Hey guys, I am pursuing masters in financial engineering but I am not sure whether it would possible to study for level 2 alongwith this hectic course… Has any1 out here cleared level 2 along with MFE… any suggestions are welcome… Thanks.
i’m a similiar boat- doing MSF in tandem with level 2 studying…if you get any feedback on this one, then please let me know. are you working FT as well? that’s currently my problem as well…on top of friends, nyc night life, and gf…it’s gonna be an interesting 2010-211.
In my opinion, you should concentrate on boosting your MFE grades over studying for the CFA. Most MFE graduates find non-CFA related work anyway.
sjv1030 - Like you, I’m working full-time and I’m in an MS program and I plan on taking the Level II exam in June 2011…the MS program I’m in follows the CFA curriculum so I’m hopeful it’ll help rather than hinder the chances of me passing… I’d love to hear some success stories…if they’re out there?..anyone? Thanks!
I am not working right now… I am doing MS full time… R u guys working full time and pursuing the MS program as well as CFA level 2… If that’s what u ppl r doing, hats off to you.!! 
I did it (4.0 msf, 40 hour a week job, passed l2, 7 month old kid). If you were an ib analyst wouldn’t be as easy but it’s possilble. I always ended my night studying from 930-11 or so. Ran before to get things flowing.
I did it (4.0 msf, 40 hour a week job, passed l2, 7 month old kid). If you were an ib analyst wouldn’t be as easy but it’s possilble. I always ended my night studying from 930-11 or so. Ran before to get things flowing.
@jcole… hey tats something rly great… MS along with a 40 hr job + cfa level 2 and a kid to look after… Congrats…!
Hey Guys, I have a few questions thats a little off the topic but related to MFE. I am considering doing an MFE after completing my CFA exams, but I want to understand, what is the value behind getting an MFE (i.e. what kind of jobs can it land you)? Another question is, if I do want to pursue an MFE, which institutions woudl you guys recommend?
You can check out Berkeley MFE, they have stats. As far as I remember it is typically traders and quants careers in IB, associate position
jcole21 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I did it (4.0 msf, 40 hour a week job, passed l2, > 7 month old kid). If you were an ib analyst > wouldn’t be as easy but it’s possilble. I always > ended my night studying from 930-11 or so. Ran > before to get things flowing. WOW! you’re truly my inspiration. Going to hang this post on my wall as a constant reminder.
Valores Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You can check out Berkeley MFE, they have stats. > As far as I remember it is typically traders and > quants careers in IB, associate position Berkeley is a top program though. Their application was also sort of weird - they wanted a “video essay” about yourself.
It would get u jobs such as an quantitaive analyst, quant trader… mostly u can expect jobs of the kind whoch are on the quant side of finance. In US , there r good universities like columbia, cornell, baruch, princeton NYU… if u plan to work in Asia, u may consider even NTU and NUS… 2010CFACFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hey Guys, I have a few questions thats a little > off the topic but related to MFE. I am considering > doing an MFE after completing my CFA exams, but I > want to understand, what is the value behind > getting an MFE (i.e. what kind of jobs can it land > you)? Another question is, if I do want to pursue > an MFE, which institutions woudl you guys > recommend?
Thanks a lot guys, just another quick question, i notice that many of the institutions, esp. those in the UK that offer this program called a Masters in Financial Mathematics, how different is this from MFE? Or is this just another name of calling it in the UK?
2010CFACFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks a lot guys, just another quick question, i > notice that many of the institutions, esp. those > in the UK that offer this program called a Masters > in Financial Mathematics, how different is this > from MFE? Or is this just another name of calling > it in the UK? Not sure if it’s the same in the UK, but some schools in the US (like Stanford) have MS Financial Mathematics programs. From my experience, they’re pretty similar to MFE programs. I think the difference is which departments offer the degree - Stanford’s MS Financial Math is offered by the Math department, but Berkeley’s MFE is offered by the business school. Of course, these should not be compared to MSF programs, which are completely different.
Thanks a lot for the posts guys!
ohai Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 2010CFACFA Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Thanks a lot guys, just another quick question, > i > > notice that many of the institutions, esp. > those > > in the UK that offer this program called a > Masters > > in Financial Mathematics, how different is this > > from MFE? Or is this just another name of > calling > > it in the UK? > > > Not sure if it’s the same in the UK, but some > schools in the US (like Stanford) have MS > Financial Mathematics programs. From my > experience, they’re pretty similar to MFE > programs. I think the difference is which > departments offer the degree - Stanford’s MS > Financial Math is offered by the Math department, > but Berkeley’s MFE is offered by the business > school. > > Of course, these should not be compared to MSF > programs, which are completely different. Agreed - if you can (and if I could do it over), I’d do an MFE or MS Financial Mathematics (I think the technical side will continue to grow in importance, at least in addition to the fundamental components). I’d also try to make sure my technical skills (VBA/SQL type stuff, maybe get some exposures to Matlab and the like if possible) were on point - I think that can do nothing but help.
