Rankings: Quantiative / Financial Engineering Master

The rankings of the Financial Engineering / Quantitative Master degrees below come from the famous Global Derivatives Website.
According to Kevin, the manager of the website, it will be soon updated, before 2008 :).

Nevertheless, you can still get a pretty good idea of which programs are the best ones. Of course, each one is different ( more or less mathematical, theorical, practical ...).

We come from a lot of graduate schools and we dont want to debate over and over which program is the best among all.
Let's say the one you choose, the one you are admitted in, the one you are an alumnus from ... let's say this is the best Master for you!

Financial Engineering (also known as Computational finance) is a cross-disciplinary field which relies on mathematical finance, numerical methods and computer simulations to make trading, hedging and investment decisions, as well as facilitating the risk management of those decisions. Utilizing various methods, practitioners of computational finance aim to precisely determine the financial risk that certain financial instruments create.via

From now on, let's assume you know what's an MFE :).
Actually, if you are browsing this blog, that's (theorically) because your are from goMFE >> Social Network for MFE Students!! :p

Columbia MSFE - Description of the Graduate Program

The Master of Science in Financial Engineering, at Columbia (New-York, USA) is one of the TOP Programs worldwide.

With an extensive elective list, candidates have diverse choices to make. Columbia's location in New York also give it additional points, being close some one of the financial hubs of the world.

Here are some general statistics about the graduate program at Columbia:

Acceptance Rate: 27%
Annual Intake: 300
Application Deadline: Dec 15
Average Age at Entry:
Average Years of Work Experience of Class:
Dissertation/Thesis:
Duration of Program:
Entry Requirements:
--- Minimum GPA 3.0 in the applicant's undergraduate program (A high GPA, as close to 4.0 as possible is more realistic)
--- Bachelor's degree in Mathematics, Engineering, Computer Science, Economics, Statistics, Physics, or another technical discipline.
--- The prerequisites include completed courses in ordinary differential equations, linear algebra, and in a programming language such as C or Java.
--- No minimum GRE / TOEFL scores
GMAT: Not Accepted
GPA: Average - 770 Quantitative, 720 Analytical
TOEFL: Average - 539
International Students: 60%
Male-Female:
Placement Rate:
Required Courses for Completion: 36 credits (13 courses)
Student-Teacher Ratio:
Tuition (2007-08): $1,122 per credit ($40,392 for entire program)
via

Here is the summary of extensive discussions from Global Derivatives Forums:

Positives

• NYC placement
• Good for those in the field prior to the program and want to get back quickly
• Wide range of electives
• Practical program
• Excellent reputation in NYC
• Strong alumni network
• Brand name in the US
• 1 yr program, June–June session

Other Features

• Program fee ~ $43,000 (no internship + Higher NYC living costs)
• Placement scene competitive (MBA, MAFN, MSFE)
• Biggest class size (80)

Best suited for:
• Freshers with excellent academic background/Professionals with 1-2 years of experience

Carnegie Mellon MSCF - Description of the Graduate Program

The Master of Science in Computational Finance, at Carnegie Mellon (New-York / Pittsburgh, USA) is one of the TOP Programs worldwide.

“Although this is a high-level quantitative program, there is still a reasonable dose of practical financial study found within the course”

Here are some general statistics about the graduate program at CMU:

Acceptance Rate: 6%
Annual Intake: 35
Application Deadline: April for fall entry
Average Age at Entry: 28
Average Compensation Upon Graduation: $90,118 Annually
Average Years of Work Experience of Class: 6
Dissertation/Thesis: No
Duration of Program: 17 Months (including internship), 32 Months (Part Time)
Entry Requirements:
--- Basic ability to program in a general purpose programming language such as C and at least two full semesters of study in differential and integral calculus, the caliber of which is required of engineering, math or science majors (most of our students have taken engineering level math courses beyond calculus, such as differential equations and linear algebra). Familiarity with C++ will be of considerable benefit
GMAT: Average - 688: 34 Verbal, 49 Quant, 4.6 AWA
GPA: Average -
GRE: Average - 576 Verbal, 784 Quant, 718 Analytical
TOEFL: Average - 633
International Students: 50%
Male-Female: 86:14
Placement Rate:
Required Courses for Completion: 25 (150 units)
Student-Teacher Ratio:
Tuition (07-08): $22,625/semester (Full Time), $2,970 per course (Part Time)
via

Here is the summary of extensive discussions from Global Derivatives Forums:

Positives

• Excellent placement services, Housed in the Tepper Business school
• Business perspective
• Computational finance focused
• Tailored FE program is helpful to students with non-finance background
• Excellent reputation in NYC
• Manageable class size split (35+35)
• Strong alumni network
• Special Networking opportunities for NYC campus
• Financial aid/waiver available for some

Other Features

• Program fee ~ $63,000 (partial internship offset + aid/schol for some)
• 1.5 year program, September to January session
• Limited access to professors (NYC Campus)

Best suited for:
• Mid-career professionals with some prior work exprerience (relevant preferred)/Fresh graduates with steller academic records

Nyu MSMF - Description of the Graduate Program

The Master of Science in Mathematics in Finance, at Nyu (New-York, USA) is one of the TOP Programs worldwide.

