M.S. or Certificate in Finance????

Hey All,

So, I've wanted to get an MBA for a long time, but I've realized that even with a top degree, I probably won't stand out in terms of technical skills. I think this is more for my own skill set, so I was wondering whether one program is better than the other. Here is the issue:

1) M.S. in Quantitative Methods and Modeling from Baruch - definitely provides a wide area of quant skills that include some programming, stats, calc, database management, etc. It's very inexpensive, and I'll probably get my company to pay for everything. The major downside is that I probably won't be able to take any "high" level math courses like differential equations, linear algebra, or anything like those previously mentioned. Also, I think Baruch is pretty solid in terms of reputation, but I don't know too many people outside of New York who know about it.

2) Certificate of Quantitative Finance from Columbia University - provides a lot of the high level math courses that I am looking for as well as some programming classes. I wish the program included more database management classes, but overall it's pretty quant focus as an introductory level program. The downside is that the program is more expensive (way more). Also, it's a certificate program, not an actual M.S. I looked into the M.A. program at Columbia, and the M.S. program at NYU through Courant, but I don't have all of the prerequisite classes fulfilled to apply.

With all of that said, does the Certificate program carry any weight at all? It's a postbacc program, so I assume it doesn't carry much at all. The program at Baruch is an actual M.S., but excludes some of the higher end Math classes that I really want to take. Maybe I can take those separately, but not sure when especially because I want to apply for an MBA after I finish one of these programs.

Any advice or help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

-Aldorf