Baruch College - Master in Financial Engineering

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
Worked in finance for 8 years. BBA from Baruch
I studied part-time in the program from 9/2006-12/2010

Why did you choose this program?
Liked the program director, very impressive from first time meeting him. I didn't apply to other programs

Tell us about the application process at this program
Liked the program director, very impressive from first time meeting him

Does this program offer refresher courses for incoming students? How useful was it?
Yes refreshers are offered for about $2000. They're great but tough as heck

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
I was allowed to take some interesting classes in addition to the required ones which was great for someone like me. I like finance but I did not want to spend my entire program debugging C++ code or doing tough as nails Math if there was no finance that was shown by the instructors. Dan was really good about making sure that this was not forgotten in the classes he taught.

Tell us about the quality of teaching
Dan is great at teaching in general and specifically in the subjects he taught such in intro to pricing and numerical methods and PDE's. I had the privilege of taking a class with the late Professor Neftci and it was unbelivable, he was really great at teaching.

Programming component of the program
C++, there is a dedicated class. I suck at programming so I spent quite a bit of time

Projects
Group work in class which helps students learn together, reall sense of togetherness here which is much better than the experiences I heard from other students.

Career service
Dan is always available(program is larger now so I get a response to my emails within the hour as opposed to 1 minute ). The placement is great, even during financial crisis most students were able to get internships and jobs. I did not need this service specifically though my resume getting tweaked led to more interviews when I needed them but the career service was definitely available.

What do you like about the program?
Very small group like atmosphere where everyone knows everyone (not a cog in a wheel). You can make lifelong friends (I have) and especially networking contacts. People have gotten jobs/interviews just by knowing each other because you work together and see each others strengths and weaknesses.

What DON'T you like about the program? What kind of changes would you make if you were in charge?
Some classes can be taught too theoretically without remembering finance. It might be beneficial to have the theoretical stochastic calculus taught by a professional from the industry rather than a "math" person

What are your current job status?
I work full-time for an investment bank in risk management

Other comments?
Great program, I always recommend to people looking to go into financial engineering

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
French engineer, started my career as an Information System consultant at Altran. A couple of years ago, moved to NYC to start the MBA Honors program at Baruch College, worked for Citigroup, CSFB. Realized his interest for financial engineering so completed the MFE at Baruch and works as a structured finance quantitative analyst at Vero Capital since then.
I studied full-time in the program from 9/2007-5/2009

Did you get admitted to other programs?
Did not apply to other programs.

Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
Top program from a public university.

Tell us about the application process at this program
No issue, the application process was very smooth.

Besides the program's websites, what alternative sources of info you used to learn more about the program?
While completing my MBA at Baruch, interacted on several occasions with the MFE body, attended lectures.

Does this program offer refresher courses for incoming students? How useful was it?
Yes, extremely useful. Besides the obvious material value, those refresher courses are a great way to meet and get familiarized with the student body, the school system, professors within a relaxed and friendly set of interactions. Although the material cover in such a short time requires some non negligible work.

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
The courses selection in this program are excellent and some classes are presented by practitioners which gives an invaluable insight on the job world outside the theoretical environment.

The excellent structured finance course work presented by Sylvain Raynes is unique among MFE programs.

Tell us about the quality of teaching
Practitioners are dedicated and surprisingly accessible for the students given their professions.

The support from TAs in each class is great and an invaluable help to comprehend better the class work.

Materials used in the program
Textbook used in the program are the usual top teaching material.
For some classes, the Professor being also a published practitioner, it made sense to use his book which is a great complement to notes.

Programming component of the program
The official language of the program is C++, all classes will have coding homework/projects in C++.

Excel/VBA will be the second language.

Projects
Both individual and group projects were assigned.

A "capstone" project to be completed during a semester is a more consistent and require a great amount of work and dedication, but very rewarding in terms of learning and experience.

Career service
The Baruch MFE provides a great internship and full time placement service through the great connection and reputation of it s alumnus and professor body.

Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
The MFE program at Baruch is like an extended family. The class size is relatively small and we formed a great group inside the larger Baruch College cohort.

