Hello everybody,I've got offers from stanford mathfin and columbia fineng. I also want to apply to NYU (deadline in March). I have found a lot of useful information on other threads but I still have some specific questions.1) Since I would like to work in London, do UK recruiters make a difference betweent those masters? Wouldn't a famous name like "stanford" or "columbia" sound better for them than NYU?2) Stanford and columbia ask you to accept or refuse their offers by March the first, which is well before the admission decision at NYU. I would prefer to consider all offers calmly, so can you ask them to wait a bit more for your decision ? Has anybody been in the same situation in the past?If other applicants are in the same difficult decision process, it could be interesting to exchange ideas.Have a nice day,

when did you send your applications to stanford and Columbia? When did you get offers? why do not you accept these two U. first?

you can't go wrong with columbia

CB,I sent my applications in december (deadline is 15 december). I got offers a week ago.Im not sure I understood you but I dont think it is very correct to accept several offers. I am still hesitating between unis, and i was wondering if one can differ a decision in order to know exactly where he is admitted before.Just to be clear, in the end of my post i meant that if some other applicants are hesitating between various finance masters, it could be interesting to exchange ideas.

QuoteOriginally posted by: sothuleHello everybody,I've got offers from stanford mathfin and columbia fineng. I also want to apply to NYU (deadline in March). I have found a lot of useful information on other threads but I still have some specific questions.1) Since I would like to work in London, do UK recruiters make a difference betweent those masters? Wouldn't a famous name like "stanford" or "columbia" sound better for them than NYU?2) Stanford and columbia ask you to accept or refuse their offers by March the first, which is well before the admission decision at NYU. I would prefer to consider all offers calmly, so can you ask them to wait a bit more for your decision ? Has anybody been in the same situation in the past?If other applicants are in the same difficult decision process, it could be interesting to exchange ideas.Have a nice day,As an NYU alum I take issue with your implication that it is not a famous institution. NYU is, of course, a very very famous university. This holds particularly true when it comes to finance and math finance. Stern is constantly ranked among the super elite finance departments in the world and Courant is also super top. Getting into both schools is very hard.Perhaps my own personal experience can help you calibrate NYU´s reputation. In 2000 a top-notch i-bank selected me as the only Masters student worldwide for a London summer associate derivatives spot. This means that they chose the NYU guy over the dozens and dozens of Stanford and Columbia students that surely applied for the job. In 2001 I was offered a full-time offer, again the only Masters graduate to be hired for the derivatives division in London.Also, consider that on top of its stellar reputation NYU has some critical advantages over both Stanford and Columbia. If you want to do derivatives, well obviously New York is way superior to Silicon Valley. And, as anyone would tell you, Soho and the Village are way way way better places to go to school than Harlem.Finally, Courant´s program can boast lots of practitioners teaching there and besides Carnegie Mellon, it is the ONLY math finance program that regularly shows well-defined job placement stats.

NY may be a better place than London in terms of finance.Columbia or NY should be your choice.

Thank you for your replies,Oakgrove, I know that NYU has an excellent reputation in the US I just wanted to be sure london recruiters knew it. Your experience seems to confirm that. What other finance/academic experience apart from NYU did you have before participating in your summer internship? And where do the other people in your derivatives division come from?The other thing with NYU is that there are lots of French students from polytechnique there. This school has a huge reputation in Europe, and in france HR tend to favour students from polytechnique to other unis even with the same finance master. Did you have this impression oakgrove ?I also read that the faculty at Courant were top finance practionners but in general bad professors. Maybe a current NYU student could confirm or oppose this. And why doesn't anyone defend Stanford mathfin ? Apart from its bad location, its program seems of very high level with famous professors like darell duffie.Anyway it is too bad a student cannot apply to nyu without refusing other admission offers and thus risking ending up with nothing.

Try to contact the NYU program director and tell him about your dilemma.

QuoteOriginally posted by: sothuleCB,I sent my applications in december (deadline is 15 december). I got offers a week ago.Im not sure I understood you but I dont think it is very correct to accept several offers. I am still hesitating between unis, and i was wondering if one can differ a decision in order to know exactly where he is admitted before.Just to be clear, in the end of my post i meant that if some other applicants are hesitating between various finance masters, it could be interesting to exchange ideas.Why can not you accept several offers? You can decide where you exactly go before the end of August.

