Best Undergrad program for MFE

[Kyle]

hey guys, im new here and would like to ask everyone their opinion on a situation i have.

Im an Undergraduate at Baruch with aspirations to go to graduate school for Financial Engineering/ Quantitative Finance.

Which program at Baruch best prepares you for an MFE program and looks best for Graduate school admissions? Im looking between a major in Finance and the Quantitative Methods and Modeling program (which is alot of computer sci/statistics). In QMM i can take classes such as Stochastics and C++. Either way i will have a minor in math.

All input would be much appreciated.

Thank you

 

[Uncle Max]

Because you are in Baruch, you can try to schedule an appointment with Baruch's MFE director. Or at least attend one of the informational sessions. The next one is on Tuesday, April 7, 2009.

 

[Roger Trimble]

My recommendation would be to lean toward the hard sciences rather than finance. But as long as you do well in which ever program you choose, you'll probably be competitive either way. Max's point is dually noted.

 

[Sanket Patel]

...Im looking between a major in Finance...

As an MFE student who went the Finance + Minor in Math route as undergrad, I do not recommend it.

The type of Finance you'll learn as undergrad and the type you'll learn at an MFE program is very different. Financial engineering is a highly specialized within Finance, it's isn't really Finance in the traditional sense.

As Roger pointed out, you'd be better off studying a hard science. This is not to say that one can't succeed in an MFE program with only a Minor in Math, but you might have to work harder.

If you're inclined to do so, you might even want to consider majoring in Mathematics and just taking a few Finance classes on the side. It's not that a Minor in Math isn't adequate preparation, majoring in something like Math or Physics will teach you how to think more quantitatively. You'll learn how to approach problems from multiple angles and be better poised to handle the rigors of an MFE.

As Max mentioned and Roger affirmed, you should schedule an appointment with Dr. Stefanica.

 

[EconomicsStudent]

I know you double majored in Finance & Economics, so I figure I'd ask. Were the economics courses more "quantitative" than that finance courses. My degree in Economics & Finance (I'm in 1st year) is heavily concentrated on economics. Is economics better preparation for MFE than finance?

A lot of employers consider economics to be a very quantitative field.

 

[Sanket Patel]

I know you double majored in Finance & Economics, so I figure I'd ask. Were the economics courses more "quantitative" than that finance courses. My degree in Economics & Finance (I'm in 1st year) is heavily concentrated on economics. Is economics better preparation for MFE than finance?

A lot of employers consider economics to be a very quantitative field.

Who might these employers be and what kind of jobs would these employers offer?

I really only had two "quantitative" courses from each department. Mathematical Economics\Static Optimization and Econometrics from economics and Risk Management\Financial Derivatives and a phd course in Financial Economics from finance. If you plan on working in some type of FE\QF type job, a finance or econ degree won't get you very far.

A finane or econ degree is fine, though, if you pair it either with math or a hard science. You could minor in math but I'd highly recommend going beyond the classes required for the minor.

Take a look at the profiles of the students at Baruch to see what it takes just to get into a top MFE program. Now imagine going up against that with just an economics degree.

 

[Stefan Zota]

Calculus, Probability, some Algebra and programming are a requirement to survive in MFE program such as Baruch.

Take a look at the profiles of the students at Baruch to see what it takes just to get into a top MFE program. Now imagine going up against that with just an economics degree.

Now you are really scaring the guy

 

[EconomicsStudent]

Who might these employers be and what kind of jobs would these employers offer?

I really only had two "quantitative" courses from each department. Mathematical Economics\Static Optimization and Econometrics from economics and Risk Management\Financial Derivatives and a phd course in Financial Economics from finance. If you plan on working in some type of FE\QF type job, a finance or econ degree won't get you very far.

A finane or econ degree is fine, though, if you pair it either with math or a hard science. You could minor in math but I'd highly recommend going beyond the classes required for the minor.

Take a look at the profiles of the students at Baruch to see what it takes just to get into a top MFE program. Now imagine going up against that with just an economics degree.

Oh I'm well aware of that. I plan on taking 3 semesters of calculus, ODE, PDE, linear algebra, game theory, two semesters of Probability & Stats, and an intro stochastic processes course, along with a programming course.

 

[IlyaKEightSix]

A lot of economics is simply extremely watered down IEOR.

The whole concept of risk-return, or unlimited wants/limited resources comes directly from IEOR, but all of the actual quantitative disciplines are locked in a box and hidden out of sight.

Economics, if I had to guess, could probably be done completely through IEOR.

As for finance, it's just applied economics. Central to finance? Risk/return.

CAPM is statistics. The hard part, which of course, is hidden away, is what assumptions you make for your market risk premium, the length of time you measure beta with respect to, etc. etc.

Markowitz? min sum(x'(sigma)x) s.t. sum(m'x)>=R;

From my own personal experience, you can learn all of the things that an undergraduate finance program will teach you in a good FEOR course in one third of the time, *with* the quantitative rigor (and perhaps even computational) thrown in there as well.

 

[Sanket Patel]

Ilya,

I take it you've never studied economics and I'm sorry to say but I don't think have any idea what you're talking about.

CAPM is just statistics? I'm willing to bet that you that have no idea of the mathematics and economics behind CAPM and the Markowitz frontier. What you think you "know" about CAPM and the Markowitz frontier is only a highly diluted, run-of-the-mill version of the underlying economics.

I suggest you start with Pareto efficiency in an Edgeworth-Bowley box work your way up to Utility theory and Arrow-Debreu securities, perhaps then you'll realize why Finance and IEOR exist.

 

[Kyle]

thanks for the input so far guys.

So by the looks of it when going into Financial Engineering. Math,stat, or Comp sci > Finance and economics for undergraduate study?

 

[buddyforall]

thanks for the input so far guys.

So by the looks of it when going into Financial Engineering. Math,stat, or Comp sci > Finance and economics for undergraduate study?

Study what interest you.By that I don't mean Greek or Latin but something that can give you a Job.For example it could be anything from maths, stats,economics,finance, marketing or C++.

Equally well paying Jobs are present in any of the above mentioned area if you are good enough in any of them.By this I mean not close any of your options so early in your career, rather find what interests you intrinsically.Something what you would do even if someone was not looking over your head.

Remember you would be spending more time working than you would spend with your family.