COMPARE Carnegie Mellon University MSCF vs Columbia University MAFN

[torogirl]

Hey Everyone,

I've been accepted to both columbia math finance and cmu mscf (new york campus) programs and trying to decide. I am thinking that columbia has a great overall reputation and a wide alumni network in new york and cmu has a great quality program. Can anyone offer how they view the comparison between the two programs? Thanks so much!

 

[tylor]

personally i would pick columbia simply because it's not virtual courses

 

[Connor]

Agreed, CMU is a good program but the NY campus isn't the main campus so many of the courses are virtual. Go with Columbia in my opinion.

 

[unspatial]

Personally, I am a bigger fan of attending a course in its home campus, and also in a "non-virtual" setting. Point, Columbia. But that being said, CMU program does have a greater breadth of courses (3 semesters) and also a business-school approach which makes it quite appealing. Pick what matters to you more.

Disclosure: I'm headed to Columbia MathFin

 

[Stefan Zota]

Your initial statements are pretty generic. For instance: CMU program is older than Columbia, the number of accepted students is reasonable, so CMU has a wide alumni network as well. The brand name of both programs is very strong, hard to differentiate here.

You will find plenty of threads on this forum discussing details about each university. Also it's useful to discuss with some current students or alumni from both programs. You can find them here as well. Check the curriculum, professors etc. If you plan to attend part-time (same as many CMU students in NY campus), check about career services for part-time students in both cases. Research, research ...

 

[leozhuqi]

The career service in Columbia for MAFN students is not that good compared with that for MFE students. If you are saying MFE in Columbia, then definitly go for that. But for the MAFN program, I would think... I would prefer CMU.

 

[mhy]

I was admitted to Columbia MAFN and I'm waiting for the result from CMU MSCF after my interview last week. If admitted to both, I have only 3 days to decide and will have a tough choice to make. Both of them will be part time.

Background: CS degree with mathematics minor from a US school, working in NYC in financial firms as a developer.

Career goals/aspirations: Move to quant dev / quant analyst from a pure developer role. Not decided which area yet but hope to be on the buy side if possible.

CMU MSCF
Pros:
- Structured & rigorous curriculum
- Respected on Wall St, and good career services
- Flexible schedule, all lectures recorded.
- Focus on practical aspects

Cons:
- Expensive $$
- Course sequence is fixed

Columbia MAFN
Pros:
- Ivy League name
- Flexible curriculum, can take different electives
- Cheaper.

Cons:
- Career services doesn't seem as established
- Not sure if lectures are recorded / available online?
- Some classes might be too theoretical since the program is in the mathematics dept.

From what I have researched alumni from both programs are employed in similar positions.

Can anyone comment on the nature of the two programs and / or content of coursework (how much math vs programming vs other, for instance)? My impression is CMU focuses a lot on programming and Columbia is more on the math side, with electives for programming classes.

I've contacted some alumni and hope to visit Columbia this week. It seems that the MAFN program has less info available online than the MFE program. I tried to search for info on Quantnet as well but wasn't able to turn up a lot of threads (I found some Columbia MFE / CMU MSCF comparison though)

Thanks for any advice!

mhy

 

[diegosanaz]

I would visit both schools to not be biased towards one.

I actually feel both programs are quite different because of the points you just mentiones. CMU developes students that can be parachuted into anything, while you can tailor MAFN into what you want to do. I would love to go to MAFN, however I feel the biggest flaw of the programs is that there is not a programming for finance class, you can just take generic programming classes from the Computer Science departement or hope to be let in one of the programming MFE electives. If you are already a developer my guess is that you are already a good programmer, so this wont be a huge concern for you.

I vote for Columbia given your work experience and that you already broke into the finance field. However, I get the feeling from Quantnet that CMU is regarded in the work industry as a better program.

 

[mhy]

I've made my decision and will be joining CMU MSCF this fall. I like the curriculum a lot, and I feel like given my background, it is a better fit for me. The courses in the MAFN program seemed to be basically PhD-level math/stats courses and designed for someone who potentially could go on to a PhD program, which I am not currently considering.

