COMPARE Princeton University - Master in Finance vs Carnegie Mellon University MSCF

[latency]

b

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Is this a real dilemma faced by you? Or just scenario analysis?

 

[MSFHQ]

Do you want to be a quant or do you want a quantified general masters in finance? CMU will teach you programming as well as true quant finance. Princeton will give you a broad finance exposure, but with a higher level mathematics exposure than at a more traditional MSF program. I would probably describe the Princeton MFin as a financial mathematics program vs CMU which is financial engineering/programming.

Know what you want to do and become and then decide on the school.

 

[ashwani]

Back in 2006, I applied to these two programs, got acceptance from CMU though I wanted to do MFin Princeton. I find Princeton's program more valuable.

 

[kpranjal]

How is this still an issue? I thought Princeton MFin confirmations had to be sent by some date in March!
Anyways- Princeton and CMU have two very different programs. I would suggest Princeton in case you want a broad overview of finance (including stuff like accounting and behavorial finance) and CMU for more hardcore quant related coursework.
All in all, I would choose Princeton over CMU. Its more bang for you buck! :D

 

[arden]

placements at princeton are much much better. unless you really really really want to get an in depth education on the computational aspects of quant finance princeton's a better choice

 

[rajanS]

CMU...

 

[roni]

placements at princeton are much much better. unless you really really really want to get an in depth education on the computational aspects of quant finance princeton's a better choice

what do you mean by "much much better" ?
CMU has great placements.

 

[Joy Pathak]

what do you mean by "much much better" ?
CMU has great placements.

From looking at CMU's employment report their 2010 class had around 82% placement only. 50 out of 60 students accepted offers after 3 months after graduation.

 

[mfegrad]

Joy, class graduated dec 2010 was much higher than 82 percent. You might be referring to dec 09 class, and that's heavily recession influenced.

And take everything arden says with a shaker full of salt

 

[roni]

From looking at CMU's employment report their 2010 class had around 82% placement only. 50 out of 60 students accepted offers after 3 months after graduation.

That's 82% with offers a month or so after graduation. Other schools usually report placements of 3 months after graduation.
And, yeas they are not perfect(and I won't be surprised to see better stats from Princeton) but they are pretty good (considering the big classes they have).

 

[MSFHQ]

Placements at Princeton as great because students come in with experience and top qualifications. It isn't entirely the program driving this.

 

[Joy Pathak]

Joy, class graduated dec 2010 was much higher than 82 percent. You might be referring to dec 09 class, and that's heavily recession influenced.

And take everything arden says with a shaker full of salt

It says 2010. Not 2009. It states 82%

I am not saying it was bad. It's good. But it's not the 100% or close to 100% that everyone thinks CMU places.

 

[mfegrad]

sorry, maybe i should have been more clear.

since the class graduates in december, they refer to it as the class of the following year, when graduation is held. see this:

http://tepper.cmu.edu/master-in-computational-finance/your-career/index.aspx

so the 82% number you're referring to, while not matching the 88% number displayed there, is referring to the class that graduated dec 2009, like i said. again, that number was highly influenced by the state of the economy at the time.

 

[ferdowsi]

I have until Sunday to decide to which school I'll be going next year. Princeton is 2 years, vs. 1.5 years for CMU, plus I have a rather substantial scholarship to CMU. Princeton's network, though, seems more impressive. I've been contacted by both junior and senior industry people encouraging me to attend Princeton and letting me know they can answer any questions I have.

When I started the process, I would have been extremely happy with either of these offers, but having to turn one down makes this choice a bit excruciating.

What do you guys think? I'd appreciate any advice, especially from industry recruiting/hiring perspectives.

 

[alain]

when in doubt, you can always use my "flip a coin" technique.

 

[DMD]

The programs are very different. Which curriculum, faculty, location do you like better?


Congratulations, by the way.

 

[toucheternalck]

i am in position to advice you about this but i am seriously intrigued looking at your tracker. you have been rejected by Cornell and Columbia and admitted by CMU and Princeton i mean how does this happen?

 

[gradaplicant]

i am in position to advice you about this but i am seriously intrigued looking at your tracker. you have been rejected by Cornell and Columbia and admitted by CMU and Princeton i mean how does this happen?

Yes, I would think that if you are accepted into CMU and Princeton, that Columbia and Cornell would be a sure thing! I myself got rejected by both CMU and Princeton, but accepted into both Columbia and Cornell.

If I were to say my own personal opinion, I would choose Princeton. The name is just to damn big to reject!

 

[Oxer]

I would bet my odds on the weightage the schools assign to your GRE scores. my vote would be for Princeton although holistically both programs are top notch. IMHO, If cash is an issue go for the scholarship, otherwise go for Princeton.