Tough choice: MIT/Cornell/LSE

<p>I got admited in:</p>

<p>MIT - Master of Finance ($ 100 000)
Cornell - Master of Financial Engineering ($ 75 - 80 000)
LSE - Applicable mathematics ($ 35-40 000)</p>

<p>Waiting for:</p>

<p>Columbia - Mathematics of Finance ($ 75 000)
WUSL - Finance ($ 60 -70 000)</p>

<p>I have real difficulty on deciding, and by April 1 I should deposit $3000 to MIT if I want to secure a place, so not having much time either...</p>

<p>None of the schools gives me financial suport.</p>

<p>I can get a private scholarship of $ 35 000 if I go to a top 20 US school, and I haven't found any funding if I go to England.</p>

<p>Since I have to heavily borrow in each case, what do you guys and girls say:
-> Is it worth borrowing $ 60 000 to go to MIT, bearing in mind that the program is just a year old,
-> or is it better to borrow less for Cornell's well established program (althought I feel that MIT's name will give more shine on my diploma),
-> or is it best to borrow the least and go to LSE's program (which has 90% the same curriculum as their Financial mathematics program)</p>

<p>How do you rate the 2 programs that are still pending for decision, should I wait to see their response? </p>

<p>Anybody else admitted in any of these programs please share your choice.</p>

<p>Thanks mates!</p>

<p>They are all great schools you have to choose from right now, but if you are going to be in debt, where do you actually want to be? What do you want to end up doing with the degree? </p>

<p>I think the best answer is heavily dependent on what you are trying to get out of this, do you want to be an investment banker in NYC? in London? Somewhere else or something else?</p>

<p>MITs name recognition might give you a boost, but you’ve said Cornell’s program is well established, so what types of jobs do the graduates from that program typically get? If those are the ones you want, why not save the money? I don’t know too much about LSE besides the fact that its a good school, but really if I were you I’d find out what the job placement is like at these schools and think long and hard about what you want and where you’d be happy. I think everyone’s answer to this question is going to be slightly difficult since you are debating between 3 great schools.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>Delyan. </p>

<p>Do any Phd programs in economics or math offer funding?</p>

<p>If they do, my suggestion would be to delay grad school for one year. Boost your resume by doing some research and apply to Phd programs that will fund you for next year.</p>

<p>Or reapply for a masters next year to a cheaper state school.</p>

<p>I have 3 years in investment banking now and I think that’s where I will stay at for at least a couple of years after completing one of these programs. So, I’d normally expect that I would be able to find a job paying about $80-100k per year which will allow me to get rid of the debt quickly. </p>

<p>Probably my only fear is that if I get into huge debt and I don’t find a job that pays well, I will be stuck in debt for a decade which I definitely do not want. </p>

<p>MIT Sloan has great employment stats, but these are valid for their MBA program. I really have no basis to judge how well their Finance program will pay off later. </p>

<p>Again, if I think about the economy, at the time of my graduation from MIT I probably will be able to find easy a good job in finance that will also pay well. </p>

<p>PhD is not for me. I simply can’t stay for 5-6 years in academia, I want to get involved in business quickly.</p>

<p>Still, I’d love to hear more from you mates!</p>