What are your opinions about the MSCF of Carnegie Mellon and ETHZ UZH MSc Quantitative Finance?

xophe · 3/25/20

Hello everybody,

I just want to get your opinions (or experience) with the MSCF of Carnegie Mellon and the MSc Quantitative Finance of ETHZ/UZH. How do you qualify their programs? What jobs are we eligible for after completing the masters? Where do alumni generally work in terms of companies and location?...

Thanks a lot for your answers and stay in good health.

cheron_jrm · 3/25/20

I can speak about ETH from a european viewpoint, though I did not attend ETH, many friends will go there for their Msc in applied Math/Statistics. ETH is clearly a top school here, in quant finance probably top 4-5 (Along with Oxbridge, Polytechnique, Imperial...). From a non-uk perspective, it is way better than imperial, on par with Oxford I'd say, but in London Imperial may be ranked higher. I would definitely recommend this program to get a job in Europe.
As for CMU, it is really established in the US, though not really known in Europe. It has been discussed a lot on this forum so I don't think I have to be loo long about this one.
Mainly, both programs are among the best in their area, so the main difference is in the location. If you don't care about the location, I think CMU is more focus on CS and computational finance, while ETH learns you more finance.

Soccent · 3/25/20

Life is much nicer in Zurich than in Pittsburgh.

You should know that it seems as if UZH - ETH QF is approximately 75% UZH and 25% ETH, if you look at the number of professors and the number of courses offered. Having said that, since the ETH Math department is one of the sponsors, you can probably get as much mathematical training as you like.

Whichever you choose, if you need a visa, I would start the visa process as quickly as possible in case the coronavirus causes delays in the appropriate country's processing your request.

Ozz · 3/27/20

I made a similar decision last year between ETH QF and the top 5 MFE program in the US. I decided to come to the US (with a 60K loan), in one year I will be able to tell whether it was worth or not, but here are all factors that I considered.

From an educational point, I think there is not to much difference. I believe both programs would be challenging. Maybe ETH more theoretical, while CMU program more practical, but I really don't think there is too much difference.

From financial point ETH is free, but for living in Switzerland you will pay at least 22K a year, the program is 1.5-2 years so it is 44K. In US it will cost nearly 110K for me for a year, so while the difference is big in 10 years I don't think it will matter if you find job in US.

From a career point, I can tell that there are huge restrictions for working in Switzerland, I mean you even sign a paper that you will leave country when you apply for the visa. In the US there is OPT which is amazing and there is a big chance to get H1B again if you find job and if Trump doesn't cancel OPT. Additional point is that in the US there are much more quant finance/risk jobs than in Switzerland.

Whatever you choose it will be fine.

noether-skolem · 3/27/20

Ozz said:
From a career point, I can tell that there are huge restrictions for working in Switzerland, I mean you even sign a paper that you will leave country when you apply for the visa. In the US there is OPT which is amazing and there is a big chance to get H1B again if you find job and if Trump doesn't cancel OPT. Additional point is that in the US there are much more quant finance/risk jobs than in Switzerland.

I have to say that these are my primary reasons for applying to the US programs instead of the top European programs such as Oxford and ETH/UZH.

kylzu · 3/20/21

noether-skolem said:
I have to say that these are my primary reasons for applying to the US programs instead of the top European programs such as Oxford and ETH/UZH.

I value this point, while UK now has PSW scheme.
You have also take care that OPT in US requires land a job within 3mo, also very difficult...

xxxiu · 3/21/21

CMU MSCF is definitely a top 3 quant program, ETH UZH qf is a tier1.5 program...

kylzu · 3/22/21

xxxiu said:
CMU MSCF is definitely a top 3 quant program, ETH UZH qf is a tier1.5 program...

