COMPARE UCLA MFE vs Rutgers MQF

[nezuko]

Hi,
I am an international student (CS undergrad, tier-1 uni). Got accepted to Rutgers MQF and UCLA MFE. I am a bit confused about which to prioritise as of now.

I have spoke to a lot of students and alumni at both the universities. General rankings wise UCLA > Rutgers. But I wanted to know if there’s really an edge that I will get while applying to jobs. Cause location wise Id prefer being closer to NYC. My major focus is learning, more math heavy program, networking opportunities. Wanted to get opinion of someone who has been working for 5-6 years in quant finance field.

I heard that UCLA had recent changes in administration and that they had a dedicated person in NYC for networking, but there have been recent changes in that as well.

Thank you for your time!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

UCLA MFE made recent changes to their team recently. A new executive director, new faces on the team. The NYC liaison person was no longer with the program as of the end of last year.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Please also add your application timelines to the Tracker.

 

[nezuko]

UCLA MFE made recent changes to their team recently. A new executive director, new faces on the team. The NYC liaison person was no longer with the program as of the end of last year.

Yes, I heard that precisely. Hence I was wondering what this would mean.

 

[tpnv]

Some of my insights about both program I gather from my network and also from friends at Rutger MQF:

- Rutgers MQF does have many opportunity in many banking and trading firm across the tri-state (closest is Jersey City with Citi and JP Morgan, can be both access by public transportation), also insurance (Chubby also in JC, Prudential Financial just couple blocks away), finance risk (moody’s), and extend down to PA (with firms like SIG, PNC, Vanguard), the only downside is super competitive (not only with bigger school but also with other Master student at Rutgers main campus in Stats, DS and the FSRM program), however the job in Tri state is unlimited, the program and school reputation is definitely well known in many banks, you can definitely get something as I know the director of Rutgers MQF is super helpful (I have heard that prior to the current bad market the internship placement rate is really high)

- For UCLA MFE, 2 banks hire heavily from UCLA FE are EastWest and Cathay, while other are insurance quant analyst and major asset management company (like Ares, PIMCO, Capital Group) along with many smaller, private one so this is a huge advantage for UCLA MFE, if you are more into portfolio/asset side, this definitely a great place to go and network, Cap Group recruiter loves UCLA, UCI and USC and always prefer to hire many from there.

Just my total 2cent of insights I gather from my network and observation. Hope this helps!