<p>And sorry as this seems a lengthy thread but would is the most prestigious university for a masters degree for MFE and the most prestigious PhD (just to examine and think about) course?</p>
<p>The following ranking is a few years out of date, but I don't think it's changed:</p>
<p>
[quote]
The Haas School's (Berkeley) Master's in Financial Engineering Program (MFE) ranked #1 among financial engineering and quantitative finance master's programs around the world, according to Global Derivatives, an information clearinghouse for quantitative finance topics.</p>
<p>The MFE Program earned near-perfect scores in the three categories ranked by this survey: program rating (98), faculty rating (99), and overall reputation (99). Also in the top five were: #2 Columbia University, #3 Courant Institute at New York University, #4 University of Chicago tied with Cornell University, and #5 Carnegie Mellon University.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>1 Berkeley
2 Columbia
3 NYU
4 Chicago and Cornell tied
5 CMU</p>
<p>There's a recent post about math departments. The National Research Council ranks the following math programs according to faculty quality:</p>
<p>1 Berkeley
Harvard
MIT
Princeton
5 Chicago
Stanford
7 Yale
8 NYU
9 CalTech
10 Columbia</p>
<p>I can't imagine you'd want to go to an MFE program if you can get into any of these and would want to go. I think thatwould probably take a different kind of person. But it sounds to me like you'd want to go to an MFE program.</p>
<p>Shore,</p>
<p>Honestly if you want to go the financial industry, a MFE would be the best option. A masters degree can be completed with JUST coursework (depends on the institution) and therefore you won't be in school for a long time. A ph.d on the other hand requires you to pass qualifying exams, find a research topic and then write/defend your dissertation. This process could take anywhere from 1 to 8 years, depending on your work ethic and professor.</p>
<p>Yes, most Ph.Ds (and some masters) are "free" if you qualify for fellowships or work as a TA, but don't look at that as a deciding factor. Don't do the Ph.D for the sole purpose of entering the industry, you must really LOVE mathematics and have a passion for it.</p>
<p>this discussion was extremely interesting but no one mentioned PhDs in GSb schools such as Phds in finance, accounting, management e.t.c does taking this path mean you have to go for academia also??? I understand why a Phd in math is illogical if you want to eventually go into I-banking and such but about a Phd in the areas I mentioned?</p>
<p>sefago - You can find info you are looking for at Quantitative</a> Finance Jobs for PhDs — Jobs for PhDs at PhDs.org</p>
<p>
[quote]
this discussion was extremely interesting but no one mentioned PhDs in GSb schools such as Phds in finance, accounting, management e.t.c does taking this path mean you have to go for academia also???
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No, this does not mean you have to go for academia. But the marginal gain of getting a PhD in business at a top school over getting an MBA from one may be negative or strongly negative in terms of income if you stay in academia. And on the other hand, if you go into the private sector, that will often be viewed as overkill.</p>
<p>New article from Financial Times:</p>
<p>FT.com</a> / Reports - Singapore: Global links help talent pool flourish</p>
<p>^BedHead, what do you mean by overkill? Why so?</p>
<p>What I meant to say is you don't need a PhD to do well financially outside of academia. Getting a PhD will often be overkill for standard jobs in the private sector, that is, too much education. And having an MFE would be enough for some hardcore quant jobs.</p>
<p>Would too much education adversely affects one's job opportunities?</p>