Masters from Purdue in Computational Finance

I went to CMU for undergrad and was wondering whether this program will do be any good in terms of getting jobs at trading companies and investment banks:

http://www.stat.purdue.edu/academic_programs/grad…

Would it be better if I get work experience first, or would this program be a better investment.

8 Comments
 

I would ideally like to work in either Chicago, New York, or somewhere in CA . But since Carnegie Mellon is more prestigious than Purdue, am I shooting myself in the foot by getting a masters at Purdue rather than getting a job?

 

Yes, you ARE shooting yourself in the foot. Better to do it from Berkeley or CMU. Purdue is free. They give TA to all the students so tuition is $0 and you get a monthly stipend. But you will have to work in Chicago.

 

Are you sure Purdue is free? I have to decide by April 15th. Does the name really matter? I am also applying to University of Michigan's applied masters program in statistics but I am worried that the program will not have a formal specialization in computational finance.

 

Yes, I am absolutely certain that Purdue offers TA to ALL admitted students so that they pay $0 tuition and get a monthly stipend. You should contact the department directly to confirm this. Purdue is a good school, but you will have a tough time finding a job in NYC. It will be good for Chicago. For real NYC BB jobs you need UC-Berkeley or CMU degree.

 

I attend Carnegie Mellon for my undergraduate career. Would it be better to not attend Purdue, and use my CMU undergraduate pedigree to find an entry level position at a BB in NYC? Should I just find a job instead of going to Purdue(assuming I don't get into Columbia)?

 

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