COMPARE UW Seattle CFRM vs. UIUC MSFE vs. NYU Poly FRE

[PolyQuant]

Hi all,

I have been reading these threads about how different programs compare but since many programs are fairly new and undergoing big changes from academic year to academic year, it seems relevant to update.

I have just been admitted to UIUC for the Fall 2014 Semester and I am also hoping to get an admission into NYU poly, though not guaranteed, but I do believe that my application is competitive enough. I would like to have an input into how these programs could compare.

My biggest criteria for either of these programs is career placement and also the nature of those placements. Since neither of these schools have specific numbers (in percent for example) of their graduates, similar to programs like Baruch it's hard to compare

Poly is appealing because of its location and the diversity of its courses. The design of different tracks is particularly appealing for me. Also the merger with NYU provides access to a larger institution and the career services at Courant. However the number of students enrolled maybe a disadvantage.

UIUC also appears to have good professors and very good reviews from past students. The location, though not far from Chicago, is not a prime location even though they have lecture series from practitioners hence an opportunity for networking. However, from the reviews that I have read here from past students, there doesn't seem to be career services geared only towards the MSFE, which makes you rely on job boards.

Any comments and suggestions from all members, especially Alumni will be greatly appreciated.
P.S. i haven't read many comments from Poly Alumni in these forums.

Thanks

 

[ILLUMINATI]

I have questions on similar lines. Waiting for a decision though from these colleges. Can someone help out on this.
Diallo,
Can you tell me when you applied for UIUC? I have submitted by application on 30th Jan 2014. You have any idea when I can hear from them?

 

[PolyQuant]

I have questions on similar lines. Waiting for a decision though from these colleges. Can someone help out on this.
Diallo,
Can you tell me when you applied for UIUC? I have submitted by application on 30th Jan 2014. You have any idea when I can hear from them?

Hi Chaitanya,

I applied on February 2nd.I have US undergrad background, some internships and full time experience in civil engineerin, and very good recommendations from both education and professional experience. So those might have played a role. The admission process is on a rolling basis, so hopefully you will hear from them soon

 

[ILLUMINATI]

oh cool....I am an international applicant. Think will take some time. Appreciate your help

 

[Shadowfax]

I have also recently received offers from UIUC MSFE and UW-CFRM recently and would really appreciate feedback from experienced members and students/alumni of these programs to help me decide between them.

Thank you!

 

[Shadowfax]

oh cool....I am an international applicant. Think will take some time. Appreciate your help

I am an international applicant too. Based on my timeline you are likely to get a decision by mid-March. But cannot be sure.

 

[ILLUMINATI]

Thanks for the input!

 

[GoIllini]

As an alumnus, I appreciate the respect for UIUC. I wish it were true that UIUC had a better program, but I'm not really sure that's the case.

UIUC will get you a job at a Chicago prop shop if you make an effort at recruiting and interview well. But I think NYU has the stronger brand. It will get you interviews at banks.

I have not yet seen a really good argument that UIUC is a better choice than NYU (there may be some points that I am missing). In the absence of such an argument, I think NYU has the stronger brand in finance, in the location where ~70% of the trading jobs in this country are (NJ, NYC, and CT).

 

[drahmah]

I think a strong case can be made that NYU Courant is a better choice than all of the above - Peter Carr is a true visionary in financial engineering. And I get that NYU poly merged with NYU, but...I don't know how that changed anything. I suppose you can cover the "poly" part on your resume with your finger and successfully fool some unwary HR's. I do know of a student who chose UIUC over NYU Poly, and he is happy with his choice.

I think theres no better/bad:
- NYU Poly's course offerings seem very finance-y. They have M&A, Corporate Finance, stuff that wont look out of context in a MBA program. If thats what you want, then by all means.
- At UIUC, students who find the program satisfying are those who were looking for something more engineer-ish. It's "financial" engineering in the same sense as "biomedical" or "sustainability" engineering here. Its basically an interdisciplinary engineering program - in the same building as those guys too.

 

[ILLUMINATI]

NYU, Columbia, Baruch etc are tier 1 colleges and comparing them with UIUC, Washington and so on will not make sense as they are relatively new and not that mature.

Focusing more on career opportunities after graduation is what interests international applicants according to me. Can you guys share info on this aspect considering that a student does well in his graduation probably being in the top 10 of his class. This would indeed be helpful.

 

[IntoDarkness]

is drahmah one of those school admin selected students roaming around quantnet trying to give more credit to the respective program?

 

[GoIllini]

This is a forum for nice people. We all have a little too much in common in terms of our worldviews, professional situations, and backgrounds to troll each other here. Trolling is to be reserved for the football players in IBD and cash equities on WSO, or for the kooky people on a political forum like Huffington Post.

