Hi,
I am a current college student interested in Columbia's Combined Plan program to get a B.S. in Operations Research. I also know that the major has a concentration in Financial Engineering. Is it very difficult to get into the Financial Engineering concentration? How much GPA do I need to be a good candidate for the concentration? What factors other than GPA are important?
Thank you very much.
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How'd I get a shout-out on this lol. I have a vague familiarity with Columbia's MSOR and MSFE programs, but not undergrad.
Columbia has an awesome financial engineering program, however. Financial engineers from Columbia know their shit, especially when it comes to pricing exotics and doing stochal. I have mad respect for Columbians when it comes to stochal and exotics pricing. When it comes to stochal, they often kick Princeton butt, at least at the graduate ORFE level.
I don't know the details on this or have a good answer, but Andy Nguyen is an expert on all things quant. It is also likely that there's a few Columbians on this site who can help answer your question:
http://www.quantnet.com
I hope you apply to Princeton as well, and you can't mention Princeton without CMU (or Columbia) in the same breath when it comes to quant finance. I also do not want to exclude Wharton, Stanford, Berkeley, UChicago, and NYU.
One last thing for a potential undergrad (because these are four defining years of your life.) Columbia stands on its own merit as a best-of-the-best school, but on a tough day, a misguided part of it wishes it could be Harvard, rather than the gritty, badass Columbia that it is. And that (unfairly) causes it some angst. If you choose Columbia, make sure you have the strength of character to know who you are, and why you want to be there.
"At least at the graduate ORFE level", Again, praising Princeton.
Hi Interlude thanks for showing up in this thread- would you like to weigh in on Columbia or US undergrad ORFE programs? I got dragged into this thread because I studied ORFE only though I did an MS and am unfamiliar with undergrad programs. Let's help solve OP's question.
Are you currently studying in Columbia? Shall answer the rest depending on that
No I am not
Then why the double BS? Also, MSFE (smaller class size, higher requirements) MSOR (larger class size, lower requirements, wider range of electives, can take MSFE electives with the exception of few)
Columbia Univesity IE&OR Program (Originally Posted: 08/17/2007)
Can someone tell me how pretigous is the Financial Engineering program there? Do recruiters for ibanking look at that part of Columbia's program or do they look at the more traditional Economics program? Help me out? tell me what you guys think.
It's not prestigious in the same way as going to Wharton or something in that people won't routinely discuss its superiority on internet forums...but it's a very solid program, I believe the MSFE is usually one of the top programs in the country. As a Columbian I can tell you first hand that banks and the like definitely do recruit from the IEOR department. Are you specifically talking about the MSFE or the undergrad OR:FE program? The undergrad program can't really be compared to much else since undergrad FE programs are still few and far in between but the program is also solid (shares some of the classes with the grad program) and again banks do pay it attention. Though really, if you're pursuing either of these degrees, you're probably looking for something a bit more mathematical/technical than IBD (at least the students in the programs seem to fit that billing) If you want to know more specifically about any of it, PM me
Yes, to clarify that, I was talking about the undergrad OR:FE program.
It's not going to separate you from the rest of the Columbia kids, as it's not a very selective program (and getting less selective year after year since the trial stages are pretty much over). Recruiters will look at both, since IEOR guys will be from SEAS and Econ, Econ-OR, Econ-Math guys will come from the College.
Hows recruiting for Columbia in this market? (Originally Posted: 04/29/2009)
I am currently a sophomore at Carleton. There is a program in my school with Columbia SEAS (operations research, financial engineering) to get dual degrees (both undergrad) in 5 (3-2 combined program) years, and there have been some juniors doing that. Ultimately I would like to work for a top IB/consulting firm, so the reputation of Columbia seems a great plus. The draw back is that I am pretty confident to graduate from my school in 3 years with 3.9+ GPA, so I could spend the extra two years to get a master degree (in IE/OR/FE) from a top school too.
Which seems to be a better approach to break into the industry? Brand name undergrad to get in the door then move on to top MBA or a good but non-target school->top school master in financial engin/math->then get into the industry?
Does undergrad brand name really matter that much in consulting/ banking in the long run?
Thank you for any input. (sorry I originally posted in consulting forum but it seems that this IB forum is much more active)
Have you looked into working at Piper or Houlihan in the twin cities? They are not top BBs, but are still very good firms that should be receptive to a Carelton student with your stats.
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