guys I'm doing an MSc in finmath in a top 10 uni, but the problem with it is they're bloody stingy, no brochures for example, some cheap-lecturers that can hardly speak english (but good at maths) and no c++ (a bit if eviews and matlab)but to top up the matter, there's not even the slightest effort to help the students, careers wise (just the careers service people that think IB jobs are all the same)our class representative knows nothing , the only thing she talks about is "can we start this class 5 minutes later please"anyway, I was thinking of suggesting to the course director to create a DB with the CVs of the students and make it available on the course's website, maybe create a shiny brochure and send it around. The course actually profits a LOT from the university's reputation, but is widely unknown, although the faculty claims that it is the first finmath course in the UK (created around 10 years ago)any advice, as I'm heading to see the director, in an attempt to save the face of this MScPS; one justification to all I said, is that it is very cheap, around £ 5-6 K (uk and EU), so one would argue that you shouldn't expect much when you pay nothing, that ryanair of the QF MSc?? thx

Hadamard's experience is not limited to "cheap" courses, but the high cost ones as well.The Courant one is done properly, but is hardly an expensive exercise (I assume).Also it also strikes me as an efficient brochure for attracting future students.My view is that masters in finance are less likely to continue in academia, than pretty much any other subject, so career support should really be priced into the package.

In my honest opinion if you want to do a "quant" masters go to America....Else do a maths masters (which is siginifcantly cheaper) which allows a great deal of flexibility in what courses can be chosen and at a uni which offers finances and computing courses....If I had a choice again that's what I would do

QuoteOriginally posted by: playerIn my honest opinion if you want to do a "quant" masters go to America....Else do a maths masters (which is siginifcantly cheaper) which allows a great deal of flexibility in what courses can be chosen and at a uni which offers finances and computing courses....If I had a choice again that's what I would doWhy America? Can't UK or Europe offers the flexibility as well?

In my opinion America offers better value for money regarding QUANT masters compared to UK..I dont know about the continent..People tell me Germany and France arebetter than UK but personally I dont know enough to form an opinion on this..If you want to stay in the UK then like I said either do a masters in maths (cheaper) which gives flexibility or do a quant masters part time (e.g Birkbeck)...To be honest I think you only get real value from finance Masters courses in the UK if you've worked in the quant industry or have had considerable exposure to practical aspects of finance...i say this because most lectuers arent really that interested in teaching....they merely do it becasue they have to not becasue they want to...most are interested in publishing/ or getting famous ...If you expect the course to teach you something from scratch you're living in cloud cuckoo land....However if you have a fairly basic/good idea of what the course is talking about then at least you know the right questions to ask the lectuers/profs.....Just my opinion mind others would disagree.....

QuoteOriginally posted by: playerIn my opinion America offers better value for money regarding QUANT masters compared to UK..I dont know about the continent..People tell me Germany and France arebetter than UK but personally I dont know enough to form an opinion on this..If you want to stay in the UK then like I said either do a masters in maths (cheaper) which gives flexibility or do a quant masters part time (e.g Birkbeck)...To be honest I think you only get real value from finance Masters courses in the UK if you've worked in the quant industry or have had considerable exposure to practical aspects of finance...i say this because most lectuers arent really that interested in teaching....they merely do it becasue they have to not becasue they want to...most are interested in publishing/ or getting famous ...If you expect the course to teach you something from scratch you're living in cloud cuckoo land....However if you have a fairly basic/good idea of what the course is talking about then at least you know the right questions to ask the lectuers/profs.....Just my opinion mind others would disagree.....I agreed with you mate. That really worry us if we are going to pay a large sum for the course. Finding a right program is a problem. Too much bullshit around.

I also heard from a quant telling me that Germany has great quant program such HFB and ULM but I am not sure.

QuoteOriginally posted by: CuchulainnQuoteOriginally posted by: VitoQuoteOriginally posted by: DCFCBut I think the killer is that FinMath programmes are run by people who see themselves as doing "Financial Science", not "Financial Engineering".IE Academics over practicalities.Being a victim of that, could not agree more... Vito,What would you like to see in a course?You mean in a programme?.. Well, I think first of all a FinMath programme should have as a backbone the following four building blocks: derivatives (in a broad sense), stochastic calculus, programming and numerical analysis. Having all that, one might add other stuff to his taste. I've seen something close to this model only from CMU (three courses on OOP!!!). Don't know how it works in reality, but people from there talk positively.

Although I agree with vito that these things will crop up, my view is that one should start from the objective.Let's define the objective first ?Then how you build those skills ?How do youlink these together ?Should you teach isolated modules, or one stream and hang everything off ?

QuoteYou mean in a programme?.. Well, I think first of all a FinMath programme should have as a backbone the following four building blocks: derivatives (in a broad sense), stochastic calculus, programming and numerical analysis. Having all that, one might add other stuff to his taste. I've seen something close to this model only from CMU (three courses on OOP!!!). Don't know how it works in reality, but people from there talk positively. Vito,I agree with Dom in that you define the goal/end product and work backwards. This determines how much of each topic you need to know.Do you have info on the CMU/OOP. Sounds like they are on to a good idea.

QuoteVito,I agree with Dom in that you define the goal/end product and work backwards. This determines how much of each topic you need to know.That is right for self-study, but once you get into a programme, at least for core courses, you are not the one who decides.QuoteDo you have info on the CMU/OOP. Sounds like they are on to a good idea.Only the description they've put on their website.

look like a good course