COMPARE Stevens Institute of Technology MFE vs Stony Brook University MQF

[sergibarz]

Hello you all,

I am a Spanish 25 year-old guy with 3 years of work experience and currently working as a Private Equity Analyst. I graduated from a top European Business School and I am a true passionate about financial markets. In order to make my Math background apropriate for MFE programs, I recently completed Linear Algebra, Multivariate Calculus I and II and Probability Calculus courses from a Bachelor of Mathematics. My GRE scores: 163Q, 152V, 4 AWA. TOEFL: 106 (March 2017) and Duolingo test (March 2021): 130 (~108 TOEFL).

I will be honest, my dream is living in the US and working as a Trader and moving to a quant hedge fund after some years in a sell-side trading desk. This is why I have decided to apply to some programs in the US as it is basically the only chance I have to reach my dream.

Given my non-strong quant background, my non-competitive GRE scores and the fact that I do not come from a wealthy family, which makes it impossible for me to ask for a 50k student loan, I decided to apply to these two programs because, being realistic, were the ones I could get into and that I could afford.

At this point, I've been admitted into both and SIT has granted me with a $16k scholarship, which means I will go for it rather than SBU. I've looked at LinkedIn and I haven't found many information regarding graduates' placement, which really concerns me as no information does definitely mean something. Employment is the thing that concerns me the most because this represent an all-in bet for me; I simply cannot afford to be wrong and choose a program that does not help me to land a job at graduation.

What are your thoughts on this?
Do you have any kind of information that I should be taking into account that I might be missing at this point?
Does any of you have references about SIT's program?
Do you guys think I have been too conservative when applying to programs and that I should have looked at better-ranked programs?

Please share your opinion, this is very important for me and I appreciate all insights provided.

Many thanks in advance,

Sergi

 

[lolalin]

I don't have any opinion on SIT or SBU since I neither applied to them nor looked into them. But if you haven't already, here are some things that personally helped me decide on what programs to join.

1. Reach out to alumni on linkedin, doesn't matter what their current jobs are. In my experience, people are generally very happy to answer any questions you have. Ask them about career services, internship/FT placements, how applicable the curriculum is to the job market, how are the professors etc. Also notice their background.

2. Reach out to the program itself. Ask them: How does the program differentiate itself from others, ask them for deep information about placement statistics. Should be a red flag if they don't have much, or is unwilling to give you the info. Keep in mind that it is their best interest to provide you data like how CMU and Baruch does it. What kind of companies do they go into, and what kind of jobs do they do. Average salaries. When and where do they get a job. Cross reference with alumni info to see if the info is true.

3. Reputation of the school. Keep in mind that wall street, or at the very least, banks, cares about reputation, and hence why targets vs non-targets is a thing. This is why they hire bros from Princeton, Harvard, yadda yadda. Keep in mind that it very much is possible to land jobs at bulge brackets w/o going to a target, but getting the foot in the door would be much harder at a non-target.

4. Just something to consider, while a program like Berkeley might cost a lot of money, but the average salaries might be 30k more. So it really pays itself off in one or two more years. This links back to average salaries and placement statistics.

 

[sergibarz]

I don't have any opinion on SIT or SBU since I neither applied to them nor looked into them. But if you haven't already, here are some things that personally helped me decide on what programs to join.

1. Reach out to alumni on linkedin, doesn't matter what their current jobs are. In my experience, people are generally very happy to answer any questions you have. Ask them about career services, internship/FT placements, how applicable the curriculum is to the job market, how are the professors etc. Also notice their background.

2. Reach out to the program itself. Ask them: How does the program differentiate itself from others, ask them for deep information about placement statistics. Should be a red flag if they don't have much, or is unwilling to give you the info. Keep in mind that it is their best interest to provide you data like how CMU and Baruch does it. What kind of companies do they go into, and what kind of jobs do they do. Average salaries. When and where do they get a job. Cross reference with alumni info to see if the info is true.

3. Reputation of the school. Keep in mind that wall street, or at the very least, banks, cares about reputation, and hence why targets vs non-targets is a thing. This is why they hire bros from Princeton, Harvard, yadda yadda. Keep in mind that it very much is possible to land jobs at bulge brackets w/o going to a target, but getting the foot in the door would be much harder at a non-target.

4. Just something to consider, while a program like Berkeley might cost a lot of money, but the average salaries might be 30k more. So it really pays itself off in one or two more years. This links back to average salaries and placement statistics.

Hello Lolain,

I am so grateful for your wise comments and insights. Let me please reply below:

1. That's exactly what I am trying to do but I've found it quite difficult to track them and what they did after graduating. I will definitely give it another try.
2. Absolutely, I do that with every single program I apply to. It is a must.
3. That's something that concerns me. I've been used to have access to the best jobs as I did my Bachelor's Degree in a target school in Europe and Stevens is definitely a non-target school, I know. The good thing is that I already have 3 years of work experience, I've had interviews with all those BBs and I know how to deal with them.
4. I do totally agree with that. Trust me, if it only depended on me, I would not care at all about the cost of the program as long this extra cost is translated into higher salaries at graduation. The issue here is that both salaries and tuition costs in the US are WAY higher than in Europe, hence most of the programs in the US are too costly for me. Yes, I can ask for a student loan, and that's actually what I am going to do. The thing is that I need someone to cosign the loan, which is gonna be my dad, and unfortunately I do not come from a wealthy family and trust me cosigning a $50k loan for him is literally impossible. That's why I simply say I cannot afford certain programs, not because I am afraid to ask for a huge loan -as I am 100% convinced it pays off when you find a job- but because my cosigner cannot take that risk.

