Stanford Management Science & Engineering vs Columbia MFE

ting182

hi all,

Sorry I can't type Chinese on this computer. Please excuse me. I am in a dilemma of choosing a master's program and the deadline (april 15) is approaching. Can you guys shed some light on that?

I have received offers from Cal (M.S. IEOR), Stanford (M.S.Management Science & Engineering) and Columbia (M.S. FinancialEngineering) and Cornell (MEng ORIE - Applied OR). I have ruled out Cal and Cornell because I don't like their locations. So now it comes down to a duel between Stanford MS&E and Columbia MSFE. Here is my analysis of the two programs:

Stanford M.S. Management Science & Engineering:
-Pros: Nice (and safer) campus and weather
       Broader and flexible program (so I can tailor my study)
       robably less intense
       Better overall reputation, better engineering school
       I can get an internship this summer (wouldn't be a prestigious one though)
       Housing wouldn't be a problem
-Cons: the program does not have a good reputation
         Large class size -> not exclusive (currently 300 MS students)
         Relatively bad career opportunities (because of location and the lack of department career services)
         Strong competition from other programs (Financial Mathematics, Statistics....)
         rogram title is too general that most people (employers) don't understand

Columbia M.S. Financial Engineering:
-Pros: Relatively reputable program
        Great career opportunities (so close to Wall Street)
        Relatively small class size
        Most valued master's program in the IEOR dept
        Program title is easy to recognize
        The school seems to have a stronger presence in finance
-Cons: Housing maybe a problem
        Program not so flexible (very technical)
        Too many similar programs @ Columbia (MAFN, MSOR, MS&E...)
        No internship this summer since the program starts in July
        More programming, which I am not good at

To summarize, I like Stanford's name and flexibility, and thepossibility of getting an internship this summer. Columbia's curriculumseems more solid and more relevant to finance.
I haven't figured out what I want to do after I graduate. I aminterested in a variety of jobs, such as structuring, trading, IBD, consulting. Iam not sure if a Financial Engineering degree would limit my careerchoice. I hope youguys can give me some advices. Thank you.

stocalculus

恭喜LZ啊，第一帖就报了这么多好的AD！
如果确定想做structuring之类的工作的话一定要去Columbia，FE可是Columbia的旗舰项目！（虽然MS&E也能cover financial mathematics的所有核心课，但这么选课，你所说的less intense恐怕就不成立了。）要是想做IBD、consulting的话，Stanford的项目倒是不错的选择。
MS&E 300人是在读学生，是两届加起来的，而且finance这个方向人更少，竞争相比Columbia会好些。（financial math每年就10几个人，stat的二三十个人也不会全部找金融类工作的）但别忘了，NYC机会也更多啊！（你想在亚太工作那无所谓。）

zasd

vote for columbia

zjuer2007

vote for columbia

-- by 会员 zasd (2011/4/13 18:51:56)

抓住你了

infu

structuring and trading : columbia. the french guy from goldman that shorted sub-prime structures had a ME&E from stanford though.

IBD & consulting: Stanford for sure

Location:
NY: Columbia mfe > stanford ms&e, small gap. Dont underestimate Stanford, it's reputation in US is top notch, probably on pair with HYP and little bit better than MIT. Internationally, you have harvard, mit, stanford at the top, with mit coming bit higher than Stanford.

World: Stanford ms&e >>>>>>> Columbia MFE, huge gap

dayeye2006

求背景！如果是做OR，建议Stanford，因为300的总数是所有MS&E的总数，每个小方向下面就没有这么多人了。

ting182

thank you all for the input. I really appreciate that.
infu: Stanford really has a better reputation outside the states? Honestly I don't have a strong desire to work in the states. If I decide to come back to Asia, would Stanford be a better choice (for financial jobs)?
Also, I heard IBD and consulting firms don't hire grad students, is that true? how about S&T?

p.s. here is my background:
GPA 3.89 in a US top 50 college, majoring in IEOR
GRE q800/v370/awa 4.5
internships with big 4 and asset management

lindal0401

vote for columbia~~

ChinaHawk

Niubility.....super overwhelming Chinese cow Yinyu Ye is in this Stanford program....
Btw LZ's GRE means that these two programs regard verbal as totally nothing......?

ChinaHawk

../