MIT MFin MIT MFin

[tcbm]

Hi all,

Does anybody have any experience with the MFin at MIT? I'm particularly looking from a quant perspective (quant research or trading). I know that big firms for the most part recruit on campus (although a recent review of the program on this site worried me a bit) I'd like to see if there is any firsthand experience with the program. The way I see it, there are certainly plenty of opportunities to take challenging and rewarding courses (Machine Learning, Financial Data Science, Optimization, PhD courses, etc) but it seems like the majority of students don't go into quant roles.

 

[FinEsse]

Hi all,

Does anybody have any experience with the MFin at MIT? I'm particularly looking from a quant perspective (quant research or trading). I know that big firms for the most part recruit on campus (although a recent review of the program on this site worried me a bit) I'd like to see if there is any firsthand experience with the program. The way I see it, there are certainly plenty of opportunities to take challenging and rewarding courses (Machine Learning, Financial Data Science, Optimization, PhD courses, etc) but it seems like the majority of students don't go into quant roles.

I've spoken a great deal to current/past students of the program (I'm headed for the MFin this July) and from what I heard, it's really up to you. If you tailor the curriculum to take quanty courses (FE concentration) then you can definitely land a quant job - I've heard of many people from the MFin landing one.

 

[devconnolly]

Hey there. Like FinEsse above (see you in July bro), I have spoken to plenty of students and listened in to webinars and faculty talks. There are definitely options to go the quant trading/research route (they had a sample course selection for a student interested in QR, for example) and they do have a Financial Engineering 'track'.

You're right that the majority don't go into quant roles, which in a sense could help you - not competing against all your classmates for the same firms, like you might be for MBB or IB. I would agree that it seems like the curriculum, and thus outcome for you, is quite flexible. There is a focus on finance fundamentals, as is absent in a pure MFE, but you don't have to choose courses in that area. One of the big plusses for me was the scope of ML/AI/Data Analytics courses available.

 

[devconnolly]

Woops - double post.

 

[mabelleaf]

Hi all,

Does anybody have any experience with the MFin at MIT? I'm particularly looking from a quant perspective (quant research or trading). I know that big firms for the most part recruit on campus (although a recent review of the program on this site worried me a bit) I'd like to see if there is any firsthand experience with the program. The way I see it, there are certainly plenty of opportunities to take challenging and rewarding courses (Machine Learning, Financial Data Science, Optimization, PhD courses, etc) but it seems like the majority of students don't go into quant roles.

1. You may want to double check your recruiting info. Although there are plenty of job postings, Very Few firms come to MIT Sloan campus to recruit MFINs. Many come to recruit Sloan MBAs on campus, but those campus interviews are not generally open to MFINs. Firms will come to MIT main campus for quant roles, where you will be competing against MIT undergrads in math, CS and other sciences...

2. You can definitely take quant courses in MIT MFIN, but quant employers have a greater comfort level with degrees that are more quant structure, like Carnegie Mellon MCSF or Columbia...

 

[jackflash]

Yeah, don't think there's too many firms coming to Sloan to recruit quant MFINS on campus...it will definitely be up to you to find the employers you want...best of luck!

 

[tcbm]

1. You may want to double check your recruiting info. Although there are plenty of job postings, Very Few firms come to MIT Sloan campus to recruit MFINs. Many come to recruit Sloan MBAs on campus, but those campus interviews are not generally open to MFINs. Firms will come to MIT main campus for quant roles, where you will be competing against MIT undergrads in math, CS and other sciences...

2. You can definitely take quant courses in MIT MFIN, but quant employers have a greater comfort level with degrees that are more quant structure, like Carnegie Mellon MCSF or Columbia...

Interesting, I'd like to know where you heard this from? I've heard of both buy side and sell side firms (all the big names) coming on campus to recruit for both trading and research/strats roles along with traditional ibd roles. All the current students I've spoken with not only have internships/full time offers lined up at these firms, but theyve all gotten a great number of interviews.

 

[Michsund]

1. You may want to double check your recruiting info. Although there are plenty of job postings, Very Few firms come to MIT Sloan campus to recruit MFINs. Many come to recruit Sloan MBAs on campus, but those campus interviews are not generally open to MFINs. Firms will come to MIT main campus for quant roles, where you will be competing against MIT undergrads in math, CS and other sciences...

2. You can definitely take quant courses in MIT MFIN, but quant employers have a greater comfort level with degrees that are more quant structure, like Carnegie Mellon MCSF or Columbia...

You hit the nail right on the spot.

 

[sarahbain]

Interesting, I'd like to know where you heard this from? I've heard of both buy side and sell side firms (all the big names) coming on campus to recruit for both trading and research/strats roles along with traditional ibd roles. All the current students I've spoken with not only have internships/full time offers lined up at these firms, but theyve all gotten a great number of interviews.

Investment Banks do not come to MIT Sloan campus to recruit MFINs. Buy Side firms do not come to MIT Sloan campus to recruit MFINS.

Firms may post jobs for MFINs, but they are also posting these same jobs at many other schools too.

No one is saying MFIN students don't get solid offers, but they really have to hustle hard for them - it's not through on-campus recruiting.

 

[devconnolly]

Investment Banks do not come to MIT Sloan campus to recruit MFINs. Buy Side firms do not come to MIT Sloan campus to recruit MFINS.

Firms may post jobs for MFINs, but they are also posting these same jobs at many other schools too.

No one is saying MFIN students don't get solid offers, but they really have to hustle hard for them - it's not through on-campus recruiting.

