MFE Programs -who needs 'em?

Hello, I've been working in finance for a year now and am exploring new careers. I am interested in financial engineering, and have a master's degree in finance. I would consider going to an MFE but would rather not due to the expense. That being said, I have two questions:

1: since I already know some stats and stats related programs, could I get into financial engineering by self-teaching the rest and networking?

2: what online classes should I take to learn more about this career option?

3: what are the most highly thought of MFE Programs in the US?

Thanks!

5 Comments
 

What is your undergrad in? Where is your finance degree from? What math heavy courses have you taken? How old are you? What do you do now?

If you don't have a STEM background, an mfin prob isn't enough to get in. An MFE on top of an Mfin would look pretty weird to admissions and recruiters.

 

My undergraduate was in econ, and the finance degree was from a non-target. I took econometrics, calc, and some programming courses (Python, SQL, etc). I'm in my mid 20s, and work at a ratings agency.

The finance degree was more focused on portfolio management than financial engineering though there was a bit of that (we learned Stata and used MatLab a bit). What do you think is the right path?

"There's nothing you can do if you're too scared to try." - Nickel Creek
 
Best Response

Depends on why you want to go into financial engineering.

If you love math and programming and finance and want to spend the next 10+ years in crunching numbers and solving problems, and can be a top of class student in a decent program try going for an mfe. Quantnet would be the place to checkout. Pretty much anything in the top 20 of their rankings will be okay, but you may want to go for a more "prestigious" program if you feel your current background will hold you back.

If the above doesn't apply, I would avoid it an MFE. The overall cost will be really high (probably looking at $150k+ factoring in lost earnings), the risk will be high (if you're not top 25%, you'll probably end up in risk management), and the marginal earnings will be low (you already have a masters).

If you are just looking to make more money, you could consider hopping over to a credit fund. The CFA could be helpful to break in, especially from an $ invested perspective.

If you're bored, I can't really help, but I'd say quitting to spend 50k on tuition to end up in a similar office in front of a computer (with more numbers on the screen) probably won't be leagues better. Maybe something like commercial banking (where your xp will be recognized) would be a change of pace?

Just my $0.02

 

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"There's nothing you can do if you're too scared to try." - Nickel Creek

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