Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Master of Finance

I honestly think they should get rid of Corporate Finance track and combine MFE and Capital Market into 1 thing. Classes are too big and not super concentrated. Don't see much synergy in mixing the bankers/consultant with quant/coders. MIT is by its core an engineering school so stay focused at what it's good at. From the school's perspective, Accounting/ M&A/ corporate finance related courses basically overlap with the MBA ones and doesn't add to its course offering. From the students' perspective, 1. US IB don't really recruit from Mfin 2. why not find an OK job first then do MBA from Sloan?
Overall good experience and decent career planning. kinda wished classes were smaller.

What I like about the program

Professors
Professors are absolutely phenomenal. Until coming here, I did not realize to what extent MIT really is the “birthplace of modern finance”, a frequently used phrase at Admit day that I wholeheartedly ignored. However, after spending some time here, my view has drastically changed – perhaps somewhat due to a newly formed bias though. The faculty list is available at here and notably includes:

John Cox (options research)
Leonid Kogan (asset pricing theorist)
Andrew Lo (author of econometrics books, “A Non-Random Walk Down Wall Street”, amongst others)
Bob Merton (Nobel prize, LTCM partner)
Stewart Meyers (corporate finance guy)
Steve Ross (invented APT, perhaps invented state price density framework)
Antoinette Schoar (leading Entrepreneurial Finance researcher)
Doug Breeden (inventor of Consumption CAPM, founder of Smith Breeden Associates)
Eric Rosenfeld (LTCM partner)
Jeff Shames (formed MFS CEO)

All of the above are teaching in the 2011-2012 year, creating an incredible opportunity to learn from both (a) the guys that invented the theory, and (b) the guys that made millions using it. Tough to match that.

Flexibility of the curriculum
There is only one required course, 15.450, as mentioned above (in addition to two introductory courses in the summer). The requirements are available at here, but roughly speaking as long as you take 5 finance classes at Sloan during your time here, you can do anything you want with your other credits. Many took the opportunity to take non-Sloan classes (Math, CS, other MIT-ish subjects), others took “soft” Sloan courses in Sales, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, etc, some took HBS courses (can register for 2 per term), etc.

The program is what you make of it, but you have to survive 15.450. At the link for the curriculum, there are many rules, which make me think of something an undergrad professor from MIT told me – “MIT is like a big communist country – there are tons of rules, but everyone knows how to get around them.” And getting around the rules usually involves just asking the program directors – they are very flexible and supportive.

Grading
To graduate, you need a B average, but the curve works in your favor. 40% of each class get As, the next 50% get Bs, and the bottom 10% (in theory) get Cs. So most students were not worried about grades, which allowed them to focus on areas they are most interested in during their studies. Also, in Sloan classes which have a quantitative lean, the MBA students “dilute” the curve since their math level is usually much below that of MFins. (though the opposite may be true in “softer” Sloan classes)

On Campus Recruiting
The Career Development Office (CDO) is very helpful and responsive.

What I don't like about the program

Cost
Admittedly expensive, unless sponsored. Scholarships are very rare.

No internship as part of the program. There has been discussion for a long time about incorporating one, but there simply does not appear to be a good way of doing so. Extending the program to be 1.5 years (so July to December) has been considered, but is problematic.

First of all, the extension would cost ~$30k for an extra semester due to general MIT rules. If the extension is optional to students, then the only ones that would take it would be those that don’t find a job by May/June, leading to some negative selection bias.

It would also require students to hedge by recruiting simultaneously for full time jobs and internships. If it is mandatory, then the price tag goes up, and all students then graduate in December, not a good hiring time. So problems any way you look at it – but the issue is actively being discussed.

Other comments
I would recommend a master in finance to three categories of individuals: those looking to learn more about finance (perhaps engineering undergrads), those looking to re-brand to get access to on campus recruiting, and those looking for a backup plan in case they can’t land a decent job coming out of undergrad. As for MIT specifically, I would recommend the program to those with a significant quantitative interest, or at least ability. The single required course of the program, 15.450 Analytics of Finance, is quite brutal – see this link for nearly full lecture notes and assignments to get a taste of it.

In my perception, the admission process is very numbers driven, unlike most typical MBA processes. it seems that extracurricular activities are not that high on the list of preferences – we simply want the brightest individuals. One thing that seems to be important is to demonstrate that you are employable – as any program, job statistics are very important to us (since that’s largely how we attract talent) and we want to be able to find you a job after graduation. I believe the Career Development Office is actively involved in the admission process, so if they don’t think they can find you a job, you are probably not getting in. Good luck to all.

