COMPARE Carnegie Mellon University MSCF vs Cornell University MFE

[Paul Mithouard]

@Paul Mithouard
Is NYU popular in Asia? I'm not so sure about this...

I do not know. I am from Europe. But at least it is well-known

 

[yjt]

I think NYU is more popular than CMU in Asia, if your definition of popular is many people have heard of it.

About the point that 2 out of 7 courses are taught in NYC, I thought it was professors and TAs would fly to NY campus for 2 out of 7 weeks every term? I could be wrong tho but I think I read that somewhere on the web...

I talked to a few CMU students this week and found out that Pitts students actually need to travel to NYC for interviews quite often. Someone I talked to that secured an internship rather early still had to go 3 times and he mentioned that quite a few are still doing that now.

One thing I wanna remind you is that .. just because you are not very good at socializing now does not mean you should just give up on that for the rest of your life. If you know it is your weakness and you are still young, maybe you should consider giving yourself a little push to become more socialable which will def benefit you in the long run.

 

[cesc]

@yjt
you get admitted as well ? which campus are u in ?

so you would prefer NYC ? it seems to me that Pitts campus has pretty good placement rate, i'm not sure if NYC is better. I'm pretty curious if there is any stats available comparing these two campuses .

 

[mfegrad]

In every mini semester 7 courses are offered and 2 of them are in NY

Ask yourself what you want to be... Quant? choose CMU as the chances that you become a quant through CMU are higher.
You want to be a trader or get a front desk positions? choose Cornell as many of Cornell's grad end up in these positions.

disturbingly incorrect on both points.

in every mini, four to five courses are offered, and two of the seven lectures for each class are given in new york.

as for the trader/front office thing...no. please don't spread misinformation.

 

[yjt]

I got in the NY Campus. I don't think there is much of a difference in terms of placement stats between the two campuses. If you want to work in NY upon graduation, NY seems to be a better fit cuz from what I understand, the NY campus gets a majority of their offers locally.

As for school reputation/recognition, CMU is far behind at all the locations you listed for sure.

 

[roni]

disturbingly incorrect on both points.
in every mini, four to five courses are offered, and two of the seven lectures for each class are given in new york.

This is what I got about a month ago from a current CMU student " the professors come to NYC 2 out of the 7 lectures". I guess by lectures he meant meetings... my misunderstanding.

as for the trader/front office thing...no. please don't spread misinformation.

What kind of misinformation? I spoke with 4 Cornell students, and according to them, the vast majority of Cornell students get trading/front office jobs...

 

[AlexandreH]

This is what I got about a month ago from a current CMU student " the professors come to NYC 2 out of the 7 lectures". I guess by lectures he meant meetings... my misunderstanding.

What kind of misinformation? I spoke with 4 Cornell students, and according to them, the vast majority of Cornell students get trading/front office jobs...

I did not know it is common to get a trader position straight out of MS. I thought you would have to go into a trader assistant position first. Maybe someone with experience in this can give us some information (are some programs better fitted for specific positions? Can you get a trader position just out of MS? if not, how many years as Trader Assistant? what is the work like? pay?...)

 

[ahu]

its hard to say. take a look at placement stats. it is my understanding that cmu uses the standards b-schools use to report employment stats(if that really means anything at all)

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I have talked to Rick Bryant (CMU MSCF director) at length about their placement stats and here are a few things to keep in mind

• The stats do not include part-time students
• The full-time stat is complied by Tepper Business School and released in Oct, since their MBA students graduate in May. This is why the latest full-time report available currently is from Dec 2009 class. You have to wait till Oct 2011 to see full-time report of Dec 2010 class
• The internship/placement for 2010 are updates by the program using their own survey. This is not as comprehensive as the full-time updates done by the Tepper. The program will release their own update in April.

 

[mfegrad]

What kind of misinformation? I spoke with 4 Cornell students, and according to them, the vast majority of Cornell students get trading/front office jobs...

the way you worded what you said earlier implied that you have a better shot of getting a front office or trading role out of cornell. i can count on one hand the number of students (that i know definitively where they ended up) from cmu 2010 that are *not* in front office/trading roles at BBs. in fact, i can only think of a handful of students that ended up in true quant roles.

does cornell provide stats? i've never seen them. be wary of programs that don't provide them. andy is right to be wary of stats that are provided, as many programs cook their books. there are maybe four programs that are worth attending.

 

[roni]

there are maybe four programs that are worth attending.

And they are... ?

 

[AaronPierce]

Definately CMU. It's worth the money.

Even my accounting major friends know CMU and praised it alot. Besides, coming out from CMU and still can't find a job from major investment banks or big firms is a bit disappointing right? Those banks knows exactly what CMU means.

 

[cesc]

@Andy Nguyen
I've send you a PM. Did you get it ?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Yes, I did. I'm going to answer here as best as I can.

