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Hi,I am considering applying to the the Master of Computational finance at CMU, and I was wondering if anyone here was currently enrolled there, or a graduate. Basically, the idea is that this seems to be a very practical MSc but three semesters seems a bit long to me, so trying to weight the pros and cons. Otherwise, should one enroll in Pittsburgh (cons: quality of life, maybe, compared with NYC) or NYC (cons: cost, obviously)?Related question: what are the good MSc in Finance (specifically titled "Finance", not "financial economics" or "financial mathematics") in the US? I did not find many of them specifically titled "finance"...Tks

Contact current students in the program.If you r in NY or pittsburgh make a visit and talk to the students and faculty.Ask them if you can sit in one of the current class to have the feel.

"should one enroll in Pittsburgh (cons: quality of life, maybe, compared with NYC)"Pittsburg is very nice, much nicer than folks realize.Quality of life does not matter. This program is H*A*R*D* work. You won't have time for 'quality of life questions. Pizza and a cot and the computer lab and class. That is life. get used to it.

Well, on this side of the Atlantic, there remains this Rust belt image, you know... Anyway, this was somehow a minor question as it's underlined somewhere else that NY students cannot benefit from TA's tips after the class... As for wokload, that's what I'm expecting in fact, so the "quality of life" thing was more on the "work environment" part rather than "places for going out every nite"

CMU has some nice techonology employed in NYC, whereby you can interactively (not sure how smooth it is though) participate in the courses being taught remotely (i.e. ask questions, etc.). But there's (for me at least) a little lost watching a lecture happen on a screen versus actually sitting in the room where it's being held. And obviously you can't easily chat with the professor after class (other than through a screen I suppose), drop by the profs or TA's office, etc. NYC seemed to be mostly comprised of people working full-time, who would swing by in the evening to catch the classes.Also, the people living and working in NYC have some income to help cover the higher overall living costs. Being a full-time student there might be a struggle with zero dough coming in.

Obviously, the money aspect was a big element in this choice, especially as the only stuff I expect to deal is legal...

I agree about the cost factor and advantage of being in the campus.At the same time NYC would give you an opportunity to Network which could be helpful for finding job on top of career serv.