COMPARE Carnegie Mellon University MSCF vs Columbia University MSFE

[Dinghui Li]

Hi all,

I am now admitted to both programs and I am facing a dilemma which to choose.
My career goal to do quant research on buy side after graduation.

Columbia MSFE ( Financial Economics) is at CBS so it obviously has amazing faculty. Considering the fact that it's a small program, I think everyone would get great resouces. But the drawback is that the curriculum is too theoretical and doesn't have as much training on quanitative skills as CMU.

MSCF, however, has a great curriculum that is very useful for career as a quant and without doubt have great placement records.

I hope anyone can give me some advice or more insight into the program.

 

[qdogg]

As far as I know as a Columbia alum, "Columbia financial economics" was just CBS's half-assed attempt to get a late piece of the well-established gravy train that is overpriced quant programs at Columbia-- go with CMU.

 

[Varun Dubey]

CMU MSCF is more aligned with your career interests

 

[Dinghui Li]

As far as I know as a Columbia alum, "Columbia financial economics" was just CBS's half-assed attempt to get a late piece of the well-established gravy train that is overpriced quant programs at Columbia-- go with CMU.

I understand that CBS obviously have not make great efforts to build this program. But the existing faculty and alumni resources still seem tempting. Do you think these will help me secure a good job?

 

[qdogg]

Faculty generally don't get students jobs, and I don't know much about the "alumni resources" but with it being such a small, relatively young program, I'd think CMU's alumni network would be exponentially larger

 

[DavidHilbert]

I understand that CBS obviously have not make great efforts to build this program. But the existing faculty and alumni resources still seem tempting. Do you think these will help me secure a good job?

It's extremely tought to get into buy side quant research even from top MFE programs. Sure it will secure you a good job, but with 0.99 probability not in quant research.

 

[TehRaio]

@Dinghui Li

think of it this way: columbia already has 2 mathematical finance programs: the MAFN and the FE masters.
If what you want is to get into Quantitative Finance research the MFE is not the right choice, and it's not advertised as such anyway. It'd be good if you want to work with economists instead of Mathematicians. What do you want?

 

[IntoDarkness]

i like theory and would suggest doing msfe. many ppl overlook theoretical coursework and think they r overkill. however id argue its very very difficult to get real "research oriented" quant job without rigorous theoretical background and it will prove quite useful on the job as well. cmu's classes r practical but too watered down for research.

 

[liuyanji]

I'm an economics major from China, with half a year of working experience as an option market maker. I want the program to open more opportunities for me in US as a traditional trader/quant trader/buyside researcher. Could anyone give some advice regarding the choice? I don't know much about the prospects of these 2 programs especially CBS MSFE.

I think CBS got prestige (?maybe), but in terms of employment stats CMU is pretty dominant. It would be great if you could suggest which one is stronger to place me to some specific roles, say, BB S&T roles.

Thanks. BTW CMU NY campus.

 

[Poison Season]

Columbia Financial Economics does not have a useful career service. A useless one? Oh yes they have one. If you are fine with that, then go for it.

 

[IntoFinancialMath]

Hi everyone,

I was fortunate to be admitted to both the MSCF program at Carnegie Mellon and the MSFE program at Columbia Business School, and I'm struggling to decide which one to attend. I'd really appreciate insights from current students, alums, or anyone familiar with either program.

Career Goals: I'm aiming for a quant researcher or strategist role at a hedge fund or trading firm, with a long-term goal of moving into portfolio management.

Cost: Columbia is significantly more expensive with one addditional semester, while CMU is a more affordable option for me.

Program Fit:

• CMU MSCF is known for being very technical and tightly aligned with quant roles.
• CBS MSFE is a two-year program with over 8 electives. While the core classes lean toward econometrics and asset pricing—which seem better suited for mid- to low-frequency firms—I could take courses from the financial engineering department to build a more quant-heavy curriculum (essentially making it a mini MFE track).

I’m just unsure how these differences actually play out in practice—especially in today’s hiring market for quants.

Would love to hear your thoughts on outcomes, flexibility, and tradeoffs between these two great programs.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Congrats. Can you add your CMU MSCF admit to the Tracker?
The indecision you face is because you don't know much about the CBS MSFE program and their career prospect. You know what you get out of CMU MSCF. They publish their employment report with very detailed info.

Employment Statistics - Master of Science in Computational Finance - Carnegie Mellon University

quantitative finance, employment statistics, quant finance, figures, data, database, positions, offers, compensation, jobs, functions

www.cmu.edu