Is Columbia MSFE Program worth 100k in this economy?

Hi, I became interested in finance not too long ago and applied for different financial engineering programs at top schools. Fortunately, I got into one of the most prestigious one, Columbia. I am very thankful about the result, but now I have to answer the question 'is it really worth all the money?' It will cost me ~100k to finish this education to land a quant or risk management job. I realize that current market is not looking bright due to reduction of quantitative easing, and wanted to ask people in the industry if it's a good idea to join financial industry at this time. How risky do you think spending 100k for a MSFE program at is given current economy? I would sincerely appreciate some insight. Thank you.

 
JohnBrohan:

a degree which is:

1. from a target school with OCR
2. an advanced degree
3. heavily quantitative
4. in the finance capital of the world

short answer: YES.

Columbia isn't in London! :/

 

Columbia's brand has become a bit diluted with a lot of part time graduate programs, but it's a great name in NYC, and its MFE program is top notch.

If you have an offer for something like MS Strats, I'd take it and try to get a two year deferral from Columbia, and use the MFE to transition to the buyside. If none of your offers put you in a role with regular FO interaction, and you're not going into tech, Columbia has positive NPV.

 
Best Response
IlliniProgrammer:

Columbia's brand has become a bit diluted with a lot of part time graduate programs, but it's a great name in NYC, and its MFE program is top notch.

With all due respect, this statement is simply not true. What part-time graduate programs are you referring to because Columbia doesn't have a "part-time" MBA? It does, of course, offer Executive MBA programs (which are inherently part-time) but Executive MBA programs do not "dilute" the reputation of a business school. Wharton obviously also features a prominent Executive MBA program and no one would concede that the existence of the Exec MBA has tarnished Wharton's reputation.

Columbia does, of course, offer the "J-term" MBA but it is analogous to the full-time MBA program, with just a different start date.

Columbia's brand name (especially in NYC / Northeast where presumably you will be recruiting) is strong enough to get you an interview at any firm (provided that you have an appropriate work background; I currently am an Associate in IBD at a BB and Columbia has equal pull with HYPS). It definitely is in the same conversation as Wharton / Booth. So don't worry about brand / equity value - Columbia possesses it with abundance.

As to your question whether an MSFE is "worth" $100,000, only you can answer that. I can't speak to the MSFE recruiting process (I am a recent admit of Columbia's MBA program so don't have as great visibility into the MSFE track), but recent graduates are definitely getting great jobs in finance (PIMCO, GS, Evercore, appaloosa management all hired MBA kids I met during CBS admitted students weekend). So don't believe someone when they tell you that recruiting in finance is dead. There is also obviously the intangible benefit of having a degree from a school that you wish to associate yourself with for the rest of your life (I went to Haas undergrad but still wanted an East Coast school on my resume).

My best advice would be to talk to current Columbia MSFE students and see what kind of placements they have locked up.

PS: it looks like the MSFE has a 2% acceptance rate so awesome job! http://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/programs-admissions/master-of-science/fina…

 

Thanks to everyone who gave feedback so far. I really appreciate all of your responses. I have talked to current MSFE grad students and they mentioned that job outlook has been the brightest ever since the financial crisis in 2008.

misterbearstin:

PS: it looks like the MSFE has a 2% acceptance rate so awesome job! http://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/programs-admissions/master-of-science/financial-economics/admissions/candidate-profile

Thanks for your comment, but unfortunately, that is not the same program I was admitted to. I believe the acceptance rate for Financial Engineering Program is around 10%.

 

Idunno. My recollection is that there are a lot of IT folks doing part time Mathematics of Finance degrees from Columbia. There's also the MSOR program which I've heard has the same classes as MSFE which makes things very confusing if you have an MSOR candidate with a better GPA than an MSFE candidate.

So Columbia has two part time graduate programs that pertain to finance (EMBA, Mathematics of Finance) that take a whole lot of people. The MSFE is a selective program, but I think a lot of the marketing benefit to that selectivity is diluted by the smorgasbord of other programs.

I still think it's worth it- for either an MSFE or MSOR if OP doesn't have a FO offer. If OP has an FO offer, he should defer, work in banking for two years and get an opportunity for buyside quant recruiting. A year in, OP can probably also line up some FO references for MIT, Princeton, CMU, Stanford, and maybe some MBA programs. Then he can negotiate for financial aid and see if anyone can give him a scholarship.

That's my advice for this situation. And congrats to OP.

 

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