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
I studied full-time in the program from 7/2009 - 6/2010
Undergraduate degree in Economics
Various finance summer internships
Did you get admitted to other programs?
Columbia QMSS
Yale IDE
Duke Economics
UCL Economics
Warwick Finance & Economics
Among others...

Why did you choose this program (over others, if applicable)?
I chose this program because of flexibility of the curriculum, the strength of the faculty and I knew that my fellow students would be some of the best and brightest. I was particularly excited about taking the first-year Finance PhD courses.

Tell us about the application process at this program
The application process is relatively straightforward. I think a few things have changed since I applied; I think an interview may now be required.

Programs like Baruch MFE, UCB MFE have refresher courses for incoming students. Does this program offer such courses? How useful was it?
We had a "refresher" course. This involved a one week prep, covering financial economics and then the Finance Theory course which covers investments and corporate finance. The vast majority of the students found the class to be extremely engaging and a lot of information to help them jump start the program. This was particularly important, as job recruiting would begin in the fall.

Tell us about the courses selection in this program. Any special courses you like?
The course selection is divided between required courses, restricted electives and unrestricted electives. Restricted electives tend to be the typical finance courses. Required classes are the finance theory, a proseminar (which involves helping a company with either a financial engineering problem or a financial management problem.)
Almost any graduate level course at MIT can count as a unrestricted elective. I pursued a financial economics pathway. I took the first 2 classes (1 each semester) of the Finance PhD track, which included Financial Economics with Stephen Ross. This was probably my favorite course.
Other students took courses in mathematics, statistics, computer science, english/literature, game theory, negotiation.
You can actually take many elective courses, if you have the time.

Tell us about the quality of teaching
The quality of teachers varies. All of the full professors are top researchers who all have published in the leading economics and finance journals. Many of them run their own hedge funds or are advisers and have a unique professional and academic insight.
Despite this, some professor are better at teaching than others.
The practitioner professors are more often teaching project based classes, such as Proseminar or Practice of Finance seminars.

Materials used in the program
Required courses:
Usual stuff, BKM, BMA, Hull, etc
Cochrane, "Asset Pricing"
Campbell, Lo, McKinlay, "Econometrics of Finance Markets"
Electives: Tons of books, a sample
Leroy, "Principles of Financial Economics"
Ingersoll, "Theory of Financial Decision Making"
Sterman, "Business Dynamics"
Duffie, "Dynamic Asset Pricing Theory"
Oksendal, "Stochastic Differential Equations"
Grinold & Kahm, "Active Portfolio Management"
...
And many more. And of course, these vary depending on your choices.
Note: Below on the practicality, I chose a more theoretical courseload than most.

Programming component of the program
We are free to use whatever language and tools we want to help us. And we are expected to either know this already or learn this ourselves. While here, I have used stat/math packages such as R, MatLab and EViews.

Projects
I have done two main projects (among countless smaller ones). One involved designing better optimization algorithms for factor portfolios for a large asset manager. The other involved designing a new investment product.

Career service
There is a dedicated career adviser within MIT Sloan's career services center that works purely with M.Fin. students. Furthermore, as students at Sloan, we have access to both the career services, interviews and job postings at both regular MIT and Sloan.

Can you comment on the social interaction between students of different ethnics, nationalities in the program?
This dynamic may change next year; but we were a very small and tight knit group, regardless of nationality, etc.
What do you like about the program?
The flexibility is what drew me to the program and that's still what I find best.

What DON’T you like about the program?
There are so many things to do/see/take advantage of at MIT (guest lectures, classes, conferences, events) and I don't particularly have the time to do these things.
The MIT Sloan facilities, in a physical sense, ie number of classrooms, study spaces, etc is somewhat limited and old. However, a new building should be finished this fall, just in time for my class not to be able to use it.

Suggestions
I would consider rearranging the order that the students take some of the required courses. I would also help employers understand the nature of the program. It is a Masters of Finance degree; not necessarily an MFE degree, albeit a student could tailor it to a quantitative finance degree.

What are your current job status? What are you looking for?
I have accepted a job offer to work in a bank in NY.

Other comments
Being in Boston is good for those looking to get into asset management.

This review was submitted anonymously