Hi, I am going to finish my bachelor's in Mathematical Finance at University of Toronto. I am shooting for a career in Risk Management. I would like to get your opinion on the following quant finance program, especially on the placement rate.Baruch College Master of Science Program in Applied Mathematics for Financehttp://math.baruch.cuny.edu/masters.htmlRutgers University Master of Quantitative Financehttp://business.rutgers.edu/default.aspx?id=341Polytechnic University MS Financial Engineeringhttp://www.ite.poly.edu/mg/fe/index.cfmStevens Institute of Technology MS Financial Engineeringhttp://www.issa.stevens.edu/MastersProgs/FE.shtmlAlso, how do these programs compare to other programs like those at Purdue University, University of Michgan and University of Southern California? How important is the location? How much will the location of the academic program contribute to the success of my professional career?Thanks for your time.

Isn't there a great program at your university?

QuoteOriginally posted by: vNBaruch CollegeRutgers University Polytechnic University Stevens Institute of Technologyrutgers is a so-so school in general, the rest are attrocious.I notice that all are in the environs of NYC, so why not columbia, courant, or CMU's satellite campus ?

Purdue was my alma mater. No disrespect to them, but I think the program's not very strong. Out of the entire semester's seminars, there were only about 1-2 speakers from wall street. The professor in charge told me that it's very expensive paying wall st. professionals to fly to IN; The rest were just professors from the univ. i think more than 1/2 of the students in the program are from China. Again no offence to them, I am from a chinese descent.All the three schools you stated will give you a hard time finding jobs being very far from financial districts.

QuoteOriginally posted by: vNUniversity of Michgan .do a search (in careers and student forums) for michigan,it's come up a couple of times before

Fist of all thanks for the info you provided.I will try those schools for sure ... Also trying to figure out the rest of the planThe question is, say the number of schools in my portfolio is fixed (say 5 to 6), should I go for a less established school in a good location, or a better established school in a not-so-good location? My friend told me to focus on programs in New York, does it make sense?I heard that many programs including the Univ of Michgan one consists of mostly foreign students and wonder how the placement rate is. I guess having a lot of working professionals in class means a lot of networking opportunities, and vice versa. Is that right? Comparing to the big investment banks in new york, are other firms less likely to sponsor work visa?Ppauper ... you mentioned "the rest are attrocious", do you mean they are tough but helpful for a successful career or they are not sufficiently established?Thanks for your reply.

UWaterloo is a good place to be too.

It is all about money matters. Everyone knows CMU, NYU and Columbia are excellent but ...cost factors is significant.I also think Baruch program is excellent too. First of all, location is excellent and cost is low. I may apply too.

One of the forum member PM me >> dont go its suck>>BaruchConfuse?

Same here .... can that member elaborate, even on an anonymous base?

QuoteOriginally posted by: vNPpauper ... you mentioned "the rest are attrocious", do you mean they are tough but helpful for a successful career or they are not sufficiently established?.they're not established.they're neither tough nor helpful

ppauper, given that cost is one of the constraints. which program if the best bet?I know cmu, berkely, stanford, nyu are excellent but these program are too expensive.vN, any thought of toronto program. it is on my shopping list. of course, i prefer US programs.

ckelvin : You also need to take into account future cashflows. Being in top schools will give you a better chance of getting good jobs. Difference in 10-20k USD will not bear much of a burden after working for a few years. I also had the same feeling as you in terms of saving up on tuition, but in reality the price differences can be negated quite fast once you have a good job.Are you a NY resident btw?

i m from australia. initially planning to LBS for mba but i love math too much so finmath or fe is still my preference. in addition, i believe the US programs are well defined.if i m from ny, i may apply for courant. Australia UTS and University of Western Australia do offer such program but I really want to experience the biggest market like wall st.

QuoteOriginally posted by: ckelvini m from australia. initially planning to LBS for mba but i love math too much so finmath or fe is still my preference. in addition, i believe the US programs are well defined.if i m from ny, i may apply for courant. Being a NY resident does not entitle you to reduced tuitions in NYU. It's a private University.