Excellent brand, smart people and in NYC.
Submitted: 5/15/11
Score: 9
Would you recommend this program to a friend: Yes
People say the careers service isnt good but actually found it helpful and got a number of offers through them. I think the problem is people are too late. If you want a full time position then you start interviewing on campus from the first week you arrive and positions are taken by Christmas. Then you are on your own, but even that is okay being in NYC is very easy to go for interviews and networking things.
Other than that I think the program is tough, the people are smart and it has a good brand name.
Reviewer’s background:
1st Class (Honors) Math undergrad in the UK. Internship at Goldman Sachs. 800 on math GRE.
Now working as a currency options trader.
This review was submitted on 13 Aug 2010 by a student who studied full-time in the program from 9/2009 to 5/2010
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
Worked as a Business Analyst for 2 years in Financial Services before joining the program.
GRE: 800 quant, 650 verbal.
Did you get admitted to other programs?
Yes
Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
Notoriety
What alternative sources of info you used to learn more about the program?
Quantnet, Forbes Magazine, etc
Tell us about the application process at this program
Respond via email, waitlist candidates usually find out very late into the year
On a scale of 1-10, how would you grade the accessibility of the faculty and staff? (1 worst, 10 best)
8
Does this program offer refresher courses for incoming students? What do they offer and how much it costs?
Not offered
On a scale of 0-10, how would you grade the usefulness of these refresher courses?
1
Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
Stochastic Finance was very interesting, and very challenging course.
On a scale of 1-10, how would you grade the flexibility of the curriculum?
7
Tell us about the quality of teaching
Depending on the professor, the courses can be extremely interesting or incredibly boring. TA’s can be helpful in some courses but not all.
On a scale of 1-10, how would you grade the quality of teaching?
7
Materials used in the program
John.C Hull – Options, Futures, Derivs Stochastic Processes – Lawler
On a scale of 1-10, how would you grade the practicality of the curriculum?
7
Programming component of the program
4.5-6
Projects
Development of Trading Strategies
Career service
Not helpful at all. Very minimal support by the University or the program.
On a scale of 1-10, how would you grade the career service for internship and full-time job?
1
What do you like about the program?
I liked applied courses, where we could see the theory applied in practice
On a scale of 1-10, how would you grade the value of the program for the price tag?
6
What DON’T you like about the program?
Career Service and Support
Unfortunately the Faculty, and the Department that sponsors my program was not helpful at all. Besides the occasional email about a job posting, or career fair there was really nothing much they did. All the students are pretty much on their own as far as finding a job is concerned.
That was my biggest gripe with the program. I understand markets are tough, but we are paying quite a bit of money to the University, and I feel like we should get more help than we did.
Also I didnt particularly like how at Columbia, you must be affiliated with a program in order to take their courses. Some really nice courses like Quantitative Risk Management, Advanced Derivatives,etc. were only offered by the Business School, and the School of Engineering. Students from our program we’re not allowed to take these courses.
It was not all bad though, the core courses that a Quant is required to take (Stochastic processes) were taught by a very high quality professor and staff. I also liked how Columbia does push students to their limits as far as academia is concerned. Hard work is definitely rewarded.
Suggestions for the program to make it better
Improve the Career Service, and make it easier for Students to take courses from other departments
On a scale of 1-10, how would you grade your experience in the program?
7
What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
Employed full-time as an associate
On a scale of 1-10, would you recommend this program to others?
7
To submit a review, click here
Tags: Columbia MAFN
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When I started reading this review I was expecting a full bloomed marketing campaign.
Columbia University is the best, everyone gets jobs, everything is excellent bla bla bla.
It was extremely refreshing to read a honest opinion ie “we are paying quite a bit of money to the University”, “TA’s can be helpful in some courses but not all.”, “grade your experience in the program: 7″,
“depending on the professor, the courses can be extremely interesting or incredibly boring.”
This sounds highly realistic and you will face these problems at most universities. Nice to read
Mack, 1 year agothat someone has the balls not to sugarcoat it….
