<p>I'm really interested in this area. Columbia's graduate school in financial engineering was ranked 2nd in 2004. All i know is that they accepted 50% of applicants last year. </p>
<p>does anyone know anything else about?
if so please share!</p>
<p>Talking about the new undergrad program?
Excerpt from a recent Spec article:
[quote]
Financial Engineering Strong out of the Gate
In Its First Semester, SEAS Program Draws 21 Concentrators and Interest From Prospectives
By Sana Saleh
Issue date: 10/27/06 Section: News</p>
<p>The first undergraduate financial engineering concentration in the country may only be in its first semester at the School of Engineering and Applied Science, but it has hit the ground running.
With a solid curriculum in place and all its faculty accounted for, the program has already drawn 21 concentrators and continues to develop key Wall Street relationships.
According to Guillermo Gallego, chairman of the department of industrial engineering and operations research, the chief purpose of the concentration is to allow selected students to study finance and engineering in a way that will be directly applicable to their prospective careers.
"A lot of what we're doing is training students to be creative, to be able to solve problems, to think abstractly, be very analytical about the way they approach things," Gallego said.
Gallego explained that student initiative was the catalyst for the creation of financial engineering. "Students actually approached us two or three years ago. ... We just needed to hire the faculty," he said.
With so many graduates eyeing careers on Wall Street, postgraduate opportunities are the focal point of the new concentration. Because many firms desire access to SEAS students, Gallego said the program maintains a strong relationship to the finance industry.
The concentration's advisory board, which includes a number of Wall Street professionals, handles the launch of the program, determines the specifics of the curriculum, and helps direct students to positions in the industry.
"The driving force [of the program's creation] was to take a step back, realize ... students were already going to Wall Street ... but were lacking deeper knowledge of the specific models that people in Wall Street are using," Gallego said. "And so the guiding force was [that] students required and requested the training for these kinds of jobs."
Clifford Stein, the undergraduate director of the program who was integral to the program's formation, said interest has already spread among prospective students. "We've heard from [Columbia] admissions that high school students have already heard about it and been asking about it."
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<p>I have a feeling this is going to attract more Stern-and-Wharton types to Columbia. Good for SEAS' selectivity, but for the character of the student body? There's a reason Columbia has stayed away from these kind of undergraduate business programs in the past. I also wonder if these people are going to be happy at an engineering school that touts its extensive liberal arts requirements...</p>
<p>Nothing is going to change. The same types who go to CC for econ or SEAS for OR/IE are going to be attracted to this program. It's not like people are turning down Columbia to go to Stern now, anyway.</p>