Columbia MSFE or Stanford MS&E ?

Graduate School
1

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I got offered two admissions, from the MSFE(financial engineering) at Columbia and the MS&E(sort of operational research) at Stanford.
I really am stuck with a tough decision here. Consider the fact that I am currently living in Paris (France) and I have no idea whether I'd prefer New York or California.
These masters are slightly different, the MSFE is by far more technical and delving into quantitative finance, but the thing is I am not planning on becoming a quant.</p>

<p>I would really like some feedback on those two programs, and some help chosing one or the other. Both universities are so great, even though Stanford's prestige in my eye is somewhat better.</p>

<p>Regards,</p>

<p>Stan</p>

2

<p>Stanford then. for sure.</p>

3

<p>It seems that the Stanford program is a bit broader in scope and perhaps more versatile as far as employment goes. From your post, I'd agree that Stanford looks like the way to go for you.</p>

4

<p>Hi, </p>

<p>Can anyone who is knowledgeable tell me more about Stanford MS&E? I would like to know more about the:</p>

<ol>
<li>job prospect</li>
<li>types of jobs people get</li>
<li>program's reputation</li>
<li>will it be worth it having shelled out $50k for 1 year, IYO?</li>
<li>other pertinent information</li>
</ol>

5

<p>1.) some friends of mine in MS&E got an offer from Morgan Stanley while the other got an offer from Oracle.
2.) broad, depend on your specialization
3.) Reputation seems to depend on the "stanford" name. Dunno much about the dept. But must be pretty prestigious
4.) yes (california weather, great colleague, down to earth professors, admin staff with sense of humor, strong alumni, what more do you expect?)
5.) Other engineering departments tend to see MS&E majors as soft-core engineers and drop-out from/"back-door" to more prestigious program like EE and CS.</p>

6

<p>pearlygate, appreciate the info. obviously i am going through tough decisions deciding, so asked some basic questions too. your answers were helpful.</p>

<p>also, with the whole credit crunch and all, will getting job be much more challenging after getting MS there? what do you all think about this?</p>

7

<p>also pearlygate, are you in the program? if so, would like to talk to you more if fine with you. let me know.</p>