COMPARE Columbia University MFE vs MIT Master of Finance

[Owen]

Which is better if I want to go to a top hedge fund / prop trading such as Citadel? Which is better in general? If you are a hiring manager of a top hedge fund, and you see two resumes from these 2 programs, do you feel a significant inclination to pick one of them, or do you honestly feel indifferent?

Please note that for MIT MFin, i am talking strictly about the Financial Engineering Option, I have seen way too many post that do not isolate Financial Eng. option with others, of course, we do not expect the 3 other options to go the "Quant path". I feel that there is a lack of information on the Internet for this Financial Eng. option.

Please give me some insights, thank you!

 

[mmmmmw]

If you target top hedge funds/trading houses, I think your profile and interview performance matter much much more than which program you are in. Both programs are able to get you interviews if your background is solid and then the programs make no difference.
For the programs themselves, personally I think Columbia's curriculum may be better structured for financial engineers than MIT's Fin Eng. concentration. But MIT's curriculum is more flexible and covers more financial theories, plus MIT's brand and reputation especially in Asia. So it all depends on your preference.

 

[WZL]

URGENTLY NEED SOME ADVICE!
I am now in this difficult situation of choosing between Columbia MFE (eng) and
MIT Mfin (18 month track, Financial Engineering track). Could anyone shed some light on which program I should choose ?

My Plan:
Upon graduation, I plan to seek for job opportunities in HK, ideally in the buyside (AM，prop shop and hedge fund ).
I also consider the sell side （Quant AM in BBs such as QIS team so I can easily switch to Buyside later on)

From what I learned from the forum, MIT Mfin is normally considered as a tier 2 program while Columbia MFE is more solid and prestigious in area of Financial Engineering. Furthermore, MIT starts too early in the beginning of July, eliminating any possibility of completing a summer internship.

However, the fact that Columbia MFE has way larger class size and weak career service has made me hesitant on accepting the offer, Moreover, the reputation of Columbia is uncompetitive to that of MIT in HK.

 

[WZL]

Many Thanks!

 

[xxzritazxx]

Congrats! I would say MIT.
Eventually both school names/programs will get you the interview, but then it is your interview performance that matters.
Considering you are planning for a career in Hong kong, I think MIT's reputation will better help you succeed. The technical strength of the Mfin program really depends on which courses that you choose to take. Also, you said Columbia MFE has way lager class size so it is possible that Columbia MFE students receive insufficient career support.
I think what job you end up with really depends more on your personal efforts than the program you are in. So it is up to your preference.
My answer could be biased because I also got admitted to MIT for this fall

 

[WZL]

Congrats! I would say MIT.
Eventually both school names/programs will get you the interview, but then it is your interview performance that matters.
Considering you are planning for a career in Hong kong, I think MIT's reputation will better help you succeed. The technical strength of the Mfin program really depends on which courses that you choose to take. Also, you said Columbia MFE has way lager class size so it is possible that Columbia MFE students receive insufficient career support.
I think what job you end up with really depends more on your personal efforts than the program you are in. So it is up to your preference.
My answer could be biased because I also got admitted to MIT for this fall

Thank you so much for your reply and big congratulations to you as well ! I can't agree more that everything boils down to self-preparation and the performance at the interview.

 

[mitmastermind]

did you receive a hone call from MIT?

 

[WZL]

did you receive a hone call from MIT?

Yes I did. It was yesterday from my interviewer Sue Kline.

 

[WZL]

The current result seems to contradict with the previous post on COMPARE. Guys， feel free to share some comments/explanation for your votes so that others can refer in the future

 

[mmmmmw]

Just to clear some misunderstandings:
1. As far as I know, for quant positions, the reputations of Columbia MFE and MIT MFin have roughly no difference in HK. If you target IBD and S&T, MIT will be absolutely better but this is not the case for quant positions.
2. The class size of Columbia MFE and MIT MFin are roughly the same according to QuantNet information. I heard that for the Fall 2021 entering class of MIT MFin, a majority (70-80%) of students were interested in quant tracks. So the class size should not be a huge difference.
3. It is true that Columbia's career service is incomparable to other tier1 MFE programs, but it is being improved. The career support of MIT MFin is also not that competitive either according to comments in QuantNet.
Back to your question, I totally agree that for quant finance career, Columbia MFE is more rigorous. So your choice should depend on whether you want the bright title of MIT, or the solid preparation in Fin Eng by attending Columbia.

 

[quantM]

I've been accepted to MIT MFin too. I'm confident in the program for quant finance. They have strong quant and financial engineering courses that you can take on and you can register for maths/stat/CS courses at MIT if you think it's not enough, so you'd definitely have all the resources you need. And of course MIT is a brilliant accreditation and both MIT and Sloan are renown for their contributions to finance and financial engineering (Thorp, Black and Merton, Cox, Cootner, etc).