Guys, we already deal with enough... stuff from traders who are three times louder than us and not necessarily as smart. So let's be nice to each other.

 

[PolyQuant]

NYU, Columbia, Baruch etc are tier 1 colleges and comparing them with UIUC, Washington and so on will not make sense as they are relatively new and not that mature.

Focusing more on career opportunities after graduation is what interests international applicants according to me. Can you guys share info on this aspect considering that a student does well in his graduation probably being in the top 10 of his class. This would indeed be helpful.

As an alumnus, I appreciate the respect for UIUC. I wish it were true that UIUC had a better program, but I'm not really sure that's the case.

UIUC will get you a job at a Chicago prop shop if you make an effort at recruiting and interview well. But I think NYU has the stronger brand. It will get you interviews at banks.

I have not yet seen a really good argument that UIUC is a better choice than NYU (there may be some points that I am missing). In the absence of such an argument, I think NYU has the stronger brand in finance, in the location where ~70% of the trading jobs in this country are (NJ, NYC, and CT).

Thank you. It's always good to hear from Alumni in these forums.

 

[paulz]

This is a forum for nice people. We all have a little too much in common in terms of our worldviews, professional situations, and backgrounds to troll each other here. Trolling is to be reserved for the football players in IBD and cash equities on WSO, or for the kooky people on a political forum like Huffington Post.

Guys, we already deal with enough... stuff from traders who are three times louder than us and not necessarily as smart. So let's be nice to each other.

Are there many uiuc graduate going to prop shops? I think some prop shops are even harder to get in than IBs.

 

[PolyQuant]

And by the way, the merger is going to change a lot of things. First off you do not need to "hide the poly with the palm of your hand" since it is now called NYU Engineering. But in real terms you will have access to the Courant and Stern Career services and will get the opportunity to apply for the same jobs As the graduates in these programs all under the NYU brand. Besides any program is of this caliber is really what you make of it. If you work hard and know what you want early on you will succeed. All you need is that little push from career services. Anybody from Alumni of any FE program want to mention typical salaries plus bonuses that are generally offered upon graduation?

 

[Azamat Bagatov]

I think I'm in a position to talk about NYU Poly being a current student here. Firstly, I would like to clear up certain things. Contrary to what someone mentioned, there is no access to Courant's career services AFAIK. You have access to Wasserman which is NYU's career services and they're really good/they know what they're doing and what they need to do. You can also take courses at Courant or Stern if you have a high GPA. Poly is fully consolidated into NYU and you are treated like NYU's own. I have attended 2 career fairs and things did look decent. Employers are enthusiastic about FE students. As of now, I know one friend (given that I joined in spring and know very few) who got into a very big IB for summer internship. Others are interviewing and I will let you guys know once I do.

Most big names recruit from Poly BUT you need to be good. There is no slack they'd cut for you. Morgan Stanley, S&P, E&Y, etc. are others that are interviewing on-campus right now. (S&P - Rating Services, E&Y - Risk Advisory Group, MS - not sure/dont know) Other big names post openings on Wasserman website and conduct interviews off-campus. Most graduates also work for start-ups and other investment management houses. Please understand that there are a hell lot of companies out here for you to work at. Being in NY is a huge advantage (obviously) and let me tell you why. 70% of the jobs in NY are either directly or indirectly related to finance. So if you have done FE and are looking for a tech role, you will have opportunities. If you're interested in analytics, you will have opportunities. I mean, yes, given that your interviews go well.

Poly is NOT a bigger brand than Columbia or Baruch when it comes to FE. Do keep in mind that for every job out there, at least one application from the bigger names goes in too. So you're directly competing with them.

The department has some fabulous professors. You will learn a lot. You will get lost in the plethora of knowledge the curriculum has to offer if you're unsure about what you want or where you see yourself working.

Also, I think that the fee at Poly is less compared to many other colleges (except Baruch - they charge about 31k which is awesome). Most of the students who apply are really good and they're offered tuition waiver. For me, it was costing 35K and if I perform well in my first year, there could be another 4.5k dollar reduction in my third. This was a very important factor for me as I did not want to burn my parents' pockets.

I'm not in a position to compare UIUC and UW CFRM with Poly. I did hear that UW is doing a fair job in placing their students but I do not know the veracity of this information. Please contact them and they will let you know if they're willing to share them with you.

P.S.
1. There is no past placement data that I can give you guys. The department doesn't collect any. This could change in the near future (read: don't know when).

2. Expect the application procedure to be tougher than previous years. Be early.

3. Whatever questions you might have, call the admissions co-ordinator and ask. Don't make decisions after reading through posts like these. This is just to get you some oil to have that chain of thought burning.

4. Don't assume. You just have to 'Quantnet' a lot.

5. Don't inbox me asking for placement stats from previous years. If I had the excel, I would have shared it with all of you.