What do you like about the program?
I liked the challenging and great quality of the learning, the great interaction with professors, TA and students, facilitated by an online forum tool used for classes, but also other topics such as members helping others in their area of expertise.

The students have all great human qualities and the general atmosphere is not so much competitive but rather everybody helping out to get all learn the most and the fastest.

What DON'T you like about the program?
I have to admit that I did not enjoy too much the logistics for some classes.
Those non-core classes very popular were packed and it was sometimes bothering me to be squizzed in inappropriate size classrooms. I believe that this was quite a long time ago and with the rising popularity and success of the MFE program within Baruch, more and larger classrooms are available now.

Suggestions for the program to make it better
The Director is the greatest asset of this program, he is doing a remarkable work. I may try to talk to the Dean in order to better organize the logistics for those few very popular classes.

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
Structured finance quantitative analyst

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
No previous experience in finance.
I studied part-time in the program from 8/2004-12/2006

Did you get admitted to other programs?
No. The only program I applied to, and was admitted to, was Baruch MFE (known as Applied Mathematics for Finance)

Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
I audited a class and was immediately attracted by the way the instructor interacted with the students. Moreover financially it made the most sense for me at the time.

Tell us about the application process at this program
After submitting my application and being interviewed by Dr. Stefanica, I was informed of my admission to the program.

Programs like Baruch MFE, UCB MFE have refresher courses for incoming students. Does this program offer such courses? How useful was it?
Yes, attended Baruch's three refresher courses: linear algebrea, advanced calculus and probability. Absolutely a must as the MFE program builds on these courses.

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
Elective courses that I particularly enjoyed:

Risk Management class taught by Dr. Lev Borodovsky (Guest lecturer and co-founder of GARP). Why? the course focuses on the PRACTICE of risk management taught by a leading practitioner.

Structured Finance by Dr. Sylvain Raynes. Why? taught by a practitioner who believes in making a science out of finance, particular structured finance.

Required courses that I particularly enjoyed:
Advanced Computational Methods in Finance by Dr. Salih Neftci. Why? Dr. Neftci made seemingly difficult suggest accessible. One of the best professors I ever had. Will be dearly missed.

Numerical Linear Algebra and Numerical Methods for PDEs in Finance by Dr. Stefanica. Why? The foundation of financial engineering numerical methods and computation.

Required courses that I particularly appreciated:
Probability and Stochastic Calculus by Dr. Elena Kosygina. Why? appreciated the rigorous teaching handed down by Dr. Kosygina.

Tell us about the quality of teaching
Program had a nice blend of practitioners and academicians. TA's for the most part were helpful.

Materials used in the program
Standard textbooks in financial engineering were used.

Programming component of the program
C++ and VBA. Except the probabililty and stochastic calculus classes, almost all courses had a programming/computation element.

Projects
These were mostly group projects. The exception being the probability and stochastic calculus courses.

Career service
1. Program director and faculty referral (extremely helpful)
2. Alumni referral (extremely helpful)
3. The standard school career service (somewhat helpful)
4. Career fair (not so helpful)

Most of the students got placed via the first two routes. I have also heard of people getting internship via school career service.

Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
People from different ethnicities got along extremely well. There were no divisions along nationality or ethnic lines.

What do you like about the program?
The high degree of interaction between the faculty (including the director of the program) and the students. Every student receives individual attention from the director.

Leading industry practitioners such as Peter Carr, Jim Gatheral, as guest lecturers in the program.

What DON'T you like about the program?
Hard to say since the program has improved significantly since I have graduated.

Suggestions for the program to make it better
Establish direct and formal recruiting relationships with more leading financial institutions (this has been the focus for a while and significant progress has been made through persistent efforts from the director and growing alumni base)

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
Working for the current employer since graduation.

Other comments
Joining Baruch's MFE program has been one of the best decisions in my life.

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
BS Mechanical Engineering, West Point, 2001. Five years active duty in the U.S. Army as a cavalry officer. I studied full-time in the program from 9/2008-12/2009.

Did you get admitted to other programs?
I was also admitted to Columbia MSOR.

Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
I basically had a choice between an MS in Operations Research at Columbia and an MFE at Baruch. After a challenging interview with Professor Stefanica, I realized his vested interest in maintaining a world-class program at Baruch. I was genuinely impressed with his level of involvement, and knew that was where I wanted to earn my master's degree.

Tell us about the application process at this program
I followed the published directions and no administrative problems in the application process. I think I remember the process taking longer than other places, but learned that it is because Professor Stefanica personally reviews every application after it passes an initial filter through the admissions committee. He takes time to interview, in person if possible, each potential candidate. During the interview you get an honest appraisal of your chances as a candidate.

Does this program offer refresher courses for incoming students? How useful was it?
Yes, and they are essential. These rigorous courses enable an incoming student to achieve a base level to begin the fall semester. Even though the courses have general names, like calculus refresher and probability refresher, they introduce fundamental concepts in finance that are built upon during the program.

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
For full-time students, the courses are front loaded with the basics one is expected to know coming out of an MFE program. In the second and third semesters there are electives that focus on optimization, market and credit risk, structured finance and statistics. The courses I valued the most were Numerical Linear Algebra, Stochastic Calculus and Statistics for Finance. Although the program offers an array of electives, students are free to take courses from the business school.

Tell us about the quality of teaching
Most of the elective courses are taught by practitioners, which provide diverse exposure to how concepts are applied in industry. The only classes where an active TA was important was in Probability and Stochastic Calculus. Otherwise, close interaction with fellow students and professors was sufficient to learn the material.

Materials used in the program
Shreve for Probability and Stoch. Calc. Otherwise, courses reference multiple texts and are mostly taught from lecture notes.

Programming component of the program
The official language of the program is C++. However, there is opportunity for one to learn many other languages like VBA, R, Python, Perl, .NET, Java, Matlab.

Projects
Most projects are group oriented and depend on the nature of the subject. Market Risk and Advanced Computational Methods involved trading simulations. However, most of the home work assignments are projects in nature.

Career service
Professor Stefanica is fully vested in this process. He is integral ( and tireless ) with regard to internships and full-time placement.

Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
Due to the small class size, each year group develops cohesive bonds. Every one admitted into the program is qualified to be there, so there is a high level of respect between students from the beginning.

What do you like about the program?
Hard work is rewarded with career opportunities.

What DON'T you like about the program?
Some of the elective courses are taught by multiple practitioners, which in some cases dilutes the depth of instruction. But this is a case-by-case issue.

Suggestions for the program to make it better?
Modularize the elective courses to give students more choices and give full ownership of the module to one instructor. The obvious constraint, though, is ensuring there are enough practitioners able to teach the modules, and enough students taking each one to make it worthwhile for the instructor.

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
Graduated with multiple offers, and will start working at the beginning of February as a commodities trader for a hedge fund.

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
Baruch College BBA in Computer Information Systems, and Minor in Mathematics. I studied part-time in the program from 9/2002 - 12/2004

Did you get admitted to other programs?
No, I did not apply to any other MFE program

Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
Same college as undergraduate studies, therefore convenient in many ways.

Tell us about the application process at this program
Easy to apply. Very friendly and helpful people taking care of application process.

Programs like Baruch MFE, UCB MFE have refresher courses for incoming students. Does this program offer such courses? How useful was it?
This program offers these courses. They were quite useful to me.

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
Numeric Linear Algebra was my favorite course. The selection of courses in the program was good.

Tell us about the quality of teaching
The teachers are well prepared. TAs are quite helpful. The athmosphere is positive.

Materials used in the program
All good textbooks.

Programming component of the program
C++. Enough programming is done to give a good amount of practice.

Projects
Depending on the course, either individual or group projects were assigned. When group projects were assigned, the class was divided in groups with similar overall strength.

Career service
The director of the program puts a lot of effort into helping with the placement of graduates and alumnis. A very good alumni network is available for this purpose as well.

Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
I recall networking and socializing with students from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds.

What do you like about the program?
The people in the program (both students, teachers, the director, etc) made the program what it is. There was and still is a positive good feeling being part of it. We became a group of friends, not only colleages at school. Extracurricular activities helped us bond and relax even more.

