Where would you rank Baruch MFE with top programs ?

[Michelle]

Hi everyone,

I'm aware this is a very subjective question but I believe everyone should form their own opinion about anything.
Since MFE is a relatively new field compared to Computer Science of MBA, there are only a few programs that distingue themselves from the rest.
How would you rank the following programs which are now, according to people I work with, the top programs.

Baruch, UCB, CMU, Columbia FE, NYU, Stanford, Chicago, Cornell.

I believe we should rank them accordingly to the focus of their program, because each is designed differently.

Tell me what your opinion is, however biased. After all, everyone should already make up their own ranking.

Thanks,
Michelle

 

[Uncle Max]

How would you rank the following programs which are now, according to people I work with, the top programs.

Baruch, UCB, CMU, Columbia FE, NYU, Stanford, Chicago, Cornell.

It's a very tricky question to ask current students of Baruch Especially when our beloved Director reads this forum everyday

Personally, if I had to choose which program to apply this year I would apply to Baruch only. I'm not going to explain on a public forum why... of course everyone has different goals, so it's personal. As I told you in previous post, come and visit us in the School, you will have a better picture then

 

[Andy Nguyen]

How would you rank the following programs which are now, according to people I work with, the top programs.

Baruch, UCB, CMU, Columbia FE, NYU, Stanford, Chicago, Cornell.

I believe we should rank them accordingly to the focus of their program, because each is designed differently.

Awesome topic. Good idea of ranking them categorically. There are 3 components that every MFE, MF, etc tries to incorperate : computation, math, finance. Some do much better job than others in providing a well balanced program. Baruch is one of those few. I'm going out in a limb and rank them according to what I know. I may get lot of heat doing this but it's fine by me.

Computational component
1) Baruch, CMU (heavy duty C++ projects)
2) Columbia FE
3) NYU, Cornell, Chicago, Standford

Finance component
1) UCB, CMU (run by business dept so it's a plus)
2) Baruch, Chicago, NYU, etc

Math component (purely guessing here)
1) NYU, Chicago
2) UCB, Baruch, Cornell, Stanford

So, Baruch is overall a very well-rounded, pratical-focused program. It's in my book gives the best ROI out there. If i have to choose a program to study, I'm gonna join Baruch in a heart beat. No second thought, whatsoever.
With everything else going in for it lately, Baruch will be one of the top 3 programs national-wide in a few years. If you are looking among public universities, Baruch is the best hand down.

What is your ranking ?

 

[Uncle Max]

I may get lot of heat doing this but it's fine by me.

I totally disagree with those rankings

 

[alain]

Ah... rankings... that's a very subjective topic. I will tell you that I do like the program at Baruch.

 

[RussianMike]

It's a good/bad question. What you should really do is visit each program see what you like/not like, ask lots of questions and apply. Good luck.

 

[Michelle]

I totally disagree with those rankings

So you think Baruch is lower on the ranking, maxrum ? :-k
If you think Baruch should be higher, just let me know. I hope you don't get in trouble in either case :smt033
After all, this is all about personal opinion, not consensual poll.

 

[Yusheng]

I agree with Andy's opinions.

 

[Uncle Max]

So you think Baruch is lower on the ranking, maxrum ? :-k
If you think Baruch should be higher, just let me know.

Yes, I think it should be higher. The program is unique, there is no similar one comparing to Baruch. There are several descent programs in the US, and if you want to go through the specific cases just PM me, I will answer all your questions

 

[luso]

Dear Michelle,
I think Andy's comment is fairly objective given the fact that the question itself is a quite subjective one. :D

There is the fact that all of us (faculties and students) are well aware of is:
There is something you will never get if you go to Baruch's MFE program and compare to go to the MFE programs in those IVY League schools, or top 20 private schools/public schools (you can refer to US News and World report’s annual ranking). The things you will never get is the overall all school reputation, prestige, business connections, teaching resource, and alumni support. This is the fact we all accept and probably nothing we can do to change it.

If you pay attention on NY Times’ report about education two weeks ago, you will find that more and more resources (public funding, government and privative grants) are being pulled into those top ranked state universities (or flagship campuses). And no doubt about that MFE program is the one of the elite programs on those flagship campuses. Unfortunately, CUNY/Baruch is not this kind of flagship campuses in the state of New York. So obviously, we won’t get the kind of resource or support what people go to University of Michigan, or UIUC, etc. will receive. If you are ranking a program, those surrounding environment or factors need to be considered as well.

