Maham Hassan (MS Statistics '26) If you've never heard of the New York City Independent Budget Office, you're not alone. Most people outside of city government haven't. The IBO is a nonpartisan city agency whose job is to provide independent fiscal and policy analysis on the New York City budget. Think of it as a check on the Mayor's budget office, an independent voice that tells the City Council and the public what things actually cost, without a political agenda attached. I spend my days reading the news, tracking policy proposals, attending City Council hearings, and contributing to research reports. Right now, my primary project has been helping build IBO's cost estimate for making all New York City buses fare-free, a major proposal championed by newly elected Mayor Mamdani. That means reading academic literature on fare elasticity, analyzing MTA ridership data, drafting sections of the report, and building R models that compare ridership responses across ne...

Henal Gandhi (MS Finance ’26)  Finance carries such a broad spectrum, and when most people hear the word, they immediately picture banks, investment firms, or Wall Street. Honestly, not too long ago, that was me too. But moving to New York changed everything. Stepping into the world's financial capital, I started discovering just how vast this industry really is. Beyond the headlines and the trading floors, there's an entire ecosystem of private credit, venture capital, fintech, asset management, and structured finance, each with its own world, its own language, and its own way of moving capital.  When I arrived in the city for my master's, I quickly understood one thing: networking wasn't optional. And my approach has always been there's no one right way, so do it all. LinkedIn, Handshake, cold emails, cold messages, talking to classmates, reaching out to seniors. I've tried everything, and honestly, each method has given me something. Nothing was wasted.  My f...