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Hello!I have been accepted to both programs: Carnegie Mellon MS in Computational Finance and London Business School Master in Finance. I am still deciding between the programs and would like to hear from the experts in this Forum. I am interested in the more quantitative type of finance (such as fixed income and derivatives) but I am not sure if I want to go all the way to being a quant jock. I also have mixed feelings about the computer programming in CMU.I have gone through the threads and seen quite a bit about CMU MSCF and just a little bit about LBS MiF (but not much), but not CMU MSCF vs. LBS MiF.I tried the BusinessWeek forum but did not get much info. Some of the questions in my mind are:1. What types of careers do people have coming out of the programs? Assuming I take as much quant courses in LBS (fixed income, financial engineering, etc), what types of job would I be likely to have versus if I took the computational finance course?2. If I am not too inclined about programming, does this mean the CMU MSCF may not be for me? If I do the CMU MSCF, will I be 'stuck' with programming as part of my work?3. Does anyone know about the current placement success in each program? I have been given some numbers but I wanted to get some input from the students in the program who may be able to tell me what it is really like out there.4. What is the general school and program reputation in US, Europe, Asia? 5. Can anyone comment on the strength of the faculty and student body?This is a lot but I am hoping some people may be able to help out.

Hi FinGuy3,Maybe I can answer a couple of your questions. First I don't know a whole lot about the LBS MiF program though I do know quite a bit about CMU MSCF. 1. About Careers:I think if you refer to CMU's website : http://web.gsia.cmu.edu/ you will find some pretty useful information about their placement stats and stuff. I suggest you follow the link to the "CSO" site from their web page which breaks down all the details regarding their last year grads (type of jobs, salary, bonus, time of offering etc etc)Also, I look at Georgia Tech's Website, because they also have some good examples of the type of positions available for Quant Fin. graduates along with the companies (broken down by sector) where you can possibly find jobs.2. I think programming is just one part of the MSCF program, and I think that's one thing that differentiates CMU's program from the rest, because no matter what you do need some programming skills and if you coming into the program wiht a Finance back ground then its specially important to get those skills coz I think these skills come in really handy when you are working with models. So don't judge a program soley based on just one ascept of it. Also, CMU's website is very informative and gives you a good description of the types of jobs that their recent grads have obtained, so its not necessary that you might be 'stuck' in a programming quant position.3. Placement Stats:Again, refer to CMU's website...I think you would find more then enough info there.4. Reputation:Don't know about LBS program, but CMU's program is highly regarded on the street and its one of the well established programs. 5. Strength of student/Faculty:I went to the open house at CMU's MSCF program and met some of their students and faculty members. Overall I found that the students were pretty happy and satisfied with what they were learning. Plus they have some of their professors (Sanjay Srivastava and Shreve) are pioneers in the finance field. Though I wanted to ask you, which campus have you been accepted to at CMU? WIll you be attending the NY campus or are you going to be at Pittsburg campus? Personally, if you are going to be attending NY campus, you should also consider the whole distance learning sceneario coz I know its not always good for everyone...Hope this helps

Hello param200,Thank you for your comments. I do have the information from the CMU website except that it does not always give the answers I am looking for. In terms of placement, it has info for 2002 but I wanted to get a sense if this year is better or worse than last year. In terms of jobs, the titles help but still gives me a lot of question marks in terms of what do these people really do.I do appreciate your help. BTW, I have been accepted to the Pittsburgh program.How about you? Are you beginning this fall or are you in another program?Thanks!

Hi,Here's a link to Georgia Tech's Program. http://www.qcf.gatech.edu/whatis/sample ... s.htmlThey actually have brief job descriptions along with their titles. So maybe this might be of further help.I'm going to start my Fin Math program this Fall at another University.

Param and FinGuy - Where are you guys off to this fall- have you made a final decision?Ty

I'm off to University of Chicago's Financial Mathematics program.

Thank you Param. Good Luck in Chicago!No Ty. Not yet.

Hi FinGuy3!I am new to this forum and happened to come across your discussion regarding the LBS MiF and CMU MSCF. I was wondering if you might have got any further information about the LBS MiF.Shall be thankful if you could let me know.

Hey Dash!Unfortunately, not much information. Most of the comments are really more for CMU. Even in the BW forum, I didn't get much about LBS MiF.Tell me what you gather from your end.Thanks.

Then if people aren't comparing those two, how about job prospects for CMU grads vs. Columbia grads?

Take a look at the thread titled UK MSc Finance rankings. I had posted a similar query there and got a couple of detailed responses, particularly the ones from reza.Hope this helps somewhat.Regards

I know of at least one quant who got an MBA with LBS but that was quite some time ago and he took all of the Phd electives. I want to one of the LBS seminars and ask about their programme and my impression was that is is not very math intensive. You can get a very good feel by looking at the required books/prereq for the electives you are interested in. My belief is that is mainly aimed at the sort of MBA market. So it really comes down to what you want to do when you leave.thanks

Finguy3,Are you still here? You're first post in this thread states exactly the same position that I am in right now. Which school have you decided upon? Email me - I would love to speak with you.Thanks,jag

so what was your decision, Finguy3? And how's the course been so far?

HiIt depends on what you want to do. LBS is a great school where you will get a lot industry exposure - considering its location and the fancy derivatives industry in London. However, it's not a "Financial Engineering" program. You'll learn more about derivatives through industry rather than courses. CMU on the other hand, is a fairly quantitative finance program. The emphasis is on Financial Engineering rather than general finance. One benefit is that you will learn about derivatives directly through courses. Without any doubt, LBS has better "International" reputation, especially in Asia and Europre. If I have a choice, and if there's no budget constraint, I'll go to LBS despite the fact that I like the curriculum at CMU better. The decision is strictly based on the location and reputation of the school.