Mack,
“Honesty is the best policy” – our working philosophy. The truth will come out one day however you try to hide/sugarcoat it.
We are focused on bringing more transparency to the niche audience we serve and we provide a platform for students to express their honest views of the program.
You can see that in many of our student reviews here
Andy Nguyen, 1 year agohttp://www.quantnet.com/review
Please note that admission to this program is biased for russian students. A few russian students who didn’t have adequate skills and experience and who otherwise wouldn’t have gotten admitted to the program were able to do so by coming to Mr. Smirnov’s office hours and doing the “nice talking”. IMHO, the process should be fair for all students and Columbia (being a good school) should be ashamed that such practices exist there.
Alex, 10 months agoAlso, the program is pretty useless in the terms of job finding. Columbia MSFE is much better in this sense (and the admission process is more fair). If you can choose between 2 programs, definitely go for MSFE.
Review from a Student
1. Placements / how good it is, means do everyone get placed before May (U?) ? Can we attend Placements for MFE and B-School ?
Placements are okayish. Not many people (less than 40%) of class gets placed by May. You can’t attend placements for MFE/BSchool. By end of Aug, 85% people get placed in our program (last year stats)
2. Can We take Courses from MFE / BSchool ? Are we allowed to ?
Oh definitely. But not all. Some are restricted to the core schools.
3. How Intense the course is ? Can we take 6 course per semester ? do we get time for that ?
Pretty intense. 6 courses are doable in second semster. Absolutely unadvisable in the first.
4. Pre-requisite Studies ? I hardly remember any advanced Math, but I can cover those. Hence being a 12th grade(India) guy what else should I complete before joining.?
Pre-req? Study stats and probablity if you can beforehand. Math is damn advanced, nothing of what you mightve read in India unless you’re from ISI.
5. Do we get any job on campus ? or any Research Assistantship ? or Do we get time for that?
Yes you get. But you don’t have time for them. Getting RA is quite difficult.
6. Funding/Scholarships ? Do we get any Loans ? If so for how much Interest rate ? The Best is to take it from US or from India ?
No funding. Be on your own. Get a loan from US if possible. Unsure of what rates go over here, but would be lesser than India.
FINAL WORDS: You’ve got the Columbia brand, which beats all other downsides. Plus location is New York. You definitely wanna be here!
k369, 10 months agoColumbia MSFE isn’t too good on career support either. It all depends on the state of the financial markets at the time you are seeking employment. You are referred to general career services which supports undergrads and others. No one at Columbia is there to help you in the job search at all. They think the Columbia brand is enough and it is all on you to sell yourself. Getting interviews is a real challenge- whether you’re MAFN, MSFE, MSOR (finance). On-campus recruiting has two streams- undergrad (analyst) and MBA (associate). Quant masters doesn’t fit into either stream so there really isn’t a structured recruitment process.
Maybe my perspective is biased because I went to Columbia from 08-09 which was one of the worst times in history to be an MFE or MBA student with S&T/asset management interests. Hopefully the job market has recovered to some extent. I agree with the sentiment that among most Wall Street recruiters, Columbia has a bigger brand than CMU or NYU, just because of the overall prestige of the university. That said, unless you are French with prior internship experience, or American and already work at a bank/fund, you’re going to need some career help. CMU MSCF and NYU MathFin have much better career support. Columbia is like Chicago where staff doesn’t provide enough placement support to masters students.
On a bright note, most Columbia grads eventually get good jobs because they are smart and ambitious. Top MAFN grads are partners and executives at AQR, Bridgewater, Goldman Sachs, etc. (MSFE is a newer program so most alums haven’t reached the highest levels yet).
Guest, 9 months agoYou first said “People say the careers service isnt good but actually found it helpful and got a number of offers through them”
Guest, 8 months agoBut then you say:
“Career service
Not helpful at all. Very minimal support by the University or the program.”
?! O_o