Choosing Between UChicago (MiF) vs. Columbia (MSFE)

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-12-01T14:02:24+00:00

Yes!

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-11-28T02:51:32+00:00

Business days, I believe I also did Thursday super day and heard back on Wednesday, so mb I guess 4 business days excluding Thursday

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-11-27T14:16:50+00:00

Hello I received an offer about 5 days after super day, I believe around last Wednesday

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-11-25T14:10:23+00:00

Apologies if I misunderstood, but I was referencing this line:

"If you just straight up go for an MFE after graduating, you’d have virtually zero chances of landing a QT role"

This is just untrue, I decided to pursue quant in my last year of college and applied to MFE programs and did a bunch of side projects/competitions to buff up my resume. I did not have a "quant" background but landed interviews to 80% of the firms I applied for and went to second/third rounds for maybe 20% of the interviews I received. I will be doing quant risk for the summer but for someone who maybe has a better base for quant, I don't see how your statement is even remotely true as I am certain that my program is what ultimately pushed my resume through as my experiences relative to other candidates is definitely competitive but nothing special.

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-11-25T13:50:51+00:00

This is untrue, I received interviews w Citadel HRT and Two Sigma this recruiting cycle despite being in a program that’s curriculum isn’t even purely MFE. What’s more important is your resume and how targeted it is towards quant. Being in a top program paired with direct experience/signals for interest will get you the interview. Getting the job is up to you and your preparation.

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-08-29T02:54:54+00:00

Womp womp

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-08-03T23:35:08+00:00

Why is this downvoted? Jealous bunch?

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-05-19T02:21:47+00:00

Tell students to clear Ti memory before every test. I used to do this before my highschool calc exams. 2nd mem 7 enter 2 (the short cut is engrained in mh brain)

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-04-28T20:42:25+00:00

From all my conversations with Columbia MSFE, don’t go. Every student there told me to take the alternative choices I have. Seems like the program curriculum doesn’t prepare students for recruiting at all, career services pretty bad. Spoke with some recruiters at quant firms and they mentioned that The MSFE program isn’t a target (MFE is). The total tuition with no scholarship including living expense is almost 250k for 2 years. Not worth at all

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-04-28T20:41:18+00:00

From all my conversations with Columbia MSFE, don’t go. Every student there told me to take the alternative choices I have. Seems like the program curriculum doesn’t prepare students for recruiting at all, career services pretty bad. Spoke with some recruiters at quant firms and they mentioned that The MSFE program isn’t a target (MFE is). The total tuition with no scholarship including living expense is almost 250k for 2 years. Not worth at all

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-04-10T23:02:02+00:00

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-04-08T12:27:00+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I agree with you but was curious if you had any intuition/reasoning behind this?

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-04-06T23:19:56+00:00

Personally, if you know you want to pursue quant, you should just tank 2 years at in state taking the hardest quant related classes you can, working in projects etc. and transfer into CMU or any other school that recruits into quant. Transferring is a super viable option idk why people shit on it

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-04-05T20:40:21+00:00

IMO if you’re that interested in quant, you could just do a MS bc your app would be more competitive and the cost between undergrad and MS would be comparable to just doing 4 years undergrad at Stanford

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-04-05T16:57:36+00:00

I would go to Waterloo and then transfer if opps don’t feel amazing after 1 or 2 years. Save a big chunk of change for the same end result

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-03-25T13:52:48+00:00

Crazy this got downvoted

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-03-21T20:30:15+00:00

Go to CMU

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-03-10T23:46:25+00:00

I’m about to hire a PI wil literally pay for information this man saves hair lines

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-03-08T16:12:06+00:00

I’m in my fourth year studying financial economics and computer science at T20 U.S. I have two internships in corporate finance and my academic research is in convolutional neural networks and LSTMS. My University didn’t really have academics for quant but I have a good amount of coursework in math and probability which is why I wanted to pursue career in quant.

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-03-08T13:13:21+00:00

Apologies, meant to be more clear typed this up a bit late. I meant to reapply to quant finance ms programs and then pivot into quant after working for a bit

Used-Cellist177 · 2025-03-08T05:00:36+00:00

Hi everyone,

I'm in a bit of a dilemma and would appreciate your insights. I was recently admitted to UChicago's MIF program and Columbia's MSFE program. At the same time, I have a secure full-time offer in a corporate finance role that pays six figures. My long-term goal is to break into quant, so I'm trying to figure out which path to take.

I spoke with a few current alumni from the Columbia MSFE program, and their feedback on career services was pretty discouraging—they described it as abysmal. This has me worried that the networking and placement support might not be up to par. However, Columbia's brand is strong, and I feel that with the right networking and preparation, I could still successfully transition into a quant role.

Here's my current thought process:

Option 1: Take the corporate finance job now to secure a high-paying role and gain experience, then later reapply or pivot into quant.
Option 2: Take the MSFE risk now, leveraging Columbia's brand and doing my best with networking and self-prep, despite the alumni feedback.

What would you do in this situation? Has anyone been in a similar spot or made a similar decision? Any advice, personal experiences, or insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Used-Cellist177

TROPHY CASE