Good luck everyone. Happy applying and waiting! :P

 

[PolyQuant]

I think I'm in a position to talk about NYU Poly being a current student here. Firstly, I would like to clear up certain things. Contrary to what someone mentioned, there is no access to Courant's career services AFAIK. You have access to Wasserman which is NYU's career services and they're really good/they know what they're doing and what they need to do. You can also take courses at Courant or Stern if you have a high GPA. Poly is fully consolidated into NYU and you are treated like NYU's own. I have attended 2 career fairs and things did look decent. Employers are enthusiastic about FE students. As of now, I know one friend (given that I joined in spring and know very few) who got into a very big IB for summer internship. Others are interviewing and I will let you guys know once I do.

Most big names recruit from Poly BUT you need to be good. There is no slack they'd cut for you. Morgan Stanley, S&P, E&Y, etc. are others that are interviewing on-campus right now. (S&P - Rating Services, E&Y - Risk Advisory Group, MS - not sure/dont know) Other big names post openings on Wasserman website and conduct interviews off-campus. Most graduates also work for start-ups and other investment management houses. Please understand that there are a hell lot of companies out here for you to work at. Being in NY is a huge advantage (obviously) and let me tell you why. 70% of the jobs in NY are either directly or indirectly related to finance. So if you have done FE and are looking for a tech role, you will have opportunities. If you're interested in analytics, you will have opportunities. I mean, yes, given that your interviews go well.

Poly is NOT a bigger brand than Columbia or Baruch when it comes to FE. Do keep in mind that for every job out there, at least one application from the bigger names goes in too. So you're directly competing with them.

The department has some fabulous professors. You will learn a lot. You will get lost in the plethora of knowledge the curriculum has to offer if you're unsure about what you want or where you see yourself working.

Also, I think that the fee at Poly is less compared to many other colleges (except Baruch - they charge about 31k which is awesome). Most of the students who apply are really good and they're offered tuition waiver. For me, it was costing 35K and if I perform well in my first year, there could be another 4.5k dollar reduction in my third. This was a very important factor for me as I did not want to burn my parents' pockets.

I'm not in a position to compare UIUC and UW CFRM with Poly. I did hear that UW is doing a fair job in placing their students but I do not know the veracity of this information. Please contact them and they will let you know if they're willing to share them with you.

P.S.
1. There is no past placement data that I can give you guys. The department doesn't collect any. This could change in the near future (read: don't know when).

2. Expect the application procedure to be tougher than previous years. Be early.

3. Whatever questions you might have, call the admissions co-ordinator and ask. Don't make decisions after reading through posts like these. This is just to get you some oil to have that chain of thought burning.

4. Don't assume. You just have to 'Quantnet' a lot.

5. Don't inbox me asking for placement stats from previous years. If I had the excel, I would have shared it with all of you.

Good luck everyone. Happy applying and waiting! :P

Very informative Azamat. Your post answers many of the questions I had. I mentioned that Poly Students had access to the Courant Career services because I attended an online information session and asked that exact same question, and their answer was yes. They also said that they will not have any admission decision before the deadline on March 2, 2014 and I would expect it to be even more competitive this year.
You mentioned that if you have good grades you could take some classes at Courant or Stern? Are those classes given to FE students in those institutes?

Thank you

 

[Azamat Bagatov]

About the Courant thing, I may be wrong then. I guess you could fish in there too. I mean, career fairs here are generally open to students of all universities. We had students from UPenn and GaTech visiting us this year. So yeah, what you said might be correct: inter-school should be allowed in that case.

Secondly, yes. They are given to FE students at Courant. But you must understand that every school would try to accommodate its students first before it gives preference to others. Same applies for Courant students who wish to take courses at the FE depp.

Hope this helps.

 

[PolyQuant]

About the Courant thing, I may be wrong then. I guess you could fish in there too. I mean, career fairs here are generally open to students of all universities. We had students from UPenn and GaTech visiting us this year. So yeah, what you said might be correct: inter-school should be allowed in that case.

Secondly, yes. They are given to FE students at Courant. But you must understand that every school would try to accommodate its students first before it gives preference to others. Same applies for Courant students who wish to take courses at the FE depp.

Hope this helps.

Ok thanks

 

[Azamat Bagatov]

There is one more thing I'd like to add to my previous post. This is something I noticed here. It is very advantageous to have some kind of professional experience before you join FE. Since you'd be interning one year after you come, I reckon companies look for grads who're serious about what they want and work exp. conveys that you are.

Certifications like CFA and FRM help too. Instead of passing time in just waiting for results, I'd suggest you guys to do these if possible at all. Once you come to the USA, preparation expenses and tutoring (if you'd need any) are going to be expensive.