Also, I think it would be wiser for me to do what suits me more, since I am studying for my degree part-time while working. (no life for 2.5 years except summers)

Now, I better start relearning/reviewing all that calculus, probability and statistics I have forgotten over the last 5 years!

 

[Canuck]

I've made my decision and will be joining CMU MSCF this fall. I like the curriculum a lot, and I feel like given my background, it is a better fit for me. The courses in the MAFN program seemed to be basically PhD-level math/stats courses and designed for someone who potentially could go on to a PhD program, which I am not currently considering.

Also, I think it would be wiser for me to do what suits me more, since I am studying for my degree part-time while working. (no life for 2.5 years except summers)

Now, I better start relearning/reviewing all that calculus, probability and statistics I have forgotten over the last 5 years!

just remember:

 

[unhappy_mscf]

CMU failed 6 students this year in New York. Welcome aboard!

 

[Lyosha]

CMU failed 6 students this year in New York. Welcome aboard!

???

CMU's fault in that does not go beyond admitting unqualified candidates. You expect your $50 grand comes with a graduate school transcript pre-loaded with straight As?

 

[SYau]

Yah, CMU is not Harvard.

 

[diegosanaz]

Seems some admits were made today. How many out there still alive??

 

[sharonliang]

Hi, I am a fresh graduate student from mainland China and I have been admitted to CMU MSCF Pittsburgh campus. I know that this is a world-class program and my goal is to find a quantitative finance job in NY after graduation. But I really don't like the NY campus since it is not really a campus, but just like a career training institution.

Though finding a satisfying job is my first choice, but I also care about campus life since this will be my first and maybe the last time that I study in US universities. So I feel very hard to make a decision among this three. I will list pros and cons and hope you can give me some advice.

CMU NY campus:
Pros: good location, good career resources(events with alumni and people in industry)
Cons: very high cost, remote lectures (which I don't like), no campus

CMU Pittsburgh campus:
Pros: good career service, excellent courses and campus
Cons: bad location, have to travel to NY to find jobs, not good for students without full-time working experience

Columbia MAFN
Pros: brand name of the university! (I doubt that if people in finance industry exclude S&T department know about CMU....), a little bit cheaper than CMU
Cons: bad curriculum settings, no career service, no placement statistics.

 

[implol]

Bro you ask this here??
People here will trash on you so hard.
Go go go take this down before active users see this!

 

[tetcmar]

Bro you ask this here??
People here will trash on you so hard.
Go go go take this down before active users see this!

Easy,bro. Free country, isn't it?

 

[sharonliang]

Bro you ask this here??
People here will trash on you so hard.
Go go go take this down before active users see this!

But everyone has a different angle. To people who only care about finding jobs, CMU will be the no doubt choice. But I am not sure if I would pursue a phD degree when I worked 2-5 years and find I don't like my job. Also, I care about campus life~

 

[Stefan Du]

Any one could offer some advice of choosing NYU or CMU?..

P.S. Sharon is my girl friend and we are both admitted to CMU. We are afraid that requiring changing campus from Pitts to NY will result in one of us in Pitts and one in NY.. Could any one has changed campus give us some advice?

 

[CasanovaJ]

Hi, I am a fresh graduate student from mainland China and I have been admitted to CMU MSCF Pittsburgh campus. I know that this is a world-class program and my goal is to find a quantitative finance job in NY after graduation. But I really don't like the NY campus since it is not really a campus, but just like a career training institution.

Though finding a satisfying job is my first choice, but I also care about campus life since this will be my first and maybe the last time that I study in US universities. So I feel very hard to make a decision among this three. I will list pros and cons and hope you can give me some advice.

CMU NY campus:
Pros: good location, good career resources(events with alumni and people in industry)
Cons: very high cost, remote lectures (which I don't like), no campus

CMU Pittsburgh campus:
Pros: good career service, excellent courses and campus
Cons: bad location, have to travel to NY to find jobs, not good for students without full-time working experience

Columbia MAFN
Pros: brand name of the university! (I doubt that if people in finance industry exclude S&T department know about CMU....), a little bit cheaper than CMU
Cons: bad curriculum settings, no career service, no placement statistics.

I'm currently in MAFN... you should go to CMU.