Business major transition to quant?

[Gavin L]

Because, er, they've always been fascinated by the sexy but arcane world of quant finance (while knowing bugger all about the details) and the siren song of big money is irresistible. For some inexplicable reason they never took calc in high school and took psychology or political science in college and now, could someone please tell them how to complete the math requirements of the MFE cheap rapidly, cheaply, and effortlessly? These posts are all frivolous and there are too many of them on this forum, and submitted by people who have no intention of going through the hard and sustained slog of building a real math background. In short, they're trolls, asking pointless and frivolous questions which have already been answered umpteen times on this forum or can be found with a Google search.

The predicament I am in now is that I am actually taking all those 'real math background' (real/complex analysis, probability (calculus based), stochastic process, time series, linear algebra, vector calculus, metric spaces, measure next semester) and financial maths, but not completely sure whether it is for me... I feel like I have definitely jumped on the bandwagon as you described, but I do kind of have the background (and somewhat good grades) to back it up with lol...

 

[bigbadwolf]

The predicament I am in now is that I am actually taking all those 'real math background' (real/complex analysis, probability (calculus based), stochastic process, time series, linear algebra, vector calculus, metric spaces, measure next semester) and financial maths, but not completely sure whether it is for me... I feel like I have definitely jumped on the bandwagon as you described, but I do kind of have the background (and somewhat good grades) to back it up with lol...

If you're doing all these courses simultaneously, it's too much too fast and you won't be able to digest it all, or see the connections between them. "Less is more" and "less haste, more speed."

 

[Gavin L]

If you're doing all these courses simultaneously, it's too much too fast and you won't be able to digest it all, or see the connections between them. "Less is more" and "less haste, more speed."

Nah that's just a historical list haha. I'm doing Stochastic Processes, Metric Spaces, (Linear models and computational science - Matlab on ODEs/PDEs) this semester.

 

[DannyF]

Do you need metric spaces for quantitative finance?

 

[DannyF]

Yes, I would do a PhD in finance if I were you. You said you would consider being a professor, and this is the way to do it.

You can take many of the same courses MFE's take. I know that at GT they are encouraging a little bit of crossover of the MBA, grad finance, and QCF programs, for example. I imagine it is the same at many places.

I really see no upside to doing an MFE for you. You already have a decent job. If you prefer an intellectual challenge, being a research professor is probably better. Most MFE's are people who gravitate towards STEM and need to find something to do with their talents/skills.

 

[Gavin L]

Do you need metric spaces for quantitative finance?

Probably not but it sets up functional analysis which is sort of relevant... if you want to look into the nitty gritty stuff....

 

[CasanovaJ]

Because, er, they've always been fascinated by the sexy but arcane world of quant finance (while knowing bugger all about the details) and the siren song of big money is irresistible. For some inexplicable reason they never took calc in high school and took psychology or political science in college and now, could someone please tell them how to complete the math requirements of the MFE cheap rapidly, cheaply, and effortlessly? These posts are all frivolous and there are too many of them on this forum, and submitted by people who have no intention of going through the hard and sustained slog of building a real math background. In short, they're trolls, asking pointless and frivolous questions which have already been answered umpteen times on this forum or can be found with a Google search.

I wouldn't say there's a need to get nasty...

 

[TehRaio]

alright, if this wasn't off topic enough I would like to attract your attention toward a paper i'm actually reading that touches on the subject:

Mathematics in finance and economics: importance of
teaching higher order mathematical thinking skills in
finance


http://www.ejbest.org/upload/eJBEST_Tularam_-_7(1)_2013.pdf

 

[bigbadwolf]

I wouldn't say there's a need to get nasty...

C'mon, how many posts have we seen in the last few months? And they're all asking pretty much the same question. It's a case of the bad driving out the good (in terms of posts).

 

[Daniel Duffy]

I wouldn't say there's a need to get nasty...

Where was he 'nasty'?

 

[IntoDarkness]

help!

i have a similar background as op, a business administration major. now im in my 4th year and fascinated by quant finance (alchemy of wall street!).

i took biz calc1 and biz stats, and am confident in my ability to study higher math (i always like math!).

i would love to study mfe, the secrete sauce of finance alchemist, using sophisticated math models to rule the world and becoming flashy boys utilizing high frequency algorithm to exploit the market! so eccentric!

please assess my chances at shooting top mfe schools and help me pick math electives for my final quarter at school! thx!

 

[Gavin L]

help!

i have a similar background as op, a business administration major. now im in my 4th year and fascinated by quant finance (alchemy of wall street!).

i took biz calc1 and biz stats, and am confident in my ability to study higher math (i always like math!).

i would love to study mfe, the secrete sauce of finance alchemist, using sophisticated math models to rule the world and becoming flashy boys utilizing high frequency algorithm to exploit the market! so eccentric!

please assess my chances at shooting top mfe schools and help me pick math electives for my final quarter at school! thx!

can't tell if srs or troll...

