Did an Indian student from a quant trading background make the right choice picking Boston University MS Finance over NYU Stern's US-Shanghai program for building a US finance career?
For a pure quant trading career, choosing a standard Boston University MS Finance over NYU Stern's quantitative Shanghai program likely compromises your ceiling, since general finance curriculums lack the stochastic calculus and coding rigor prop trading firms expect. The exception is BU's specialized Mathematical Finance track.
For a student chasing a core quant trading career, picking a standard Boston University MS Finance over NYU Stern's quantitative program usually does not serve you well, unless real financial or visa constraints drove that decision. Your outcome hinges on whether you picked BU's general MSF or its specialized Mathematical Finance and Financial Technology track, since those are two very different programs. The comparison below shows exactly where each option stands.
Program Comparison for Quant Trading Careers
| Factor | NYU Stern (US-Shanghai MSQF) | Boston University (Standard MSF) |
|---|---|---|
| Brand prestige on Wall Street | Tier 1, carries major weight with recruiters | Tier 2, solid but not top-tier for core trading |
| Quantitative rigor | High, built for quantitative finance | Low to moderate, general finance focus |
| US job market proximity | Split between US and Shanghai campuses | Fully US-based for the entire program |
| Curriculum focus | Stochastic calculus, market microstructure, coding | Corporate finance, portfolio management, accounting |
What Actually Determines the Right Choice
- Quant trading recruiters at firms like Jane Street or Citadel expect deep programming and stochastic calculus training that a general MSF rarely delivers.
- NYU Stern's brand carries significant weight with New York and Chicago based trading desks, where BU's network is traditionally stronger in regional Boston finance.
- Boston University's specialized Mathematical Finance and Financial Technology track is a genuinely quantitative exception worth checking for.
- Staying fully US-based throughout the program avoids the networking gaps that a split US-Shanghai curriculum can create.
My Advice
If this student picked BU's general MS Finance purely to avoid the Shanghai portion, they should pivot hard toward building programming and quantitative skills outside the classroom, through independent coding projects and quant interview prep, to close the gap NYU Stern's curriculum would have covered. Anyone still choosing between these two paths should confirm which specific BU program is on the table, since the standard MSF and the Mathematical Finance track lead to very different trading career outcomes.
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