly high, especially math is 23rd in US. Now the QF program is in Applied Math and I found some references that its decent. Also, according to The Financial Engineer ranking SB is above FSU by a large margin rank 15 vs 24. These are all indirect clues and kinda subjective but it's best I could find. By US News Purdue Stats phd is ranked 24 and Math phd is ranked 28. They are both very competitive. FSU math is ranked 73 lol That's probably why we haven't gotten offers Purdue yet. I was told the math department phd is specifically competitive to get in.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

When I went to undergrad, Stony Brook CS was one of the top program at least in NY. Their quant finance program is a whole different story as they tend to attract a vastly different applicant pool.

 

[alain]

According to US News SB's science departments are ranked fairly high, especially math is 23rd in US. Now the QF program is in Applied Math and I found some references that its decent. Also, according to The Financial Engineer ranking SB is above FSU by a large margin rank 15 vs 24. These are all indirect clues and kinda subjective but it's best I could find. By US News Purdue Stats phd is ranked 24 and Math phd is ranked 28. They are both very competitive. FSU math is ranked 73 lol That's probably why we haven't gotten offers Purdue yet. I was told the math department phd is specifically competitive to get in.

I see that you are just following rankings. I tend not to trust rankings that are mostly based on opinions.

Let me give you a piece of advice, try to find people who have gone through each of those programs and ask them about their experiences. Send them a quick email if you can (People in this forum are experts are using LinkedIn for this sort of thing). That's the only way you will get a real picture.

One more thing, you will get out of the PhD program as much as you want as long as you work at it. If your goal is academia, the school name might be important. However, if your goal is industry, it will mostly depend on you. Keep those things in mind when making a decision.

 

[Quant4Life]

I see that you are just following rankings. I tend not to trust rankings that are mostly based on opinions.

Let me give you a piece of advice, try to find people who have gone through each of those programs and ask them about their experiences. Send them a quick email if you can (People in this forum are experts are using LinkedIn for this sort of thing). That's the only way you will get a real picture.

One more thing, you will get out of the PhD program as much as you want as long as you work at it. If your goal is academia, the school name might be important. However, if your goal is industry, it will mostly depend on you. Keep those things in mind when making a decision.

Oh Yeah I agree the rankings are subjective. It was just one way to look at it. I actually like the curriculum at FSU and have read many good comments about the program from former phd students. It's definately very tricky to asses a program when barely anybody discusses it.

I acctually meant to actually ask this question. So, if I plan to go into the industry after gradauting with phd, then the school name isn't that important as it would have been for a MFE graduate? I'm having difficulties deciding to go to FSU funded phd or spend 60K on a top masters first, then work 1-2 years to pay it off, and then go to a top phd. Are you suggesting if I want a phd I will be ok at FSU and shouldn't go through MFE?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

If you want a job in the industry, go to a program that has an established track record on placing students on jobs that you like. Simple as that. It doesn't matter if it's an MFE or PhD program unless you know specific jobs that PhD is a must-have.
It's your job to figure out the placement stats. Good programs will keep good records of their grads since it's their selling points. Bad programs won't be able to tell you where their graduates end up.

 

[IntoDarkness]

phd is overkill for most jobs

 

[allabout]

If Stony Brook is no better than FSU,then can anyone give out the facts that FSU is better than Stony Brook?

 

[Quant4Life]

Well FSU sponsor some of their phd students, BIG plus. So even if you don't get it first year most likely you will next year as long as have good grades (I was told that). I haven't analyzed in depth the curriculum but it seems that FSU offers a lot more electives which is very good especially for phd students who could take far more classes than regular Masters. In NY probably Stony Brook's program has some reputation but FSU might not. I don't know if this is important for phd. I think in this case the curriculum and faculty should make that distinction, which will vary from person to person.