What DON'T you like about the program?
A couple of courses were quite difficult for me, so I ended up needing extra help with them. Of course this was my shortcoming, not the program's

Suggestions for the program to make it better
It couldn't be better!

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
I am now a consultant for my previous employer on a part-time basis, as I am taking care of my child.

Can you tell us a bit about your background
MBA; 3 year working experience (2 non-us; 1 us)
I studied full-time in the program from 9/2005-5/2007

Did you get admitted to other programs?
this is the only one i applied

Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
1) faculties are easy to access
2) working knowledge oriented
3) cost and benifit consideration
4) location
5) director was pushing very hard so that graduates can get a job (even before graduation)

Tell us about the application process at this program
1) send in all materials
2) schedule a meeting with the director
Initially the situation was tense due to it's competitive nature, but then it turns out to be a very pleasant experience

Programs like Baruch MFE, UCB MFE have refresher courses for incoming students. Does this program offer such courses? How useful was it?
I took only C++ in 2005 summer. (they offered probabilities and calculus as well).
I didn't know how to write "hello world" before I went to the refresher course. After the refresher course, I can write basic application such as curve bootstrapping, matrix solver, etc.
No doubt that refresher course taught only entry level programming skills, but for people(like myslef) who didn't aim at those hard-core programming type of jobs, the material is enough for someone who wants to descide their career path later (programming- or analytic-oriented type of work)

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like
Calibration taught by Salih Neftci in 2006 fall.
Numerical linear algrbra I and II taught by Mayo in 2005 fall and 2006 spring.
Stochastic calculus.

Tell us about the quality of teaching
Theoretical side is a bit weak. but the practical side (computing numbers) is strong
The instructors are always reachable for all kinds of matters. No need for looking for TA.

Materials used in the program
Besides some must-buy "big name" text books in the field, papers and notes (published or un-published) from other practioners are used as well. I would say the techniques in the papers are much more helpful in terms of interviewing for a job (provided that you are already 80% comfortable with the material covered in the text books)

Programming component of the program
C/C++ required.
VBA/mathematica if you are interested.
Long in short, i suffered while i was in the program. But I am now happy that i was suffered.

Projects
Implementing/computing projects (option pricer, sensitivities, CDO, VaR, etc) done in C/C++/EXCEL/Mathematica

Career service
The director basically asked (haunt) you about the status every time he saw you. He also hooks up a lot of opportunities for you.

What do you like about the program?
I spent 20k on tuition (and roughly another 20k on living expense). I got a lot more than those back first year at work.

What DON'T you like about the program?
none

Suggestions for the program to make it better
I would have done nothing different.

Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
Groups get assigned by director based on different background (good chance to practice on how to get along with others even if you dont like them in the real working environment).

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
Working in a major financial institution as a senior quantitative analyst. At current stage, i am happy about where i am.

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
I had a Masters in Management Science with computing and had worked in India for 1 year. I had a certificate in portfolio management from NYU.
I studied full-time in the program from Jan 2004- Dec 2005

Did you get admitted to other programs?
Yes

Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
This was the most competitive and cost effective program

Tell us about the application process at this program
No problems. The response time was great. Dan Stefanica is amazing.

Programs like Baruch MFE, UCB MFE have refresher courses for incoming students. Does this program offer such courses? How useful was it?
Yes they do and the refresher courses were brilliant.

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
I loved the Advanced stochastic calculus, Princples in Fiancial Engineering and the risk management course.

Tell us about the quality of teaching
The teachers are from the industry and give the student a good perspctive on the real world.

Materials used in the program
Principles of Financial Engineering - Salih Neftci
The Analysis of Structured Securities - Sylvain Raynes and Ann Rutledge

Programming component of the program
C++, Mathematica, Matlab. VB

Projects
Individual and group

Career service
Dan is great is finding opportunities and now with the help of alumni the program is becoming stronger in terms of finding opportunities.

Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
Its great.

What do you like about the program?
The love and care is unique.

What DON'T you like about the program?
A little more practical training.

Suggestions for the program to make it better
I would not change anything except make it a little more practical so that the students are more marketable.

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
Business Development Manager. I am looking to work in Risk.