Toronto MathFin U of Toronto MMF Question

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Dibbs said:
@Andy Nguyen : You're somewhat right, the interview process is a bit "weird" to me. I don't really know what they are looking for in those group interviews. They put a lot of emphasis on communication skills, hence the required short presentation. Since I am originally from outside of Toronto, I was only given a short phone interview (qualitative).

I can PM you the e-mails and names of the program's staff if you'd like to contact them and ask them more questions on the program.
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This is the flaw in their admission process. How can you use different interview process and criteria for different group of applicants based on their location?
If they are determined to test communication skills, the group of students outside of Canada would be scrutinized more than people who study and live in Toronto area (an English speaking city, last time I check).
So at the end, someone lives in Toronto area got the short end of the deal while everyone else got an easier phone interview.
While they focus on this, they don't seem to have a way to ensure all their incoming students have some level of programming competency. It's not hard to see that the quality of the students will be uneven.
 
Yes indeed, this is a flaw. Also, when students are inequal in programming knowledge and finance knowledge, this doesn't allow the professors to challenge us more in their class projetcs, etc.

The program is trying to improve through mandatory evaluation of the program; students are required to have a meeting with the academic program director to discuss good and bad aspetcs of the program.
 
Dibbs said:
@Andy Nguyen : What do you mean when you say they are recruiting a bunch of math geeks ? Please explain a bit more.

@DanM : The UofT MMF is more oriented towards risk management than other programs, this is also reflected in the types of internships that students are able to obtain. Most of the students are placed in model vetting groups at various institutions (one kid was placed on a trading floor). As for myself, I am interning at Scotia Capital. Internship placement is 100%, even students with almost no previous work experience are able to land an internship. In terms of job placement, so far, only 5 students have been able to land jobs (1 consulting, 2 IBs, 1 software company, 1 insurance co.). I am a bit disappointed by the help of the staff concerning full time jobs. I have been able to land a FT offer after networking sessions and contacting people on my own.

The workload is very heavy in the first semester, but the teachers are also flexible concerning that. We were able to push one or two deadlines in times of intense rush periods. For the programming language, the MMF does not "teach" a programming language, it assumes you already know how to code efficiently (although I quickly realized some math students had almost no coding experience...). MATLAB is used in most of the classes as the professor judge it is an easy language to learn and students who lack this knowledge can quickly learn to use it. I believe this is a weak point; the widely accepted standard is c++ and not knowing it CAN hurt you.

In terms of teachers, I would say we have had one bad teacher on a total of 7 so far. I would say 3 out of the remaining were average (very helpful teachers, but projects were sometimes too .. childish.. could of been more of a challenge). The star teachers were definitely Tom McCurdy and Sebastian Jaimungal.

So thats all I have to say for now, let me know if you need more information.
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Thanks!

Regarding those admitted into the program - how many had previous work experience? What was the average GPA of those who got in? (Not sure if you would know this, but I tried searching online and could not find anything. I know Baruch has statistics on the average GPA of those admitted. Was wondering if UofT did as well.)
 
I know for sure UofT hearts students with high GPA. Also, when I went for their info session, the program director mentioned that they would prefer fresh grads or at least people who graduated within the past 2 years... their logic is that if you have been out of school for over 2 years, you will have a *hard* time getting back in the study mode and keeping up with the workload, etc
 
@yjt : That is somewhat true, the course load is quite intense and for industry people to come back and do this can sometimes be overwhelming. Especially when it comes to stochastic calculus.

I would say GPA's range between 3.75 and 4 , but thats a very rough estimate (my estimate...)
 
Just finished my phone interview with Shari. It went really well and was 10 minutes as Dibbs mentioned before. I only gave myself a 3.5/5 for programming knowledge hopefully honesty/modesty pays off. Other than that hopefully I get in and can join on the Toronto meet up!
 
@Dibbs,
I just got accepted from u of t mmf. (i'm studying in Asia for my undergraduate)

Would you mind share with us how the previous-year full time placement rate (b4 graduate) is? I'm pretty worried about that.

Also, do you have any idea how much salary will a risk manager in those big name canadian companies get after graduating from mmf program ?

thanks a lot
 
I guess there is only one question left then... Is Andy covering first round of drinks? And if so - we going single malt? After all, we are bankers now..
 
hahaha I smell free drink(s)! I will def try to make it too if there really is going to be a meet-up
 
Congrats to all who got accepted. Last year's placement is very good. Everybody got a full time offer, except for one person (I was told he was not seeking direct employment). Also, two of these decided to pursue a PhD. This year's placement is on par with previous years. Internships are ending and more and more students have been offered full time positions.

Risk managements salaries are lower than other parts of the bank (in comparison with S&T/IB/revenue generating business). My estimate is that the salaries are about 70k + 10-15% bonus.
 
I was requested for another phone interview this Friday with one of their PHD students Ryan Donnelly. From what I gather I am either a unique case or this is a new process. I feel this interview is going to be a little tougher than the first haha. You guys have already helped me a ton, but if you have any advice left to give I'd very much appreciate it. Thanks
 
Ryan's a good guy. He's our TA for pricing theory. He likes quizzes and everything, so prepare for that !
 

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