June 27th, 2007, 8:36 pm
A Berkeley MFE is among the best non-PhD credential you can get for quantitative finance. I don't just mean the marquee value on your resume, I mean the education and school support. The best graduates get the jobs they want, most graduates get good jobs, a few settle for not-so-great ones but can advance faster than people without the credential.Most people get MFE's in order to retool their mathematical skills to appeal to financial institutions. I think most of them accomplish that, but that may not be a great long-term plan; sometimes it's the least bad of several options. People with genuine interest in and talent for finance do much better. My experience is programs like Berkeley's attract (and accept) mostly the latter type.If you have an undistinguished background in engineering, unless you blossom in the program, you're not likely to be competing for the top jobs. Some of your classmates will have top MBA's or financial experience, others will have really impressive non-financial quantitative accomplishments. If that's your situation, don't look too hard at the median statistics for the class. But the program can still meet your needs.$150,000 sounds about right for New York. It will be lower other places (except London and Tokyo, which should be higher). But remember some people in the class were making that before the entered the program, and others have important other credentials. So don't look at $150,000 as a guarantee.I wouldn't consider this program unless you also planned to work long hours to get ahead afterwards. This is not a program to get an easy $150,000 per year, it's for people who are looking at the derivative of salary.Many MFE's are hired to program, but no one pays up for a Berkeley MFE to have them do that. You still have to be a good programmer, but you'll be hired for your financial skills.