COMPARE Yale Master's in Asset Managemnet vs. MIT Master's in Finance

[AMFing]

Hi everyone, I was recently admitted to these programs and need some help comparing them.

About me: US senior in undergrad looking to go into traditional asset management, NOT quant trading or quant research. Long term goals would be working as CIO for an asset managemnt firm, PM of a mututal fund/ETF, or role in a macro focused hedge fund. I don't want to be a quant researcher, but I recognize its importance to the industry and the benefit of having a technical understanding of it. I have zero interest in working in Investment Banking, Corporate Finance, or really even PE.

At first, my heart was set on Yale, but some things I read on this forum made me doubt it. It seems that there isn't as much excitement for this program as there is for programs like Columbia, Princeton, MIT, though I may be reading the sentiment wrong. Despite what people seem to be saying, the Yale program is very quantitative, just isn't as focused on delivering students to a quant desk as others may be. It seems like the perfect fit for my interests, but I want to make sure I'm not missing something before I make my decision.

Try to answer the poll from the perspective of what you think I should do, not what you may do yourself. I recognize the conversation may unduly sway towards more technical schools like MIT & CMU if I'm asking on a website literally called quantnet.com.

Thank you all in advance for your honest feedback

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Hey @AMFing, first post and you drop a bomb on us with this MIT vs Yale?
Congrats buddy. You know what I will ask you next. To put your profile and application timelines to the Tracker.
I'm curious if you applied to other programs as well.
There is a bias towards MIT here, understandably, given that it has been around much longer and many member applied to highly technical quant programs also applied to MIT due to its name.

It seems to me you know what you want to do and not want to do. You are US resident so that is a big advantage over your competitor.
The few reviews I have so far for Yale seems overwhelmingly positive. They were solicited by me from my LinkedIn network so it's not pushed by the Yale program.
If you can share the negative sentiments you read, maybe we can discuss if it's justifiable.

 

[AMFing]

Hey @AMFing, first post and you drop a bomb on us with this MIT vs Yale?
Congrats buddy. You know what I will ask you next. To put your profile and application timelines to the Tracker.
I'm curious if you applied to other programs as well.
There is a bias towards MIT here, understandably, given that it has been around much longer and many member applied to highly technical quant programs also applied to MIT due to its name.

It seems to me you know what you want to do and not want to do. You are US resident so that is a big advantage over your competitor.
The few reviews I have so far for Yale seems overwhelmingly positive. They were from solicited by me from my LinkedIn network so it's not pushed by the Yale program.
If you can share the negative sentiments you read, maybe we can discuss if it's justifiable.

Yeahhh long time lurker haha. Thanks for the response. Interesting about the reviews – I saw them and was suspicious/curious when I saw many were anonymous but that answers my suspicion with that.

Example from COMPARE - Cornell Financial Engineering VS Yale Asset Management:

"If you're planning on doing quant research (even if it's at a AM fund), going to cornell and having access to the excellent ML/CS courses will help you a lot more in the long term than whatever AM-specific coursework you might have in the yale program.

I think Cornell is miles better than Yale for anyone who is looking to do modern quant research; You're getting access to NYC + the brand name difference isn't really that big (in finance anyways) + you'll leave cornell with a more marketable skillset IMO"

Wasn't sure if I agreed to this take, but I'm kind of looking to be proven wrong. I think there's a lot more to AM (non-purely-quant stuff) that just isn't the focus of many MFE progams that Yale leans a little heavier into. I also saw the Yale program is unranked. I'm presuming because it differs a lot from the Financial Engineering and MS of QuantFin degrees and a direct comparison would be unfair?

Also this: (Yale Asset Management)

"Tbh just looking at the cirriculum, it’s an absolute joke"

I figure I should dismiss it. After all, the program was created by Toby Moskowits and David Swenson with a lot of name brand industry involvement. But curious if this sentiment exists due to bias of "more quant = better" for people who want the quant research roles or there was something to be aware of.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I reached out to many recent graduates and current students of all programs, all the time. Some generously reviewed the programs, most ignored the request. Take it what you will.
I communicate with Yale program's admission staff and I did invite them to participate on the 2025 ranking but they feel their program is too different from the typical quant programs we cover here.
This means we don't have access to the employment, admission data that programs provide to us directly. This leaves you with scouting the net for whatever public info you can find.
I can only find the career report for 2023 here. Keep in mind that they report the stats at 6 months instead of the 3 months we use for our ranking.

Employment Report

The rigorous and selective Master’s in Asset Management prepares students for a wide range of asset management roles. Our graduates have secured positions at major banks, investment funds, hedge funds, and other firms—and started their careers with the skills to get ahead.

som.yale.edu

I don't feel comfortable steering you one way or another when there is a lack of data. I would suggest scouting LinkedIn and see where their recent grads end up. Many of them have 0 work experience prior to the MS program so they usually get an analyst job, not a more middle level job.