 

[bigbadwolf]

Just as there's "business calc" (hang on a sec, let me throw up in disgust), there should also be "business stochastic processes." And there's a definite niche for books like "Stochastic Processes for Dummies/Idiots."

 

[CasanovaJ]

Just as there's "business calc" (hang on a sec, let me throw up in disgust), there should also be "business stochastic processes." And there's a definite niche for books like "Stochastic Processes for Dummies/Idiots."

My experience at Columbia over the past year has led me to believe that many of the people in the business school who you'd probably term to be "dummies/idiots" will probably be making significantly more money over the courses of their careers than many of the math geeks in my program with no social skills who think they're about to become masters of the universe for knowing what Ito's Lemma is... I'd be careful who you're condescending to.

 

[bigbadwolf]

My experience at Columbia over the past year has led me to believe that many of the people in the business school who you'd probably term to be "dummies/idiots" will probably be making significantly more money over the courses of their careers than many of the math geeks in my program with no social skills who think they're about to become masters of the universe for knowing what Ito's Lemma is... I'd be careful who you're condescending to.

Ah, silly me: the sole criterion is of course the dollar. That alone measures how much of a man one is, one's virility, one's power.

 

[CasanovaJ]

Ah, silly me: the sole criterion is of course the dollar. That alone measures how much of a man one is, one's virility, one's power.

I showed virility/power to your mom last night...

 

[TehRaio]

My experience at Columbia over the past year has led me to believe that many of the people in the business school who you'd probably term to be "dummies/idiots" will probably be making significantly more money over the courses of their careers than many of the math geeks in my program with no social skills who think they're about to become masters of the universe for knowing what Ito's Lemma is... I'd be careful who you're condescending to.

'Might' be the case in finance but I don't think in the world of mathematics money buys respect.
Also doesn't "Masters of the universe" refer more to the MFINs of a precedent era than the MFEs?
Fact is, the industry is getting more technical, I hope MFEs become the MFINs of tomorrow.
Yes right now in this industry money gets you respect you may not deserve, but one can only hope with the inclusion of more people with more substance (math) over form (business and all) It will change.

You ought to take a look at the pdf I posted earlier, and read some of the responses a student thinking about majoring in finance got when he asked if he needed to be good at math.

If some only get into Quantitative Finance for the money, then they will respect those making more money than them just for that fact alone. But if they care about finance, or mathematical finance as a science, at least as much as they did when they chose to pursue a science degree, then I can't imagine any of them having respect for people who are basically "empty-suits" as Taleb calls them.

 

[CasanovaJ]

'Might' be the case in finance but I don't think in the world of mathematics money buys respect.
Also doesn't "Masters of the universe" refer more to the MFINs of a precedent era than the MFEs?
Fact is, the industry is getting more technical, I hope MFEs become the MFINs of tomorrow.
Yes right now in this industry money gets you respect you may not deserve, but one can only hope with the inclusion of more people with more substance (math) over form (business and all) It will change.

You ought to take a look at the pdf I posted earlier, and read some of the responses a student thinking about majoring in finance got when he asked if he needed to be good at math.

If some only get into Quantitative Finance for the money, then they will respect those making more money than them just for that fact alone. But if they care about finance, or mathematical finance as a science, at least as much as they did when they chose to pursue a science degree, then I can't imagine any of them having respect for people who are basically "empty-suits" as Taleb calls them.

Math skills and business skills are not mutually exclusive, they're both important, anyone who only has one of them is not in a position to inpugn someone who only has the other, and anyone serious about their career should want both.

 

[TehRaio]

Math skills and business skills are not mutually exclusive, they're both important, anyone who only has one of them is not in a position to impugn someone who only has the other, and anyone serious about their careers should aspire to have both.

I sort of agree. I can't help but feel that they should never be put on the same pedestal, and I might not be the only one thinking that on this forum. If this industry is going to change for the better, It needs to do away with the general managers for the technical ones. People who, as you rightfully said, are good at doing business with a strong understanding of the science behind their work.

 

[bigbadwolf]

Math skills and business skills are not mutually exclusive, they're both important, anyone who only has one of them is not in a position to inpugn someone who only has the other, and anyone serious about their career should want both.

No, that's not the point. The point is that business calc serves no purpose -- it has nothing to do with business skills. It's just another useless filler course. Differentiation and integration of polynomial functions and then some "applications" to things like marginal revenue and marginal cost -- the kind of "application" that never arises in real life. Those taking this course are not prepared to take further calc nor have they developed any real business skill by so doing. If you're doing math, either do it properly or not at all. If not at all, fine -- there's only a limited need for quants and applied mathematicians. And to return to the title of the thread, that's the reason why a business major will (probably) not be able to make the transition to quant.