COMPARE NYU Courant MSFM vs. Columbia MFE

[vvandalay]

I was admitted into both programs and am pretty split on making a decision between the two. I've attended the info sessions for both schools and am planning on meeting people from both programs in the coming weeks. Hoping to take away some wisdom from the crowds with this post ahead of those meetings to help guild me in the decision process.

Background on myself. I've been working on wall street for about 6 years now. Graduated undergrad from Cornell in 2017 with a BSc in Applied Economics & Management / Minor in Mathematics. Taught myself to code, and have been working as a Software Engineer inside a hedge fund. Tried getting a role as a quant trader/researcher on the buy side in either a multi-strat, systematic shop (Two Sigma/DE Shaw/AQR/etc.), or Prop Trading shop (Akuna/Jump/etc.). But, it was difficult to secure interviews, so I decided to get my masters to strengthen my resume.

Given that I am a bit older, have some industry experience, and am targeting buy-side roles imbedded in a systematic investment process, which school do you think is a better fit?

 

[CourantMathFinance]

I'm unable to compare the two programs, but I want to say that we would welcome your presence in our program. You'll be able to provide a valuable real world perspective to your classmates based on your work experience. I would add that, in our experience, a student like you usually does very well in our program, because you have a clearer view of how what you're learning will be used in practice. So I hope you'll come!