QuoteOriginally posted by: sothuleThank you for your replies,Oakgrove, I know that NYU has an excellent reputation in the US I just wanted to be sure london recruiters knew it. Your experience seems to confirm that. What other finance/academic experience apart from NYU did you have before participating in your summer internship? And where do the other people in your derivatives division come from?The other thing with NYU is that there are lots of French students from polytechnique there. This school has a huge reputation in Europe, and in france HR tend to favour students from polytechnique to other unis even with the same finance master. Did you have this impression oakgrove ?I also read that the faculty at Courant were top finance practionners but in general bad professors. Maybe a current NYU student could confirm or oppose this. And why doesn't anyone defend Stanford mathfin ? Apart from its bad location, its program seems of very high level with famous professors like darell duffie.Anyway it is too bad a student cannot apply to nyu without refusing other admission offers and thus risking ending up with nothing.I had no derivatives experience prior to joining an i-bank, but then again neither do 95% of graduate students who get hired as first-year Associates. I-banks hire "potential" when they give a six-figure contract to a 28-year old guy with no experience and a diploma from a reputable school.I couldn´t tell you much about France or French students. Most of the students at Courant that I remember were Asian, Indian, or American. Also, some students from Stern taking one or two individual classes. As you say, some of the profs at Courant were not very exciting. But they undoubtedly had unbelievable real-world credentials. One prof was the former head of Arb Trading for Salomon. Another was the head of Risk Management at Chase. Another one a top quant from Merril. And then, of course, you had Taleb. The true value of these people are the professional contacts that they can provide. Taleb, for instance, has hired at least a couple of students from the program.In terms of students, I clearly remember that they were pretty young but also pretty smart. One of them was the US chess champion (she ended up in the weather derivatives business).Finally, Stanford´s has always seemed to me as a program that either prepares you for a PhD and/or allows you to get into one at a top b-school. The program just seems too academic with too little emphasis on job placement. And, once more, Silicon Valley ain´t no derivatives paradise.

CB, when you accept or refuse an offer it is supposed to be a definitive answer. It won't be well perceived by the uni to change your mind in August, so I would prefer another solution. i'll try madmax's one.I saw that a china math contest winner is in nyu mathfin. NYU students definitely have impressive backgrounds and high potentials. But what disturbs me is that the program is totally technical. Of course the maths is the most important but in columbia and stanford you can also get one or two courses in the business school to have a broad understanding of the economy and the capital markets. Oakgrove now that you are in London how is your life as a quant there? Do you have time to enjoy the city?Again thank you for your replies,

sothule, i would very much like to know which school you decided on. i am facing the same dilemma, stanford vs columbia FE. leaning towards stanford though.

QuoteOriginally posted by: CBWhy can not you accept several offers? You can decide where you exactly go before the end of August.Accepting several academic offers and then not attending will get you seriously blacklisted. Departments need accurate headcounts for budgeting, for teacher allocation, and general planning which is why they want firm numbers in the spring. If one backs out, it really needs to be a major emergency for it not to have major reprecussions.Best approach is to tell the admissions people in each of the schools about your situation If you ask for an extension, the worst that can happen is they say no. Whether you get one or not depends on the internal situation of each department, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

zulu, i havent accepted any offers yet but i am leaning towards columbia MSFE. Their website has much more information about placement, salaries... You can see that some of their students manage to get associate or even assistant vice president positions in major ibanks.I feel that it is a well known, solidly established program, a good passeport to the industry. you cant go wrong with it.Now Stanford is more selective due to the small size of their class. Some of the students of my school were accepted at Columbia and not stanford. The courses seems slightly better at stanford but some believe they are too theoretical and this master seems less known in the industry.what is your background zulu ?

Who pays for your masters? Do you pay by yourself or the university do it for you? Sorry for the question but it's very important. And, if one hasn't got a fantastic curriculum, is there any possibility he's accepted for a master? Where likely? Thank youQuoteOriginally posted by: sothulezulu, i havent accepted any offers yet but i am leaning towards columbia MSFE. Their website has much more information about placement, salaries... You can see that some of their students manage to get associate or even assistant vice president positions in major ibanks.I feel that it is a well known, solidly established program, a good passeport to the industry. you cant go wrong with it.Now Stanford is more selective due to the small size of their class. Some of the students of my school were accepted at Columbia and not stanford. The courses seems slightly better at stanford but some believe they are too theoretical and this master seems less known in the industry.what is your background zulu ?