Looking forward to seeing your comments on this. Thanks!

 

[lolalin]

1. I mean, start by searching on linkedin Stevens MFE, Stevens Masters in Financial Engineering, Stony Brook MSQF, or some combination of these. Should yield you somewhere to start.

3. That's great!

4. I know what your goals are, but have you considered applying to European schools? Get a job first in Europe and internal transfer to US? They are considerably cheaper. Plus, from what I've seen, top programs like Imperial, Oxford, ETH-Z have really good placements and salaries.

Edit: Re:4. I would also definitely reach out to the programs and see what alternative financing options they have. I'm sure they'll help you out.

Best of luck!

 

[Nelkshake]

Hi all! Congratulations on all those who got admits! To those having a rougher time, I am right there with you.

I've been accepted to Stony Brook AMS's quant finance masters and to Stevens' MFE. Looking for some advice from the crowd and specifically from graduates of these programs on the merits of each.

My understanding as of now is that Stony Brook focuses much more heavily on mathematics, and is implementation-agnostic. On the other hand, Stevens is more focused on industry readiness, which is valuable but I worry that they wont focus enough on fundamental understanding of the material. I would like to come out of my masters with a complete and total understanding of the underlying theory as well as some experience applying it, and I would like to have the skills and confidence to apply what I've learned outside of just succeeding in interviews. I am also potentially interested in a Ph.D and both of these programs have Ph.D's as well.

I also reached out to Professor Polak at Stony Brook since he has taught at both programs, and I'm hoping he can provide some insight.

Also, specific to Stony Brook, I know some of the professors teaching is not so highly rated. Perhaps @jarryds and @OldFinaceMan could comment on these.

I am also waitlisted at NYU, where I would love to go, but I know the chances are slim.

Thank you!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Also, specific to Stony Brook, I know some of the professors teaching is not so highly rated. Perhaps @jarryds and @OldFinaceMan could comment on these.

Good to see that you did your homework and found the graduates from the Stony Brook program. They shared lot of insights over the years here.
My impression with SB is that they can be a good pipeline into PhD programs. It's not something I would necessarily go to if my goal is do a terminal degree and need dedicated career services to get a quant job. Their placement stats are underwhelming.
If you are a domestic student, you may have an easier time getting a job.

 

[Nelkshake]

Hey @Andy Nguyen ! Thanks for responding, and yes I am a domestic student. Do you think that's an advantage in the job market at the moment? I'm sort of unsure about doing just a masters vs continuing into a Ph.D program. I know Ph.D's aren't required at most quant research positions, but some of the top ones do require it and the research opportunity does seem valid. What is your view of Stevens as opposed to SBU?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

US students will get a strong preference assuming that you have a decent profile. Not only it's good for placement (no need for visa sponsorship), it's good for PR and recruitment.
PhD consideration is not to be taken lightly. It requires serious, serious time commitment with no guarantee of outcome unless you are top of the class. This is why many people choose a quick MS to make money instead of spending a long 5 years in mental isolation.
Full disclosure: I quit my Math PhD after the second year to do MFE and no regret.
If you want my honest opinion, I would spend another year to strengthen my profile and apply again to programs with better job outcome.
This may not be what you want to hear but it is not the time to join an unranked program or even #18 in this job market.

 

[jarryds]

Hi all! Congratulations on all those who got admits! To those having a rougher time, I am right there with you.

I've been accepted to Stony Brook AMS's quant finance masters and to Stevens' MFE. Looking for some advice from the crowd and specifically from graduates of these programs on the merits of each.

My understanding as of now is that Stony Brook focuses much more heavily on mathematics, and is implementation-agnostic. On the other hand, Stevens is more focused on industry readiness, which is valuable but I worry that they wont focus enough on fundamental understanding of the material. I would like to come out of my masters with a complete and total understanding of the underlying theory as well as some experience applying it, and I would like to have the skills and confidence to apply what I've learned outside of just succeeding in interviews. I am also potentially interested in a Ph.D and both of these programs have Ph.D's as well.

I also reached out to Professor Polak at Stony Brook since he has taught at both programs, and I'm hoping he can provide some insight.

Also, specific to Stony Brook, I know some of the professors teaching is not so highly rated. Perhaps @jarryds and @OldFinaceMan could comment on these.

I am also waitlisted at NYU, where I would love to go, but I know the chances are slim.

Thank you!

I imagine both of these programs are pretty similar. PhDs are always preferred, but getting a job isn't strong enough motivation to make it through a PhD program. I wouldn't be too concerned about program rankings - accept your best offer and start interview prepping/networking right away. If you are a US citizen you should be looking to intern and study at the same time. Stevens may be a little better placed if an internship requires you to be in office. I interned remotely during the semesters so it wasn't too much of a concern for me. Long Island has a good train, but it is not a quick commute...