Advice about Masters in Computational Applied Mathematics

[jonathank]

Hi,

I am currently in the final year of my mathematics degree and I have accepted an offer to a computational applied maths masters at the university of edinburgh which I am super happy to get.

However, I have been researching career options and have set the goal of becoming a quantitative trader. I realise that the computational applied maths degree is generally quite broad, with a primary focus on programming, and doesn’t focus on finance an awful lot (it has a module for Optimisation in Finance), and overall it has a blend of modules ranging from Numerical PDE’s, Stochastics, probability and stats, Machine Learning, Data Modelling and others.

Should I consider switching to a Computational Finance masters or do I still have a chance of entering my desired career path with the current masters program? I should also mention that I do have interest in other careers in Data Science, AI and Consultancy if I’m unsuccesful.

 

[jonny]

Hello! Have you firmed UoE? I will also be pursuing the same this fall and have similar interests. I would love to connect with you!

 

[jarryds]

I'm not a QT so take this with a grain of salt. I was kind of under that a lot QT's were hired straight from undergrad - so academic prestige, undergraduate internships, and competitions were the bulk of the requirements.

I don't really see how a different masters will better suit you for a QT position. I mean sure, an MFE would have more applicable knowledge to quant finance, but I don't think an employer is going to be like "wow computational math, that's irrelevant. why did this guy even apply" or whatever.

Also a little confused why you are putting yourself through a computational applied math degree to go into quant trading. Quant trading is more trading than quant. Feel like there is a little bit of a conflict of interests here? Computational applied math is programming programming. Cool stuff but very academically heavy in computer science/math. If you were interested in that, how are you also interested in a career path that does none of that? I would double check you aren't more interested in like a dev/research positions. Or one of these pseudo quantitative (research) engineer positions.