@jcole21 Awesome job, well done! I’m exhausted with a full-time job and the MS and I’m dreading adding L2 to the mix but you put things in perspective =) It is possible!
jcole21 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ohai Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > 2010CFACFA Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > Thanks a lot guys, just another quick > question, > > i > > > notice that many of the institutions, esp. > > those > > > in the UK that offer this program called a > > Masters > > > in Financial Mathematics, how different is > this > > > from MFE? Or is this just another name of > > calling > > > it in the UK? > > > > > > Not sure if it’s the same in the UK, but some > > schools in the US (like Stanford) have MS > > Financial Mathematics programs. From my > > experience, they’re pretty similar to MFE > > programs. I think the difference is which > > departments offer the degree - Stanford’s MS > > Financial Math is offered by the Math > department, > > but Berkeley’s MFE is offered by the business > > school. > > > > Of course, these should not be compared to MSF > > programs, which are completely different. > > > Agreed - if you can (and if I could do it over), > I’d do an MFE or MS Financial Mathematics (I think > the technical side will continue to grow in > importance, at least in addition to the > fundamental components). I’d also try to make > sure my technical skills (VBA/SQL type stuff, > maybe get some exposures to Matlab and the like if > possible) were on point - I think that can do > nothing but help. I beg to differ, I think the recent financial crisis has impacted the technical aspect of finance and dampened its growth. So I am not sure whether the demand for MFE grads will continue to grow over the next few years. One of the reasons that I am considering whether I want to do an MFE is that I don’t want to be stuck with a master’s degree that can’t really do much for my career, or one that is in a field where there is a waning demand. I am also considering doing an MBA (at a top institute hopefully) instead given the wide applicability of an MBA to various industries given that I am still not sure how my career path will pan out over the next few years. Furthermore, I tend to see MFE as a very specialised field when compared to the MBA.
2010CFACFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > jcole21 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > ohai Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > 2010CFACFA Wrote: > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > ----- > > > > Thanks a lot guys, just another quick > > question, > > > i > > > > notice that many of the institutions, esp. > > > those > > > > in the UK that offer this program called a > > > Masters > > > > in Financial Mathematics, how different is > > this > > > > from MFE? Or is this just another name of > > > calling > > > > it in the UK? > > > > > > > > > Not sure if it’s the same in the UK, but some > > > schools in the US (like Stanford) have MS > > > Financial Mathematics programs. From my > > > experience, they’re pretty similar to MFE > > > programs. I think the difference is which > > > departments offer the degree - Stanford’s MS > > > Financial Math is offered by the Math > > department, > > > but Berkeley’s MFE is offered by the business > > > school. > > > > > > Of course, these should not be compared to > MSF > > > programs, which are completely different. > > > > > > Agreed - if you can (and if I could do it > over), > > I’d do an MFE or MS Financial Mathematics (I > think > > the technical side will continue to grow in > > importance, at least in addition to the > > fundamental components). I’d also try to make > > sure my technical skills (VBA/SQL type stuff, > > maybe get some exposures to Matlab and the like > if > > possible) were on point - I think that can do > > nothing but help. > > > I beg to differ, I think the recent financial > crisis has impacted the technical aspect of > finance and dampened its growth. So I am not sure > whether the demand for MFE grads will continue to > grow over the next few years. One of the reasons > that I am considering whether I want to do an MFE > is that I don’t want to be stuck with a master’s > degree that can’t really do much for my career, or > one that is in a field where there is a waning > demand. I am also considering doing an MBA (at a > top institute hopefully) instead given the wide > applicability of an MBA to various industries > given that I am still not sure how my career path > will pan out over the next few years. Furthermore, > I tend to see MFE as a very specialised field when > compared to the MBA. MS finance/MFE are quite a bit more specialized relative to an MBA, but for me - that was my ‘route’ to entry-level asset management (it’s specialization gave me the base of knowledge I was looking for, as opposed to a broad scoped MBA). For me, I’ll do a PT MBA (or maybe an eMBA) in five years or so when I’m at a little higher level. If you’re going full-time and want to get into, say, IB @ Goldman or one of the like, then I’d probably say FT MBA is the way to go (unless you want to be a quant). Otherwise, a PT MBA to transition into asset management would seem less-suited than a PT MS in some sort of finance (standard MSF, MSE, or MSFmathematics). That’s just my opinion though - but was the thought process I went through. MFE may be slightly ‘tarnished’, but a Masters in Financial Mathematics I think certainly isn’t. And with most companies, the technicals underlay (or overlay) the fundamental components (again, certainly depending on the shop and the strategy, but I don’t think the technical side will diminish substantially, and if anything, will continue to integrate with other areas, particularly with advents like XBRL).