Best Undergraduate Major for Trading?

[FutureFinEngineer]

I'm starting college next year and I want to know which major (or double major) would be best for S&T and quant finance. Assume that all of these majors are a top 25 college (just an assumption, not trying to be pretentious).

- Operations Research (with emphasis on computational finance/financial engineering)
- Finance (general)
- Economics
- Computer Science

I'm leaning toward operations research right now, but I'm afraid it will make it harder to be recruited for regular S&T. Are math majors at an advantage/disadvantage when it comes to S&T jobs compared to typical finance/business majors?

 

[FutureFinEngineer]

bump... Does anyone know the answer to this question? I could really use some advice to help me pursue a career in trading.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

This mostly comes down to which banks recruit from your school (if your school is a target) and which major they hire into their training program.
Once you are outside of the traditional target recruiting channels, things are much harder. Lot of people from non-target do get into banking, using their networking, cold-calling, etc.

Just realize we focus mostly on the graduate level for the quantitative roles as quant roles for undergraduates are limited in size and scope.

 

[FutureFinEngineer]

Thanks. One question though: If quantitative roles are mainly for grad/PHD students, why are there undergraduate programs in quantitative finance? For example: Carnegie Mellon has an undergraduate BSCF program, Columbia and Princeton offer a BS in ORFE, the University of Michigan has a BS in Financial mathematics program, etc. Are these programs legitimate because they're at top-tier colleges, or are they essentially useless for quantitative roles in finance industry? I'm really intrigued by quantitative finance so I'm aiming for these types of programs when applying to colleges (along with traditional business/econ degrees).

 

[Andy Nguyen]

If quantitative roles are mainly for grad/PHD students, why are there undergraduate programs in quantitative finance?

The better question is do we know where those graduates end up? Have you seen any detailed placement stats from those programs? You definitely should ask this question to those programs.
They exist because of a demand from first degree seekers. Many MFE applicants already have a bachelor degree so it doesn't make sense for them to get a second bachelor degree.
I suspect that many of these BS grads may get internship and entry level jobs but the jobs would have lower requirements.
Finance jobs are getting more technical than before so I won't be surprised if there are more BS programs in the future. What kind of jobs they fill, we would have to wait and see.

 

[FutureFinEngineer]

The placement is extremely good for Carnegie Mellon - BSCF (due to the strength of MSCF), Columbia - ORFE (for obvious reasons), and Princeton - ORFE (for extremely obvious reasons). Most graduates from these programs easily get positions at BB's or elite trading shops. What I noticed however is that most of these students get S&T jobs and only a handful get Quant analyst jobs (according to career placement surveys).I guess that answers my question, lol.

Anyway, is it true that trading is becoming a lot more technical? A friend of mine told me that investment banks are increasingly looking for traders with math/engineering/computer science backgrounds. If this is true, why would people with these degrees be more useful than traditional business/economics majors?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Most graduates from these programs easily get positions at BB's or elite trading shops. What I noticed however is that most of these students get S&T jobs and only a handful get Quant analyst jobs (according to career placement surveys).I guess that answers my question, lol.

This mostly comes down to which banks recruit from your school (if your school is a target) and which major they hire into their training program.

If you are set on quant roles, at the very least, take a look at the landscape and and see where your skill set fits in. Start here
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Quantitative-Professionals-McGraw-Hill-Investment/dp/0071468293/
Trading is more technical. An increasing percentage of trading is done by machines these days.
https://www.quantnet.com/threads/ou...-their-time-pounding-away-writing-code.10630/
https://www.quantnet.com/threads/so-you-want-to-be-a-financial-engineer.11338/

 

[FutureFinEngineer]

Thanks! I've already read some of those articles but I'll definitely read more of them. Also, final question: If you attend a college with strong tech. programs (like Carnegie Mellon or MIT), which of the above majors would be better for a trading career?

 

[Keith Tan]

if you've looked through job postings for trading roles, they don't mention MFE or brand unis. you don't need to attend strong tech programs to be come a trader. what hiring managers primarly look for are skills in finance, econs, maths and stats.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

why would people with these degrees be more useful than traditional business/economics majors?

I should also emphasize the importance of understanding business, finance and how Wall Street works. It's not always about coding, math which probably explain the most successful guys on WS are not always the math genius.

 

[FutureFinEngineer]

UPDATE: I got accepted to Carnegie Mellon and will be going there next year. I want to major in computational finance, but only 10 people are allowed to major in it each year. If I can't study comp. finance, I'll probably major in Operations Research and Statistics (which is a concentration in the math program at CMU). Here are my options for majors:

Computational Finance and CS - very, very difficult given that both of these majors are quite rigorous at CMU
Computational Finance and Math (w/ concentration in OR and Stat)
Math (w/ concentration in OR and Stat) and Business w/ a minor in Comp. Finance
Math (w/ concentration in OR and Stat) and CS w/ a minor in Comp. Finance

Which one of these options would be the best if I want to apply for S&T? Just so you know, I actually like all of the majors I've listed. I just want to know which combination would be optimal.