"Stanford MBA vs Berkeley Financial Engineering " financial engineering = system design/software engineer ???
It can- but isnt required for that sort of work. A degree in computer science is better suited to such roles as the business/product knowledge isnt as pressing a need as the systems/design knowledge. I work in IT on the street, and you would be shocked how many candidates I interview for such roles who cannot explain the difference between a stock and a bond. "Financial Engineering" is an academic discipline at the Master's degree level, and goes by several names (usually depending on where its taught) including: Quantitative Finance Financial Engineering Math Finance Many of the graduates of these programs go into technical roles in support of trading or risk management. Others may go directly into the actual business units- working as quant analysts and in some cases, as quant traders. The big debate within this area is whether or not the "interesting" jobs are open to those with Master's degrees in this area- most funds seek those with quantitative PhDs from top tier institutions to fill their ranks of quant traders. Its thus a debate- is a Masters degree holder who knows all about financial products and has strong math skills better than a Physics or EE PhD who has superb quant skills but will need some time to get up to speed on the business side?
From the post-grad experiences of friends who have completed a masters MFE program, "better" isn't really up for debate. The growing prevalence of PhD requirements for those top quant trader roles has mitigated the value of a standalone MFE. This might have been a different situation a few years ago (before the MFE became so popular).
I wouldnt say that the CFA has the same degree of respect that a PhD has, but it certainly is a valued designation. My alma mater's night school offers a MS in "Investment Management" that focuses on the CFA curriculum, up to level II I believe. Thus the full CFA can be argued to be somewhere north of a master's degree, but with a professional (as opposed to academic slant). The CFA does have one thing going for it, as an MD at my current employer explained it- everything the CFA holder has learned is immediately practical to work on the street. That's not necessarily true with an academic degree. Plus the experience requirement for the full charter means the CFA holder as applicant for a job usually has significant professional experience.
I suspect what we are seeing now is actually more "loose" than previous- which isnt a good thing Remember these degree's are relatively recent developments. It may also be a function of how tight the labor market is- when the good times are nigh, better opportunities being available in greater numbers increases the likelihood that they will consider someone with an MS. The few friends I have with Math Fin/MFE degrees don't have what I would consider interesting work: but a lot of that was that they were in risk focused jobs prior to their re-education, or were new to the street all-together, or just in general their interest differs from mine.
Dear stocksniper - i have a top mba and worked for bulge brackets. all i can tell you from experience, is that if you're approaching the issue from a "risk/reward" perspective, you may regrettably get to a stage in your career where you will be unfulfilled. in my opinion, you need to find out what you have a passion for and then seek and create the "right" circumstances for you to develop and achieve your goals and dreams. also be aware, that wall street as we know it has disappeared. the rules will be re-written until the next period of excess is reached. this will no doubt affect recruitment. good luck in your endeavors.