However, what is the value of a MFE degree? It is an education process. So what matter is what you get from it. If you are ranking or rating it from the prospective of quality of education, background of students, work attitude, and employment statistics, etc. I think the level of Baruch’s MFE program is pretty close to those top programs. I think the ranking or rating only matters for your first job. After all, you are solely being evaluated based your past performance. This is my overall opinion.

I don’t think it is very possible to rank MFE types of programs since they are spread in different schools (school of business, school of art and science, and school of engineering). The MFE type programs residing in those different kinds of schools pretty much tells they have a very different approach of their program.

If you look at the University of Michigan’s MFE program, you will find they have a very strong faculty team. http://interpro.engin.umich.edu/fep/faculty&staff/faculty.htm

So does UIUC http://www.business.uiuc.edu/msf/fe.aspx
Note, UIUC’s MFE is inside their finance department. And UIUC has a well known finance department. Strange enough they don’t focus on programming at all given the fact that they have a very strong CS department.

If you really interested on ranking them, I think you should rank them separately on three categories: quantitative skills, finance skills, programming/IT skills. I think it is fairly hard to find one program that can provide excellent education in all those three areas in a three semester or a 18 months long master program. If you are giving a score system from 0 to 10, I will give the Baruch’s MFE a 7 on quantitative skills, 7 on finance skills, and 8 on programming/IT skills.

This is my opinion on this issue. If you or others have question or different opinion, please feel free to ask me. :rock:

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Adolfo,
This is an excellent write up from your part. Another Thanks added to you. =D>
What you think we should do to improve our program ?

 

[shimba]

Does ranking really matter?

I'm not trying to offend anyone,
and I don't mean that ranking is unnecessary.
There should be some reasonable ground from which people can start their individual decision.

But,
1. In the industry, employers know that Baruch program is valuable.
This is proven by the employment stats.

2. Also, there are several students who went out to seek their phD.
The program "educates" or "trains" its students academically and practically

The criteria people evaluate a MFE program may vary.
For myself, those two are enough reason to apply for this program.
(There should be more in my SOP:D )

Reputation is not built up so easily and quickly.
There are alumni who will make the program famous.
All of you are the one who will do that, and I am the one who want to join the club, and that's it.

 

[Uncle Max]

Adolfo,
This is an excellent write up from your part. Another Thanks to you. =D>
What you think we should do to improve our program ?

Study Hard :smt024 :smt024 :smt024 :prayer: :smt024 :smt100 :smt024 :smt024 :smt015 :smt024 :partyman:

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I think America is a rank-obsessed society where they seem to rank everything from movie, car to education. USNews college ranking is closely followed and debated every year by all the college in this country...
We are just doing our little part to add to that madness :partyman:

The criteria people evaluate a MFE program may vary.
For myself, those two are enough reason to apply for this program.
(There should be more in my SOP:D )

If you haven't done so, can you please post your background info in our Intro forum (if you are comfortable doing so, of course)

There are alumni who will make the program famous.
All of you are the one who will do that, and I am the one who want to join the club, and that's it.

Well said, Shimba. Agree 110%
And welcome to the club =D>

 

[Uncle Max]

Does ranking really matter?

In some sense yes. If you work hard, as our Director and most of the students, you want to be the best

The winner takes it all
The loser standing small

(C)

 

[shimba]

To Andy
I posted my background. I just forgot to do that.

To maxrun
You are right. Ranking cannot be just ignored. But, HR people are not idiots who are fooled by rankings. Even if they might have their internal ranking list (I'm pretty sure they have one), that should be just a reference, not a dominate criteria to hire people. Moreover, most quant part in companies are run by small number of people. This makes employers evaluate applicants more carefully, and as you said, if you have worked hard and got an interview, a biased view based on ranking, if any, will go away.

Bottom line: No pains, no gains!!!

 

[Uncle Max]

To maxrun
You are right. Ranking cannot be just ignored. But, HR people are not idiots who are fooled by rankings. Even if they might have their internal ranking list (I'm pretty sure they have one), that should be just a reference, not a dominate criteria to hire people.

