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COMPARE UChicago Financial Mathematics VS MIT Master in Finance

Please, choose one


  • Total voters
    92

nqh

Joined
3/11/19
Messages
12
Points
11
Hello, community. I just got two offers from these privilegious schools and I do not know which one to choose. I'm pursuing to work in a hedge fund or in some structuring department (in any financial city). And if it is helpful to know, I am biassed to UChicago because I saw within its course program there's no accounting courses or corporate finance; perhaps I'm making a mistake. Here in the 2019 ranks MIT is one place above UChicago, but the latter has better numbers for placement rate and the start base annual (btw, does anybody know how trustable are these numbers? I guess they are, but...) Any comment will be quite appreciated.
 
Both are good but both are not that good. MIT big name but you see its placement. UChicago big name also, but it is "infamous" for its too theoretical courses and its rank dropped sharply from 7th maybe to 11th. If you have to choose one between them, I recommend UChicago because it is the king of Chicagao, In MIT, you d better prepare for competition against Princeton,Columbia,NYU,Cornell CMU and Baruch, and the result, as you see from the quantnet ranking, totally a disaster.
 
Both are good but both are not that good. MIT big name but you see its placement. UChicago big name also, but it is "infamous" for its too theoretical courses and its rank dropped sharply from 7th maybe to 11th. If you have to choose one between them, I recommend UChicago because it is the king of Chicagao, In MIT, you d better prepare for competition against Princeton,Columbia,NYU,Cornell CMU and Baruch, and the result, as you see from the quantnet ranking, totally a disaster.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this would be true for someone who wants to go into a pure quant career. I think MIT's MFin is more accustomed to people who want a little more of traditional finance courses, but with the ability to retain their technical background and tailor the curriculum to their interests (mine is capital markets, for example). I think MIT Sloan's brand name and rep is more than enough to place you in top companies, assuming you're not looking for pure quant roles. Just my two cents :)
 
Hearing that a lot of the MIT MFIN grads get offers from brand name firms, but many of these are for risk mgmt or finance reporting roles. Dropoff in $$ for non-US folks is real. Great to have choices though - congratulations.
 
Hearing that a lot of the MIT MFIN grads get offers from brand name firms, but many of these are for risk mgmt or finance reporting roles. Dropoff in $$ for non-US folks is real. Great to have choices though - congratulations.

hmmm... interesting. where did you hear this?
 
Hi, I am wondering if you can share your timeline of the application process. When did you submit the app and receive the offer? Did you have any additional interviews?
 
You said your dream job would be in a hedge fund or structuring positions, so the choice would be pretty easier now, which is chicago. MIT sloan is great, maybe even greater in name than chicago, but as you see the traditional finance courses... And you have to face the competition from top prgrams in NY, and in CHICAGO both. I dont believe mit can outweigh uchicago on positions you are fond of in chicago region.
 
Yet I still wanna remind you one thing which is the majority placement of well-known mfe porgrams, except exceptional students from cmu or baruch, is basic quant jobs in sell side. This may sound discouraging, but this is indeed the truth. Well-known here includes cmu, baruch, both 2 in columbia, nyu fm, cornell, uchicago, mit, where over 60% students end up in banks. Top buy side recruiters usually aim at phds or US bachelors.
 
Yet I still wanna remind you one thing which is the majority placement of well-known mfe porgrams, except exceptional students from cmu or baruch, is basic quant jobs in sell side. This may sound discouraging, but this is indeed the truth. Well-known here includes cmu, baruch, both 2 in columbia, nyu fm, cornell, uchicago, mit, where over 60% students end up in banks. Top buy side recruiters usually aim at phds or US bachelors.
Do top buy side accept students with two master degrees (like LSE+Cornell MFE or CMU MSCS + Cornell MFE)?
 
Yet I still wanna remind you one thing which is the majority placement of well-known mfe porgrams, except exceptional students from cmu or baruch, is basic quant jobs in sell side. This may sound discouraging, but this is indeed the truth. Well-known here includes cmu, baruch, both 2 in columbia, nyu fm, cornell, uchicago, mit, where over 60% students end up in banks. Top buy side recruiters usually aim at phds or US bachelors.

So, it doesn’t matter what program I take, there’s few chances to get in a buy side firm?
 
Yet I still wanna remind you one thing which is the majority placement of well-known mfe porgrams, except exceptional students from cmu or baruch, is basic quant jobs in sell side. This may sound discouraging, but this is indeed the truth. Well-known here includes cmu, baruch, both 2 in columbia, nyu fm, cornell, uchicago, mit, where over 60% students end up in banks. Top buy side recruiters usually aim at phds or US bachelors.
This seems desiptive on the fact that people from many schools do get buy side jobs. Many asset managers hire out of many mfe’s. While I agree many good jobs are mostly taken by Ivy League PhD and bachelors degree holders many get food jobs. I know mit places some people at citadel and Princeton had placements at cubist and citadel as well. Also many programs have placements in aqr so I wouldn’t say that there’s no hope.
 
This seems desiptive on the fact that people from many schools do get buy side jobs. Many asset managers hire out of many mfe’s. While I agree many good jobs are mostly taken by Ivy League PhD and bachelors degree holders many get food jobs. I know mit places some people at citadel and Princeton had placements at cubist and citadel as well. Also many programs have placements in aqr so I wouldn’t say that there’s no hope.
You mean deceptive? All right, indeed as you said some exceptional mfe students got incredibly amazing job in top companies like citadel, which I never deny. But I also mentioned them too. Of course hope is always there, but the competition is extremely fierce. And I doubt as for these lucky dogs, whether the program or their own amazing capacity finally put them in such positions. Anyway, job seeking is always the work up to our own, but not the program name.
 
So, it doesn’t matter what program I take, there’s few chances to get in a buy side firm?
Well, top buy side may be true as your words. But you see, there are still myriad trading firms in chicago, which is not attractive enough to these amazing guys, but pretty good position for mfe students as a career starter. If your target is only top companies, well, whichever then. But if you dont aim so high, uchicago would be a better place to begin with. Just like why cornell seems to be able to place more students in banks? Location. Uchicago owns the location merit, take advantage of that if you really love trading!
 
Do top buy side accept students with two master degrees (like LSE+Cornell MFE or CMU MSCS + Cornell MFE)?
As fresh graduates, I have to say only a few are lucky enough to be recruited. I saw some citadel offers on baruch's placement statistics, but didn't pay much attention to cmu's. But after you have gained experience, the gate might be broader. So I would recommend uchicago still, may have more chance to gain relevant exp.
And you know what? Citadel locates in chicago, hahahahaha.
 
Your saying banks as if they are such bad things. Buy side isn’t everything, some people wish to stay on the sell side. Goldman Sachs qis is an example of a very prestigious banking position. Just make the best of your opportunity and you’ll end up where you want, simple.
 
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