<p>I was accepted into Columbia SEAS Early Decision. I'm considering the financial engineering major. But I heard that you have to apply for it in your sophomore year and you are only notified that you're accepted in the spring of that year. How many people have gotten accepted in the past and how hard is it to get into that program? What criteria are they looking for in applicants? Would that major be considered stronger than computer science or computer engineering at Columbia?</p>
<p>That's just the way the program is this year because it's a new program that they're trying out and can't handle in large doses. You won't be declaring your major for another two years, and I think it's extremely likely that it will be open to anyone by then. It's not "Columbia-like" to make people apply for a major; once you're at Columbia, you can do whatever you want.</p>
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Would that major be considered stronger than computer science or computer engineering at Columbia?
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<p>Stronger for what? They're quite different. My personal opinion is that CS/CE would be "stronger" in that it gives you more options. With a FE degree, you probably can't be a computer engineer. With a CS/CE degree and a couple of econ/finance type course, you'll have no problem going into the finance world.</p>
<p>I was wondering which of the three degrees: FE, CS, or CS from Columbia will be most respected by employers and therefore have the highest average salary. Majoring in which of those three areas would result in the better job opportunity?</p>
<p>You're really generalizing too much. "Employers" and "job opportunity" are still way too broad.</p>
<p>If you're looking to work at Intel to design computer chips or work at Microsoft to program software, obviously CE/CS is going to be more respected. You probably won't get hired at all at those jobs with a FE degree, unless you took a lot of classes in CE/CS and have experience.</p>
<p>If you're looking to go into finance, it's really difficult to say that someone who majored in FE will have a better job prospect than someone who majored in CE/CS.</p>
<p>are you just saying this because you did CS/CE?
I'm a student at Fu too and i dont see how doing financial engineering woudln't give you an edge in finance</p>
<p>At most, what it would give you is an increased chance of a first-round interview. If you did really well in your CS/CE classes, however, and took some econ/finance and a summer internship, you're basically just as likely to get one of those. And once you have an interview, it's all about what goes on in the interview, whether they like you, whether you can answer the questions, not what's on your resume.</p>
<p>Satina's question really is poorly posed.</p>
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are you just saying this because you did CS/CE?
I'm a student at Fu too and i dont see how doing financial engineering woudln't give you an edge in finance
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<p>No, I didn't do CS/CE. FE isn't going to give you an edge for financial jobs that don't require any great technical knowledge coming in and are just as likely filled by history majors (e.g., i-banking). If we're talking more about the quantitative jobs in the finance sector, I think a degree in CS/CE or Applied Math will give you just as much, if not more, of a benefit vis-a-vis FE because you'll know something about programming, modeling, mathematical/statistical analysis, etc. I just see FE as a glorified OR/IE/EMS degree.</p>