Baruch MFE Baruch MFE VS Columbia FinEcon Please help!

[Guanniao]

Hi all

I'm a finance major student from one of the top universities in China and have got admission to both Baruch MFE and Columbia Financial Economics. Since Columbia only gives me two weeks, I want to collect as much information (also opinion) as possible. Please feel free to leave some comments on the two programs. I really appreciate your help

I know Baruch has been discussed a lot in this community so I would like to know more about your opinions on CBS FinEcon. This is a pretty new program and offers a combination of PhD and MBA courses. Usually they admit 8-10 students each year and have given out 12 AD this year. So what do you think?

 

[moretodo]

What do you intend to do after pursuing graduate studies ?

 

[Guanniao]

What do you intend to do after pursuing graduate studies ?

My initial plan is to find a quant job in NYC and then seek opportunity to transfer to trader. I know Baruch is a perfect choice in that case and that is why I applied to it in the first place. However CBS offers the optionality of top Finance PhD and I'm still excited about that possibility. Another concern is that quant is really a restricted career path and I may encounter glass ceiling without a PhD degree.

Any advice?

 

[moretodo]

Chose one career path and accordingly choose your program. This is not the time to be completely clueless about what you want to do in life and try to keep all doors partially open.

"Another concern is that quant is really a restricted career path and I may encounter glass ceiling without a PhD degree."

This is untrue. If your good and do well in the first few years after your MFE, you'll be preferred over a freshly minted PhD.

 

[Ken Abbott]

One of the most senior quants at my firm has a formal education that ended with a bachelor's degree.

 

[Guanniao]

Chose one career path and accordingly choose your program. This is not the time to be completely clueless about what you want to do in life and try to keep all doors partially open.

"Another concern is that quant is really a restricted career path and I may encounter glass ceiling without a PhD degree."

This is untrue. If your good and do well in the first few years after your MFE, you'll be preferred over a freshly minted PhD.

Thanks a lot for your advice. I'm an undergraduate now so may still need some time to figure out the right path for me. Anyway I will definitely reconsider where my passion lies.

 

[Guanniao]

One of the most senior quants at my firm has a formal education that ended with a bachelor's degree.

Really? He/she should be really dedicated to quant and self-taught lots of relevant courses. But just out of curiosity how he/she breaks in in the first place?

 

[IntoDarkness]

if ur smart and have the rite skillsets and attitude, they will hire u

 

[Guanniao]

if ur smart and have the rite skillsets and attitude, they will hire u

That's true theoretically. But I'm not sure without the right education background or alumni network, you may not even get an interview.