Finding a suitable program for yourself is a much more complicated process. It's not 70K tuition at this program versus 80K at another. In the big scheme of things, those numbers are immaterial.

The problem I see with most people here making a choice is that they depend on the opinion of a few friends they have in the programs or anyone they can get opinion from. Personal opinions are never wrong but often flawed due to each person's experience and bias so when you see someone say "CMU is better than NYU", always ask "Why?". If they say "Go to CMU NYC", always ask "Why?".

If you can't verify someone's affiliation and motivation behind an online post, ask the poster to clarify his opinion. The internet is full of questionable characters and online forum is no exception.

Ask the programs direct and hard questions. Just like any reputable business, they should be able to backup all claims and numbers they put online. If they don't put any relevant numbers online, ask yourself why.

If a program has been around for over 5 years, there is no reason they can't tell you about the latest internship/placement numbers. A lot of program have been running under the radar for so long because no student has ever questioned them. Just look at Chicago MSFM program and see what happens when frustration comes to the surface.

Now back to the question of CMU Pittsburgh or NYC, the answer is "it depends"

Companies will have big events in Pittsburgh because the Tepper MBA program is there. There are events that NYC students have to go there to attend.

They also have "Treks" programs that CMU students go to company's presentations in NYC. Pitts students will have to travel to the city for a couple days to attend these.

NYC students will have a few days during a semester where the program invites companies to interview their students at their Broad Street location. Students who pass this screening will be then invited to company interviews. Pitts students will have to travel to NYC for this round.
And there are ad-hoc interviews that happen on the moment notice when a lead is passed by the program's alumni. The advantages would go to NYC students who can appear a few hours after notice.

The point is there are opportunities at both places. At the end of the day, regardless of where you study, you should be able to land an internship/jobs with the opportunities that the program/location presents to you. How do you do on those interviews will determine if you get a job and what kind of job you get.

The location is a better determined upon your personality and where you like to live.

 

[Zhusong Mei]

Hi guys,

Just received offers from these two program. I am having a hard time to choose which one to go. My future career goal is desk quant/strats. I know CMU is a god-like quant finance program for traders, but I actually prefer a quant research and strategy type job. I like developing models and strategies more than trading. So should I still consider CMU as my best choice?

Thank you guys so much!

 

[tuanl]

Hi guys,

Just received offers from these two program. I am having a hard time to choose which one to go. My future career goal is desk quant/strats. I know CMU is a god-like quant finance program for traders, but I actually prefer a quant research and strategy type job. I like developing models and strategies more than trading. So should I still consider CMU as my best choice?

Thank you guys so much!

Two questions: are you receiving any aids from either of these two programs? Are you attending CMU's NY campus or Pittsburgh?

 

[Joycelin]

Two questions: are you receiving any aids from either of these two programs? Are you attending CMU's NY campus or Pittsburgh?

hows that relevent？

 

[tuanl]

hows that relevent？

Why not?? If CMU gave her substantial aid, it's an easy call. After all, the curriculum at two places are nearly the same, with CMU's emphasis on mathematical rigor would come out as an edge. The finance world is moving to data science as well, so having a solid math + CS preparation that is relevant to Finance would give her an edge over her competitors when it comes to job search.

With no aid, I would still go with CMU's MSCF rather than Cornell's MFE (unless Cornell's MFE offers you aid, then you should go with Cornell). But assuming both places don't give her aid, if she ended up choosing Cornell, it won't be a disaster. After all, it's up to YOU to get the job...The school only gives her potential connections through its alumni base (you have to make those connections too, so it really varies person by person) and maybe a career fair filled with prestigious companies (but career fair is nearly useless, nowadays. I heard that from many people attending career fair over the last couple of years...) One thing I would like to point out is: Two Sigma recently opens the hub at Cornell's Engineering school, so if that's the firm you are absolutely sure you want to work at, then go with Cornell. The PhD program at Cornell's ORIE is stronger than CMU's Tepper, so if you plan to pursue a PhD later on in the OR/OM/IE area, Cornell would help A LOT.

 

[Zhusong Mei]

Two questions: are you receiving any aids from either of these two programs? Are you attending CMU's NY campus or Pittsburgh?

Hi, thank you so much for such a comprehensive explanation. I didn't receive any aid from either program, but tuition fee is not really my concern. As for CMU's campus, I chose NYC campus. Actually, PhD could be my concern because I prefer research type job. A PhD could be necessary in the future.

 

[tuanl]

Hi, thank you so much for such a comprehensive explanation. I didn't receive any aid from either program, but tuition fee is not really my concern. As for CMU's campus, I chose NYC campus. Actually, PhD could be my concern because I prefer research type job. A PhD could be necessary in the future.

Ah, nice to know your plan But PhD in what? I think Cornell's MFE is a no-brainer choice if you want to pursue a PhD in ANY engineering-related field. And did you know you don't need to get a PhD degree to get a research type job (it's just harder)? Good luck, and let me know what you ended up choosing, if you don't mind