“The Courant Master of Science Program in Mathematics in Finance is a professional master’s program. It has a strong pragmatic component, including practically oriented courses and student mentoring by finance professionals.”

Here are some general statistics about the graduate program at NYU:

Acceptance Rate:
Annual Intake: 30 (Fall intake)
Application Deadline: March 1 (Target deadline)
Average Age at Entry: 26
Average Years of Work Experience of Class:
Dissertation/Thesis: yes
Duration of Program: 3 terms (1 Year)
Entry Requirements:
* Multivariate calculus (through partial derivatives, multiple integrals, and Taylor series)
* Linear algebra (systems of equations, determinants, factorization, range and null space, and eigenvalues of symmetric matrices)
* Calculus-based course in probability (independence, conditional probabilities, Gaussian distribution, law of large numbers, central limit theorem).
--- GMAT - not accepted
GMAT: Average - Not Accepted
GPA: Average -
International Students: 50%
Male-Female:
Placement Rate:
Required Courses for Completion: 36 semester hours
Student-Teacher Ratio:
Tuition (2006-07): $3,240 per course.
Via

Here is the summary of extensive discussions from Global Derivatives Forums:

Positives

• NYC placement (100% record)
• Excellent reputation of the Mathematics dept (Great names)
• Structured curriculum as opposed to wide range of electives
• Mathematics focused yet practical
• Excellent reputation in NYC
• Small class size (30)

Other Features

• Program fee ~ $45,000 (internship offset but Higher NYC living costs)
• Lesser university brand name worldwide than some of the ivy’s
• 1.5 year program, September to January session

Best suited for:
• Freshers with excellent mathematical background/Professionals with 1-2 years of experience

Columbia MAFN - Description of the Graduate Program

The Master of Art in Mathematical finance, at Columbia (New-York, USA) is one of the TOP Programs worldwide.



Here are some general statistics about the graduate program at Columbia.

Acceptance Rate:
Annual Intake: 30 Full-Time, 20 Part-Time
Application Deadline: May 31
Average Age at Entry:
Average Years of Work Experience of Class:
Dissertation/Thesis:
Duration of Program:
Entry Requirements:
--- Applicants should have a very good working knowledge of
* Calculus (three semesters, at least)
* Linear Algebra (at the level of (Math description) V2010 "Linear Algebra")
* Elementary Differential Equations (at the level of (Math description) V3027 "Ordinary Differential Equations" and Math V3028 "Partial Differential Equations")
* Probability (at the level of (Stat-IEOR description) W4105 "Probability")
* Statistics (at the level of (Statistics description) W4107 "Statistical Inference")
* and, if possible, an exposure to advanced calculus and mathematical analysis at the level of (Math description) W4061-4062 "Principles of Mathematical Analysis".
--- Applicants should also have facility with an operating system, such as UNIX, and with a programming language such as C, C++, Java, Visual Basic or Matlab.
--- Students with no previous exposure to Probability or Statistics will be required to take the course (Stat-IEOR description) W4150 "Introduction to Probability and Statistics" during the summer session. Remedial courses on "Linear Algebra", "Ordinary Differential Equations", "Partial Differential Equations", "Introduction to Computer programming", and "Principles of Mathematical Analysis", are also offered during the summer.
GMAT:
GPA: Average -
TOEFL: Average -
International Students:
Male-Female:
Placement Rate:
Required Courses for Completion: 10 courses
Student-Teacher Ratio:
Tuition (2006-07): $32,392
via

Berkeley MFE - Description of the Graduate Program

The Master's in Financial Engineering at Berkeley (California, USA) is one of the TOP Programs worldwide.

“The diversity and depth of topics covered in the program make the MFE program stand out relative to its peer programs as it readily maintains a sound financial markets focus as well as providing insights into mathematical dynamics behind the financial topics.”

Here are some general statistics about the graduate program at Berkeley.

Acceptance Rate: 25%
Annual Intake: 60
Application Deadline: October 1, 2007 (Spring Entry)
Average Age at Entry: 29
Average Years of Work Experience of Class: 3.78
Average Annual Compensation upon graduation: 2002-03: $112,470, 2003-04: $122,986, 2005-06: $152,313
Dissertation/Thesis: Applied finance project
Duration of Program: 12 months + 30 hour "Mathematics for Financial Engineers" refresher course and "Basics of C/C++ Programming for Financial Engineers" course.
Entry Requirements:
--- Minimum GPA of 3.00
--- 4 Year Bachelor's degree
--- TOEFL: 230/300;570/677
--- Essays demonstrating a passion for finance and potential for leadership
--- Calculus, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Numerical Analysis, Advanced Statistics & Probability
--- Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Basic Finance
--- Basic C/C++
GMAT: Average - Quant (49 = 91%), Verbal (36 = 75%), Analytical (4.5 = 59%)
GPA: Average - 3.65
GRE: Average - Quant (781 = 91%), Verbal (578 = 72%), Analytical (641 = 71%)
International Students: 61%
Male/Female: 85%/15%
Placement Rate: 2003 - 70% within 3 months, 85% within 6 months. 2004 - 91% within 3 months. 95% internship placement, 2006 - 97% within 3 months
Required Courses for Completion: 28 units
Student-Teacher Ratio: 2.4:1
Tuition (07-08): expected $49,500
via