Networking is very important in this industry, and most of the people I know who got a job didn't go through HR first. Thus, the rating is more like a recognition of the hard work done by the faculty, students, and alumni. Moreover, it's always good to be graduated from the top-ranked school. It'll never hurt

 

[kean]

Nice one

Dear Michelle,
I think Andy's comment is fairly objective given the fact that the question itself is a quite subjective one. :D

There is the fact that all of us (faculties and students) are well aware of is:
There is something you will never get if you go to Baruch's MFE program and compare to go to the MFE programs in those IVY League schools, or top 20 private schools/public schools (you can refer to US News and World report's annual ranking). The things you will never get is the overall all school reputation, prestige, business connections, teaching resource, and alumni support. This is the fact we all accept and probably nothing we can do to change it.

If you pay attention on NY Times' report about education two weeks ago, you will find that more and more resources (public funding, government and privative grants) are being pulled into those top ranked state universities (or flagship campuses). And no doubt about that MFE program is the one of the elite programs on those flagship campuses. Unfortunately, CUNY/Baruch is not this kind of flagship campuses in the state of New York. So obviously, we won't get the kind of resource or support what people go to University of Michigan, or UIUC, etc. will receive. If you are ranking a program, those surrounding environment or factors need to be considered as well.

However, what is the value of a MFE degree? It is an education process. So what matter is what you get from it. If you are ranking or rating it from the prospective of quality of education, background of students, work attitude, and employment statistics, etc. I think the level of Baruch's MFE program is pretty close to those top programs. I think the ranking or rating only matters for your first job. After all, you are solely being evaluated based your past performance. This is my overall opinion.

I don't think it is very possible to rank MFE types of programs since they are spread in different schools (school of business, school of art and science, and school of engineering). The MFE type programs residing in those different kinds of schools pretty much tells they have a very different approach of their program.

If you look at the University of Michigan's MFE program, you will find they have a very strong faculty team. http://interpro.engin.umich.edu/fep/faculty&staff/faculty.htm

So does UIUC http://www.business.uiuc.edu/msf/fe.aspx
Note, UIUC's MFE is inside their finance department. And UIUC has a well known finance department. Strange enough they don't focus on programming at all given the fact that they have a very strong CS department.

If you really interested on ranking them, I think you should rank them separately on three categories: quantitative skills, finance skills, programming/IT skills. I think it is fairly hard to find one program that can provide excellent education in all those three areas in a three semester or a 18 months long master program. If you are giving a score system from 0 to 10, I will give the Baruch's MFE a 7 on quantitative skills, 7 on finance skills, and 8 on programming/IT skills.

This is my opinion on this issue. If you or others have question or different opinion, please feel free to ask me. :rock:

I totally agreed. The most important thing is the program itself has a solid content. I think Baruch has it all. Please do not forget that the cost is low at Baruch. We should differ MFE from traditional MBA program where MBA programs solely rely on their school reputations.

MFE is something you really have to good at Math, CS, Finance and ....other stuff to get through. Initially I plan to apply for the 2007 intake but God is teasing. For some personal reasons, I may have to delay again. Frankly speaking, Baruch is my first choice and the only choice. At lease you will appreciate people like Andy and other helpful classmates.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I notice something this year:
2 years ago, when i was looking on GD for info about the Baruch program, very few people mentioned it. Last year, there were a lot more mention about Baruch program but people put it in the group of so-called second tier, safety programs. And this year, by reading the profiles of prospective students here and over at GD, I notice that students seem to put Baruch into the same group of CMU, NYU, Columbia and the so-called top tier.

My guess is that as more info about our program is known, the 2007 stats, student profiles are made public, people's perception about Baruch has changed.

At the same time, I suspect that some people will not apply to Baruch this year because they think that they will have no chance. With a GRE 795/582 average, it's hard to say the admission is not highly competitive.

I wouldn't say Baruch is where it needs to be yet. Lot of things need to be done but I'm very encouraged by the latest developments. And the change in people's perception

 

[Yuriy]

Baruch MFE is definitely not a safety school anymore. Actually, two years ago it was not a safety school either my friend was rejected a few years ago, but I know he is smart and knows a lot.