It's funny that you mention that because he did message me, I believe he is in the year behind me so has not graduated yet. I do agree with your assessment though, it seems that the MSFE program is one of a group of programs that all seem to be quite similar from the IEOR department. At the moment I do have good Python skills that would allow me to contribute, and I'm actually using them to do some free work for a crypto market maker and a machine learning algo trading firm, but it seems that maybe I should start practicing my C++ as well.
I do appreciate the response though. It's been quite demoralizing as I've been trying so many different avenues but I guess I just need to keep trying new things.
Wait what... how is that an excuse for career services? There are too many kids paying 100k for a Master's degree so we can't give them adequate help?Yes, there was a discussion recently with @weab who is in your Columbia MFE program.
I think the fact that Columbia MFE has so many students competing against so many other MS IEOR students who took the same courses, it's extremely hard to distinguish yourself. It's impossible for career services to be able to provide customized career support for this many students.
I think you need to take it up yourself to stand out.
Do you have a strong C++ or Python skills that you can contribute on day one? If you have in demand skills over your friends, it gives you a leg up.
Learning these skills are not that expensive and will take a few months but it will pay off immediately and serve you a very long time.