COMPARE MIT Master of Finance vs University of Chicago - MS in Financial Mathematics

[Jason Ma]

Hi everyone,

I just received an admission letter from UChi. I heard that the UChi program has a BAD reputation in its quality (mostly heard from its students) before the new director came, is there any improvement on the quality and settings of its curriculum, and on the career service? And what are they? And just saw the 2015 summer internship stats, and it seems pretty bad (although I do not know whether I am right). Here is the webpage.
http://www-finmath.uchicago.edu/docs/FinMath_2015_Internship.pdf

Also, I got admitted into MIT MFin 12-month pilot. I am an international student, and I intend to work in the US for several years(more than 5) before deciding whether to go back to my country or to seek a long-term career in the US. And I currently intend to work as a buyside PM in the future (but I AM NOT SURE).
I know that the MIT MFin is a NON-STEM program and the 12-month program does not include a summer internship, which would be a huge loss. But it is under MIT Sloan which means that the students can benefit from the Sloan alumni network (in the long term, not in the short term), and it has a better course quality from what I learnt. I would appreciate it a lot if anyone could give me some of your idea and advice!

Thanks

 

[Dave Lee]

MIT is not Princeton. STEM program now has 36 months opt.

 

[Jason Ma]

MIT is not Princeton. STEM program now has 36 months opt.

Yeah. That is one of the main reason I am still in a dilemma. But does the quality of teaching and the career service of MIT MFin compensate for that, especially when compared to Chicago MSMF?

 

[lejing]

This thread might be helpful on Chicago MSFM.
https://www.quantnet.com/threads/seeking-changes-chicago-msfm-fired-founding-director.9971/

 

[Jason Ma]

This thread might be helpful on Chicago MSFM.
https://www.quantnet.com/threads/seeking-changes-chicago-msfm-fired-founding-director.9971/

Thanks!

 

[doremoke]

Well, if you are an international student, the best chance you have is to do a summer internship and then get a return offer. I would say MIT 18-month > Chicago MSFM > MIT 12-month.

 

[alefein]

MiT MFin is a STEM program..

 

[NewK]

MIT is STEM
Master of Finance degree program gains STEM classification - MIT Sloan School of Management

 

[pingu]

MIT is STEM
Master of Finance degree program gains STEM classification - MIT Sloan School of Management

the STEM classification is for visa purposes in the eyes of USCIS.

 

[nqh]

Hello, community. I just got two offers from these privilegious schools and I do not know which one to choose. I'm pursuing to work in a hedge fund or in some structuring department (in any financial city). And if it is helpful to know, I am biassed to UChicago because I saw within its course program there's no accounting courses or corporate finance; perhaps I'm making a mistake. Here in the 2019 ranks MIT is one place above UChicago, but the latter has better numbers for placement rate and the start base annual (btw, does anybody know how trustable are these numbers? I guess they are, but...) Any comment will be quite appreciated.

 

[Michsund]

Are you are resident or us citizen?

 

[nqh]

Are you are resident or us citizen?

non-us citizen

 

[Michsund]

I would go Uchicago on the fact that there's such a big salary difference between residents and non-residents.

 

[Youlan Dai]

Both are good but both are not that good. MIT big name but you see its placement. UChicago big name also, but it is "infamous" for its too theoretical courses and its rank dropped sharply from 7th maybe to 11th. If you have to choose one between them, I recommend UChicago because it is the king of Chicagao, In MIT, you d better prepare for competition against Princeton,Columbia,NYU,Cornell CMU and Baruch, and the result, as you see from the quantnet ranking, totally a disaster.

 

[arbitragehoe]

Both are good but both are not that good. MIT big name but you see its placement. UChicago big name also, but it is "infamous" for its too theoretical courses and its rank dropped sharply from 7th maybe to 11th. If you have to choose one between them, I recommend UChicago because it is the king of Chicagao, In MIT, you d better prepare for competition against Princeton,Columbia,NYU,Cornell CMU and Baruch, and the result, as you see from the quantnet ranking, totally a disaster.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this would be true for someone who wants to go into a pure quant career. I think MIT's MFin is more accustomed to people who want a little more of traditional finance courses, but with the ability to retain their technical background and tailor the curriculum to their interests (mine is capital markets, for example). I think MIT Sloan's brand name and rep is more than enough to place you in top companies, assuming you're not looking for pure quant roles. Just my two cents

 

[bettyqueen]

Hearing that a lot of the MIT MFIN grads get offers from brand name firms, but many of these are for risk mgmt or finance reporting roles. Dropoff in $$ for non-US folks is real. Great to have choices though - congratulations.

 

[Jose Cespedes]

Hearing that a lot of the MIT MFIN grads get offers from brand name firms, but many of these are for risk mgmt or finance reporting roles. Dropoff in $$ for non-US folks is real. Great to have choices though - congratulations.

hmmm... interesting. where did you hear this?

 

[Michsund]

hmmm... interesting. where did you hear this?

Just LinkedIn search as well as look at the last couple of years worth of employment reports.

 

[hoyuan]

Hi, I am wondering if you can share your timeline of the application process. When did you submit the app and receive the offer? Did you have any additional interviews?

 

[billyvan]

You said your dream job would be in a hedge fund or structuring positions, so the choice would be pretty easier now, which is chicago. MIT sloan is great, maybe even greater in name than chicago, but as you see the traditional finance courses... And you have to face the competition from top prgrams in NY, and in CHICAGO both. I dont believe mit can outweigh uchicago on positions you are fond of in chicago region.