I've heard directly from the careers office that some good firms (both buy-side and sell-side) come in to make presentations and hold events specifically for MFins. The point about the MBA and Undergrad being the main targets are definitely valid (as with any business school I would have thought), but these firms do know what the MFin is and are interested - it wouldn't have the placement stats/firms it has if they weren't.

 

[Michsund]

I've heard directly from the careers office that some good firms (both buy-side and sell-side) come in to make presentations and hold events specifically for MFins. The point about the MBA and Undergrad being the main targets are definitely valid (as with any business school I would have thought), but these firms do know what the MFin is and are interested - it wouldn't have the placement stats/firms it has if they weren't.

Yeah that’s my point they don’t have good placements. Avarage salary is pretty low just LinkedIn Mit mfin it’s not to good. That’s why I decided to save some money and not apply.

 

[devconnolly]

Yeah that’s my point they don’t have good placements. Avarage salary is pretty low just LinkedIn Mit mfin it’s not to good. That’s why I decided to save some money and not apply.

Ya but surely quite a lot of these firms would prefer an MFin to certain undergrads, and the roles that MFins and MBAs are recruiting for are really not that similar - I reckon they fill the gap and are still considered.

 

[tcbm]

I've heard directly from the careers office that some good firms (both buy-side and sell-side) come in to make presentations and hold events specifically for MFins. The point about the MBA and Undergrad being the main targets are definitely valid (as with any business school I would have thought), but these firms do know what the MFin is and are interested - it wouldn't have the placement stats/firms it has if they weren't.

I've heard the same. I find it interesting that 77% percent of internship placement is school facilitated (per MIT employment report) compared to the exact same 77% for Carnegie Mellon. (Columbia doesn't even post how much is school-facilitated online) I've heard from the careers office, current students, and former students that there are careers events for students so I'm not sure why the consensus is they don't..

 

[tcbm]

Yeah that’s my point they don’t have good placements. Avarage salary is pretty low just LinkedIn Mit mfin it’s not to good. That’s why I decided to save some money and not apply.

Yeah but does this take into account that over a quarter of their class goes into management consulting which traditionally has lower pay?

 

[devconnolly]

I'm obviously quite bias, as I am moving to Boston for the MFin in June, but my LinkedIn search, alumni chats and emails, lead to companies like Citadel, GS, P72, Bridgewater, JPM, MS, Lazard in QR/Trading/Equity Research/Investment Management - I don't really think anyone can expect to just walk right into a job after graduation, with so much competition from so many great schools, having to grind a bit is inevitable - but to say that companies aren't trying to/dont wan't to recruit MFins seems a bit much to me

 

[FinEsse]

I'm obviously quite bias, as I am moving to Boston for the MFin in June, but my LinkedIn search, alumni chats and emails, lead to companies like Citadel, GS, P72, Bridgewater, JPM, MS, Lazard in QR/Trading/Equity Research/Investment Management - I don't really think anyone can expect to just walk right into a job after graduation, with so much competition from so many great schools, having to grind a bit is inevitable - but to say that companies aren't trying to/dont wan't to recruit MFins seems a bit much to me

Exactly. I'd stick with the facts and what career services are saying than what people are more or less randomly claiming on QuantNet.

 

[Michsund]

I'm obviously quite bias, as I am moving to Boston for the MFin in June, but my LinkedIn search, alumni chats and emails, lead to companies like Citadel, GS, P72, Bridgewater, JPM, MS, Lazard in QR/Trading/Equity Research/Investment Management - I don't really think anyone can expect to just walk right into a job after graduation, with so much competition from so many great schools, having to grind a bit is inevitable - but to say that companies aren't trying to/dont wan't to recruit MFins seems a bit much to me

It's mostly exceptional cases for places like citadel, Point 72, and Bridgewater.... If you look at there employment report for international students the lowest salary is 25k and highest is 105k, which is very low. For residents, it's better but they make up only a small portion of the school. That's also considering 21 out of 85 are not even looking for jobs, and of those 11 are postponing their search. On top of that, only about 50% of MFIN students got offers in the US. Also for the companies, many of you mentioned you can see that only JPM has hired there for two years in a row and none else. Only another good company that recruits from there is BlackRock and the top consulting firms. My point is that its the job of a faculty to recruit you and give you there talking points. The reason so much people are into this program is the reason so many people love NYU Tandon, people don't do their research. I wish everyone the best and hope they make educated decisions where they can balance the actual risk and rewards of each program.

 

[FinEsse]

It's mostly exceptional cases for places like citadel, Point 72, and Bridgewater.... If you look at there employment report for international students the lowest salary is 25k and highest is 105k, which is very low. For residents, it's better but they make up only a small portion of the school. That's also considering 21 out of 85 are not even looking for jobs, and of those 11 are postponing their search. On top of that, only about 50% of MFIN students got offers in the US. Also for the companies, many of you mentioned you can see that only JPM has hired there for two years in a row and none else. Only another good company that recruits from there is BlackRock and the top consulting firms. My point is that its the job of a faculty to recruit you and give you there talking points. The reason so much people are into this program is the reason so many people love NYU Tandon, people don't do their research. I wish everyone the best and hope they make educated decisions where they can balance the actual risk and rewards of each program.

According to the most recent MFin brochure, Blackrock, Bain, JPM and many others have hired from the program for 3 years in a row...
Let's try and keep this factual

 

[Michsund]

According to the most recent MFin brochure, Blackrock, Bain, JPM and many others have hired from the program for 3 years in a row...
Let's try and keep this factual

Lmao you don’t know how to read I said those are the only ones that have been recruiting.

 

[Michsund]

According to the most recent MFin brochure, Blackrock, Bain, JPM and many others have hired from the program for 3 years in a row...
Let's try and keep this factual

Lmao I kept it to factual and you have no response.