From my perspective, it is hard to compare UK top quant program with EU tops. As we have to consider the geographical reasons in landing a job and your career path after this msc.
If your academic career ends up with this msc, your no.1 priority should be career service, where US universities outranks EU programs tbh. Also, more quant jobs and better pay in US as fin math was originated there. But things may be changed during this year, as UK PSW is reopened. Compared with 3 mo OPT, 24 mo PSW means more possibility even you take the longer program length of US into consideration. However, if you are keen to life in US, just go there.
If you will pursue a phd afterwards, Ox and ETH programs will be a better choice, even if you want to go US finally. When doing a phd, you'll be assessed more comprehensively, and you should bear in mind that the rank of quantnet and risk.net is work-oriented, hence the top programs mean more practical trainings. For academic ranks from unnews or qs, Ox and Eth's maths subject will be better than CMU or Columbia i think, and the brand name will let you in many very top us universities. (Take a look at this page)
You have to be more realistic that if you want to land a job in buy side / Hedge funds, a msc is insufficient so you have to consider a phd.

All in all, the critical reasons that will finally affect your selection between ETH and CMU are seemingly which country you want to work in after academic training. If you are admitted to princeton, definitely go princeton, but for the rest top programs, i think their pros and cons could be offset and only up to your country selection.

However, i just base my discussion on my knowledge of Oxford MCF, as i am not very familiar with ETH program and only applied to ox, but i believe they are basically the same. maybe oxford is better known? and the oxford mcf slightly better than eth? but from other discussions on this fourm, ox and ethz program are also tier 1.

Although i am not an expert in this area, i am very willing to answer further questions. send me a message if so~

xxxiu · 3/22/21

kylzu said:
From my perspective, it is hard to compare UK top quant program with EU tops. As we have to consider the geographical reasons in landing a job and your career path after this msc.
If your academic career ends up with this msc, your no.1 priority should be career service, where US universities outranks EU programs tbh. Also, more quant jobs and better pay in US as fin math was originated there. But things may be changed during this year, as UK PSW is reopened. Compared with 3 mo OPT, 24 mo PSW means more possibility even you take the longer program length of US into consideration. However, if you are keen to life in US, just go there.
If you will pursue a phd afterwards, Ox and ETH programs will be a better choice, even if you want to go US finally. When doing a phd, you'll be assessed more comprehensively, and you should bear in mind that the rank of quantnet and risk.net is work-oriented, hence the top programs mean more practical trainings. For academic ranks from unnews or qs, Ox and Eth's maths subject will be better than CMU or Columbia i think, and the brand name will let you in many very top us universities. (Take a look at this page)
You have to be more realistic that if you want to land a job in buy side / Hedge funds, a msc is insufficient so you have to consider a phd.

All in all, the critical reasons that will finally affect your selection between ETH and CMU are seemingly which country you want to work in after academic training. If you are admitted to princeton, definitely go princeton, but for the rest top programs, i think their pros and cons could be offset and only up to your country selection.

However, i just base my discussion on my knowledge of Oxford MCF, as i am not very familiar with ETH program and only applied to ox, but i believe they are basically the same. maybe oxford is better known? and the oxford mcf slightly better than eth? but from other discussions on this fourm, ox and ethz program are also tier 1.

Although i am not an expert in this area, i am very willing to answer further questions. send me a message if so~

Thank you for your information!

In fact, I am in a similar situation. I also got a good US program to compare with this. I think the purpose of most financial engineering programs should be a good placement. I learned from the alumni of this ETH UZH qf program that the content of this program is more mathematical than practical content such as CS, which seems to be conducive to pursuing a PhD such as in UZH. In addition, the ETH UZH program does not seem to provide an internship period, and it is very difficult to get a visa in Switzerland afterwards. Of course, it's an alternative to go to London, Germany or France. But you need to learn another language? The advantage of being in the United States is that there are many quant internship opportunities, and MSCF of CMU is highly recognized in US, and the employment data seems quite compelling. So I think it might be better to consider which country to stay in in the future?

I am just an 2021 fall applicant. I plan to find a job with compelling salary after graduation. Maybe my opinion is a little biased.