Some more answers…

Congratulations to all who have received an admit. I have been getting e-mails with almost the same questions, I thought of posting the answers here.

• What are the placement statistics at Columbia for this year ?

To be frank, I really don’t have the exact number. The market is bad and yes the placements are not as good as the previous years. Usually the schools release their placements data after the course gets over or maybe even three months after graduation. For us, we still have 4 months to finish school.

• Should I be doing FE in the current market scenario with sub prime crisis and bad U.S. economy ?

I think it makes more sense for the new applicants to think about the market in 2009. That will be the time when all of you would be looking for jobs. I believe that the market follows a cycle and hopefully markets would have recovered by then.

• What are the concepts that I should brush up before joining Columbia ?

Do go through your probability course. Other than that just get in the habit of reading the Wall Street Journal.

• I have admits from Columbia, NYU, Stanford, XYZ . Which one should I take up ?

This requires some work to be done on your part. First of all go through the course curriculum of the program and see what are they covering. Does it involve a lot of math/programming ? How much of math/programming/finance do you want in your courses ? Does it allow you to take more electives ? Can you fit in an internship ? Do you want an internship? Do you want to be on the west coast or east coast ? Can you extend the program if you want ? How good is the brand name ? These and lot of other questions need to be answered to get to a conclusion. Put in some effort to get the answers. In my opinion there is a very little difference in going to any of the top 4-5 schools but a lot depends on what is your background and plans after the degree. On a personal note I would like to add that being close to New York City really helps.

• Can I extend my degree at Columbia ?

I don’t know about this. Please mail the department to find out and let me know as well

• What are the chances of getting financial aid at Columbia ?

As far as I know the chances are close to zero. But give it a try.

• How did you finance your education ?

Visit this site

• Can I do an internship while pursuing FE at Columbia ?

Some people are managing it but it gets very hectic. The classes are scheduled in a way that you get close to 2 business days to work on an internship. It is however not a part of the curriculum.

My flatmate recently visited a forum and read about new applicants judging FE programs  and advising other new applicants. Please be careful and use your own discretion to filter out the content from these discussion boards.

~ by financialengineer on February 18, 2008.