COMPARE University of California, Los Angeles - Master of Financial Engineering vs NYU Tandon School of Engineering - MS in Financial Engineering

[sac_labh]

Hi All,

I received admits from UCLA and NYU Tandon and am facing a dilemma in choosing between the two.
One of the main factors for me is job placement and getting good financial aid (through scholarships and campus jobs).

Job Perspective:
I am more inclined towards trading based roles, given that it is difficult for a fresher to bag those jobs, I am interested in knowing which university would present these opportunities?
Can someone shed light on this.
Thanks!

 

[Michsund]

You didn’t tell us about the finances

 

[pacific_butterdo]

Can someone help me choose between these two great courses? Money and RoI are significant factors for me so please take that into consideration. I was initially very confident about UCLA but seeing that it is literally across the continent from Wall Street, I am not so sure anymore. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Chilbal]

Only positive for ucla is its brand name.
everything else is a disadvantage
location disadvantage
weak curriculum (No depth at all) might as well call it ms in finance
15 months program
mandatory accounting course? common is ucla even putting effort
dropping quantnet rankings through the years now even rutgers seem better than ucla

No good placements and significant percentage of the graduates are going to data science roles and financial analyst riles rather than quant roles.
LA is expensive ontop of it


NYU is a 2 yr program with a deep curriculum
right beside manhattan
lot of concentrations and electives
good internships placements
NYU brand name is there
last but not least PETER CARR

is nyu perfect? maybe not
but if you are comparing it with UCLA I would pick rutgers over ucla let alone nyu tandon

 

[pacific_butterdo]

Only positive for ucla is its brand name.
everything else is a disadvantage
location disadvantage
weak curriculum (No depth at all) might as well call it ms in finance
15 months program
mandatory accounting course? common is ucla even putting effort
dropping quantnet rankings through the years now even rutgers seem better than ucla

No good placements and significant percentage of the graduates are going to data science roles and financial analyst riles rather than quant roles.
LA is expensive ontop of it


NYU is a 2 yr program with a deep curriculum
right beside manhattan
lot of concentrations and electives
good internships placements
NYU brand name is there
last but not least PETER CARR

is nyu perfect? maybe not
but if you are comparing it with UCLA I would pick rutgers over ucla let alone nyu tandon

Thanks for your inputs.

 

[Alex_NT]

Only positive for ucla is its brand name.
everything else is a disadvantage
location disadvantage
weak curriculum (No depth at all) might as well call it ms in finance
15 months program
mandatory accounting course? common is ucla even putting effort
dropping quantnet rankings through the years now even rutgers seem better than ucla

No good placements and significant percentage of the graduates are going to data science roles and financial analyst riles rather than quant roles.
LA is expensive ontop of it


NYU is a 2 yr program with a deep curriculum
right beside manhattan
lot of concentrations and electives
good internships placements
NYU brand name is there
last but not least PETER CARR

is nyu perfect? maybe not
but if you are comparing it with UCLA I would pick rutgers over ucla let alone nyu tandon

I even think brand name can't be an advantage of UCLA compared to NYU regarding anything related to finance lol.

 

[Karamvir]

Can someone please draw comparison in terms of faculty?

 

[Chilbal]

@Peter Carr can guide you with this
I think he did his phd at ucla and intimately knows the program
He can compare nyu and ucla perfectly
If he doesn't respond on quant net mail him in gmail

 

[ZFL]

To me, it is NYU no-brainer! Congrats.

 

[MariosMGE]

this is way too late , but man i hope u picked NYU

 

[pacific_butterdo]

this is way too late , but man i hope u picked NYU

Seriously on the fence here, although the general consensus seems to be pro-NYU. I'm just a bit worried about the pre-2016 reviews of NYU "Poly" as it was known, and how much can one man (i.e. Dr. Carr) change on his own. UCLA seems like a safe bet that way but not too sure.

 

[MariosMGE]

im gonna give u my opinion.I would consider NYU to be an equal brand name to UCLA if not better , but let's just say equal.NYU is in new york,and that's like the dream job landing place.NY is definitely the financial capital of the world.Now from what i've seen in quannet rankings and im sure u have seen as well,NYU MFE has better job placement , higher salary on avg after graduation,higher employment rate etc.In fact all the top MFE's in quantnet rankings have an employment rate of 90-100% , and UCLA is the only one with .... 69% lol.Plus there was a guy that made a post completely bashing UCLA's curriculum ,recent post , but i can't seem to find it.I'll post it here when i do

 

[MariosMGE]

ah here it is , read the 1st one UCLA Financial Engineering program

 

[pacific_butterdo]

im gonna give u my opinion.I would consider NYU to be an equal brand name to UCLA if not better , but let's just say equal.NYU is in new york,and that's like the dream job landing place.NY is definitely the financial capital of the world.Now from what i've seen in quannet rankings and im sure u have seen as well,NYU MFE has better job placement , higher salary on avg after graduation,higher employment rate etc.In fact all the top MFE's in quantnet rankings have an employment rate of 90-100% , and UCLA is the only one with .... 69% lol.Plus there was a guy that made a post completely bashing UCLA's curriculum ,recent post , but i can't seem to find it.I'll post it here when i do

Thanks for your analysis. Yup I read that review of UCLA and it certainly seems to be lacking in the "Pure Math" and "Computing" department, which, let's be honest, is like 90% of an MFE degree. To be honest, when I applied I had no idea about quantnet and NYU was my backup for UCLA haha, so it's a bit surprising to see the recent comments but I guess the stats don't lie. Hope I make the right decision! Thanks again!

 

[AdityaShah]

Hello guys, I am really confused as to which of the above options I should pursue for my master's. Being an international student, RoI and Job prospects are really important factors for me. Location is another decent factor as well. Please enlighten me.