"Before starting my MFE, I wish I'd...."

[Andy Nguyen]

I just got off the phone with a family friend's relative. The guy tried to break into a top MFE programs for the past 3 years. All fails. I had tried to advise him from the onset, but he thought he knew better --particularly about the importance of doing good research. Now he's scraping by with some job that he hates. He is back, and seems ready to listen.

So here's my question for all you who have done MFE or currently doing it. What mistakes did you make during the early stages of your application or during study? And what did you do to rectify them? I'll start:

Before jumping head on into the MFE field, I wish that I had done more research to have a good understanding of the industry, how I fit in and how I picture myself in the next 5 years (I found this book best suited for this purpose). I could have learned a lot from reading books in the master reading list. I could have learned some useful programming tools such as SQL, Python, VBA in additional to C++. I could have gone to more industry talks and conferences to understand the problems people are facing and solving. I could have gone to meet-ups to network more with other working finance professionals.

What's yours?

 

[Faisal]

Hi Andy. I am new over here, save for a post or two in an irrelevant thread. You often lay stress on doing substantial research in this field, even to prospective applicants. I am confused if you really expect an applicant to be thorough with the materials on Hull or Shreve. Isnt it true that the career goals become less nebulous as you go through your MFE studies and you decide the particular path you intend to take, like derivative pricing or credit risk modelling etc. To what extent would you expect clarity of goals from an applicant like me, who is still in his senior year of undergraduate study in Engineering but has taken a class in Mathematical Finance.

 

[rajanS]

I think many people go into fields of their choosing based on social aspects. i.e, many indians go into doctors, engineering or lawyers because that it is the norm that our parents and grandparents persuade us to become. I read this book one time and it made a good point that people dont realize what they want to do until they are much older. As an undergrad, your purpose is to look at different fields to see what interests you the most. I, for instance, was very interested in economics and finance since the beginning. My dad was pretty upset that i switched to this field from mechanical engineering. Now, I am pursuing a masters in financial engineering. You would be surprised that there are people even from top MFE programs who are not doing MFE related work anymore. One person I recall started her own glass company and another person went into app development for the iphone.

 

[Faisal]

I think many people go into fields of their choosing based on social aspects. i.e, many indians go into doctors, engineering or lawyers because that it is the norm that our parents and grandparents persuade us to become. I read this book one time and it made a good point that people dont realize what they want to do until they are much older. As an undergrad, your purpose is to look at different fields to see what interests you the most. I, for instance, was very interested in economics and finance since the beginning. My dad was pretty upset that i switched to this field from mechanical engineering. Now, I am pursuing a masters in financial engineering. You would be surprised that there are people even from top MFE programs who are not doing MFE related work anymore. One person I recall started her own glass company and another person went into app development for the iphone.

I am in a similar imbroglio. Inspite of being an undergrad from a fine Indian Engineering Institute, I have my interests in mathematics and its financial applications. However, my family has been lamenting about my decision to apply for MFE program. According to them, it would be a waste of four year education. You know the stigma attached to so called 'non-science/engineering' stream in India! I enjoy reading texts on stochastic calculus and derivative pricing models much more than my textbooks on structural design and I am pretty sure quantitative finance is where my interest lies.

 

[maneet]

I just got off the phone with a family friend's relative. The guy tried to break into a top MFE programs for the past 3 years. All fails. I had tried to advise him from the onset, but he thought he knew better --particularly about the importance of doing good research. Now he's scraping by with some job that he hates. He is back, and seems ready to listen.

So here's my question for all you who have done MFE or currently doing it. What mistakes did you make during the early stages of your application or during study? And what did you do to rectify them? I'll start:

Before jumping head on into the MFE field, I wish that I had done more research to have a good understanding of the industry, how I fit in and how I picture myself in the next 5 years (I found this book best suited for this purpose). I could have learned a lot from reading books in the master reading list. I could have learned some useful programming tools such as SQL, Python, VBA in additional to C++. I could have gone to more industry talks and conferences to understand the problems people are facing and solving. I could have gone to meet-ups to network more with other working finance professionals.

What's yours?

Andy, your advise came out so useful to me that I ended up buying the book that you mentioned. Thanks!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Andy, your advise came out so useful to me that I ended up buying the book that you mentioned. Thanks!

That's very nice to hear.
If I can suggest only one book for people who say they want to become a quant, that's the one. Many people read Derman's My life as a Quant and decided right there and then that they want to be "quant" (this is real life examples from the 1000+ MFE applications I read). While the book provides good historical context through the eye of a physicist-turn-quant, most readers of this forum can't take what happened 30 years ago to what Wall Street is today.

For this reason, the Complete guide to Capital Market for Quantitative Professionals is a more appropriate read. It provides detailed information on the roles MFE graduates and other quant wannabe play in modern quant finance industry. This also gives applicants more substance to talk about in their essay.

And there is no reason you should read only one book and be 100% sure about a future career. Our master reading list has dozen of books on each topic/interest/level for a reason.

 

[bubblegum]

I do like that book, Complete guide to Capital Market for Quantitative Professionals, however in my view I do feel like its heavily geared to the sell-side and lacks information about the buy-side. This is a negative in my view. Personally I want to work as a Quant on the buy-side and I felt this book did not provide sufficient knowledge of that area.

Having said all that, definitely get this book if considering a career as a Quant, it is without doubt the best book to read to gain an understanding of the Quant arena.