Here is the summary of extensive discussions from Global Derivatives Forums:

Positives

• Housed in the Haas Business school which promotes the MFE program
• More business oriented perspective
• Balanced program instead of being math or computation focused
• Tailored FE program is helpful to students with non-finance background
• Excellent reputation in NYC
• Strong alumni network and the UCB brand name
• 1 year program, march-march session
• program fee ~ $47,000 (partial internship offset + lower living costs)

Other Features

• Location – west coast (Away from the financial hub of NYC)
• Bigger class size (60) – Director plays an important role in placements to offset locational disadvantage
• Sponsoring this course is made easier by Haas: loans are available to even international students without any credit requirements.

Best suited for:
• Mid-career professionals with some prior work exprerience (relevant preferred)/PhDs/Fresh graduates with steller academic records and some exposure to the industry. The average entrant age is 29 years. via

Current Masters & Universities represented in our Students Network: goMFE.com

The Masters in Financial Engineering currently active in goMFE are:

• Berkeley, Master in Financial Engineering (MFE)
• Nyu, Master in Mathematics in Finance
• Columbia, Master in Mathematical Finance (MAFN)
• Columbia, Master in Financial engineering (MSFE)
• Carnegie Mellon, Master in Computationnal Finance (MSCF)

This list will be updated ...

FAQ: How to get started at goMFE ?

Hey, Thanks for joining the goMFE network. You will soon understand how valuable it is to be a part of it ! Complete FAQ with screenshots: http://www.gomfe.me.com/_faq/index.html HOW TO GET STARTED ? >> CHANGE YOUR PROFILE LAYOUT [ please do it! ] Step 1: Go here http://www.gomfe.me.com/_skins/index.php?ntw=1&order=&page=1 Step 2: Click on "Davido's skin 1.0" Step 3: Click "use this skin" Why ? Because: Better look like facebook than myspace … >> HOME This page gathers the latest articles and a “news feed” for your personal messages, forum, comments … just as facebook! You can also submit articles which will be available for everyone to read. >> PROFILE This is where you will update your profile. You can easily change your “personal info” (top right) or the “about me” section http://gomfe.me.com/updateNetworkDescription.php (on the left) where you input your school, graduation year, job position … Each and every info becomes a tag ! If you click on the green button “preview your page”, you will see your profile as it is being seen by other members. On this page (or any other member’s profile), clicking on an info sorts you all the other members with the same info: ex: Grad 05, live in NYC, trader … Just so you know, you can post COMMENTS on the wall, post notes in your BLOG, add FRIENDS …. >> BROWSE In this section you can see all the members. If you see an “Online IM me” on the top of a member’s avatar, that means you are a click away from a private chat popup! >> SEARCH Search by names, criteria … >> FORUM The forum has plenty of different topics. >> INVITE Use this section to invite your MFE friends to join goMFE. You can get email addresses from your hotmail, gmail … accounts or just write emails addresses one by one. >> MESSAGES Just as facebook. >> SUGGEST Any suggestions? any idea ? send it ! >> SETTINGS To update your emails notifications privacy go to http://gomfe.me.com/updatenotifications.php >> CHAT This is a great chat which let you see people by pictures and features AUDIO/VIDEO functions for free. >> GROUPS Just as facebook. >> CALENDAR A calendar in which you can create events.

Official Announcement : goMFE.com is now open !

>Click here for JPEG Letter<

Monday July 30 2007,

Announcement: goMFE.com is now open to current & former students of MFE.

• Our mission ?

“goMFE is dedicated to current students & alumni of Financial Engineering, Financial Mathematics, Mathematics, MSc program. We strongly encourage you to register.”


>> Connect with other alumni: Networking

Each MFE program is different, each class is unique.
Being part of this network will help you connect with other graduates and young professionals.

>> Share your culture and knowledge: Collaboration

The features of the website [audio/video chat, IM, personal blogs, forums, groups, facebook-like profiles, tag infos search…] will help you share your experiences, ideas, insights.

>> Develop your career: Opportunities

Your knowledge and your network are not enough to make an impact in your career. goMFE will help you access the best opportunities to truly express your potential and your talents.

• How to join ?

• - Request to join the goMFE facebook group in order to obtain the access codes for goMFE. http://facebook.com/group.php?gid=2618261641

• - Send an email directly to admin.mfe@gmail.com from you school email address.

We protect your privacy and will evaluate each request for admission.

Best,
goMFE admins.
Website: goMFE.com
Contact: admin.mfe@gmail.com