FE programs - not in the limelight

[dtjones]

Hi all,

I was wondering what the forum's thoughts were on other schools that offer degrees in financial engineering (or something similar) that are not the main focus of discussion here.

In particular,

Fordham U - Fordham Graduate Business :: Fordham University

City location, but seems relatively watered down. Can any graduates or current students comment?

UCLA - Master of Financial Engineering | UCLA Anderson School of Management

Anderson is a very reputable business school with a solid placement record. Does this transfer to the MFE program?

U of Hawaii - Shidler MFE: Welcome to the Master's in Science in Financial Engineering at The University of Hawaii Shidler College of Business

Focus on weather derivatives? Sounds interesting. Can I get a job afterward?

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[bigbadwolf]

Each of these three programs has been discussed in this forum at different times -- sometimes at length. Search the forum.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Fordham is discussed extensively here (in fact, bbw was the thread originator)
DISCUSSION on MFE programs (Formerly Second-rate (and worse) MFE programs) - QuantNetwork - Financial Engineering Forum
Fordham MSQF 2008 Admission - QuantNetwork - Financial Engineering Forum

You will see some info about UCLA MFE and Hawaii MFE in the sticky thread. Of these three programs, UCLA will benefit the most from its name, Hawaii may be the most disadvantaged location wise (though it should be noted that the Hawaii program was started for local businesses who currently have to recruit from mainlaind MFE students). All are relatively new comers so it will take a while to build a good sample set of internship, placement stats to objectively comment on their quality.

If anything, I feel like brand name or not, every program must continue to improve and reinvent itself or face a slow death. And we're here at QuantNetwork will continue to provide update and info that help you make an informed decision.

 

[dtjones]

Thanks for the help. That 13+ page thread was brutal to get through, but definitely informative.

I kind of feel bad for Fordham...

 

[MikeK]

As for your question on weather derivatives...it seems like this is a growing area, often working in conjunction with gas/power traders. In fact, many energy desks employ meteorogists now. I'm not sure what sort of classes they would offer for this specialization, but it seems pretty cool.