Computer Science Minor Worth It (On Top of MFE Degree)?

[FE_Starter]

I am going to UCB MFE next Spring. Before that I have the time to finish a computer science minor from my undergraduate university. I am debating fiercely these days whether to take the minor or spend the time on something else. The deadline is Monday. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

I need to take five half-year courses to get the minor: 2 programming courses (Jave and C/C++), 1 math course for CS, 1 software design course and 1 essay course (CS and society..). As a financial engineer, the software design and essay course might not be too much of a use. It costs me around 6k to complete the minor.

Is "CS Minor" a good add-on to MFE degree on resume? Will it enable me to pursue some CS jobs? Does it worth the time and money?

Thank you so much!

 

[Ian Kaplan]

In my view the better your background in statistics and in real software development, the better you will do in actually practicing finance. So I think that a CS minor would be extremely helpful when it comes to actually working in finance.

A lot of people have noted that the best and brightest in finance are joining Silicon Valley start-ups since the Wall Street landscape remains pretty grim for quants (few jobs, relatively low pay and limited up-side). Can a CS minor help you get a job in CS? It depends on how you do interviewing. They don't really seem to care about much else. The book "Cracking the Coding Interview" is a pretty realistic picture of what interviews are like.

I believe that quant finance programs emphasize math to the detriment of software development. Few people ever work in options pricing. Funds that are trading options or are doing market making might be making, at most, ten billion or so. In contrast, the profits in investment portfolios are much larger since there are trillions of dollars invested. Designing, developing and testing quantitative investment portfolios is a software intensive process (see http://www.bearcave.com/finance/) If you don't like writing software, this is probably not a good field for you.

There are many other areas in finance where software is critical, including automated trading and the plumbing that makes it all work. Even in options there may be an options genius or two but to bring those ideas to the market, someone has to develop the reliable maintainable software to make it all work.

 

[TraderJoe]

Find out what textbooks and materials are used in the UCB MFE program and read up as much as you can in advance. The UCB program is incredibly intensive and fast-paced and the students are super-smart. prepare as much as you can in advance. With UCB MFE on your resume you are anyway going to get a good job and secure employment. Look at their placement stats. Focus more on doing well in the UCB MFE program than on getting a job as a quant developer later on.

 

[FE_Starter]

In my view the better your background in statistics and in real software development, the better you will do in actually practicing finance. So I think that a CS minor would be extremely helpful when it comes to actually working in finance.

A lot of people have noted that the best and brightest in finance are joining Silicon Valley start-ups since the Wall Street landscape remains pretty grim for quants (few jobs, relatively low pay and limited up-side). Can a CS minor help you get a job in CS? It depends on how you do interviewing. They don't really seem to care about much else. The book "Cracking the Coding Interview" is a pretty realistic picture of what interviews are like.

I believe that quant finance programs emphasize math to the detriment of software development. Few people ever work in options pricing. Funds that are trading options or are doing market making might be making, at most, ten billion or so. In contrast, the profits in investment portfolios are much larger since there are trillions of dollars invested. Designing, developing and testing quantitative investment portfolios is a software intensive process (see http://www.bearcave.com/finance/) If you don't like writing software, this is probably not a good field for you.

There are many other areas in finance where software is critical, including automated trading and the plumbing that makes it all work. Even in options there may be an options genius or two but to bring those ideas to the market, someone has to develop the reliable maintainable software to make it all work.

Thank you for your reply. Do you think CS minor would be a good complement to MFE degree? Will employers assume that you have obtained sufficient CS knowledge in MFE program, in that case a CS minor is not necessary?

 

[FE_Starter]

Find out what textbooks and materials are used in the UCB MFE program and read up as much as you can in advance. The UCB program is incredibly intensive and fast-paced and the students are super-smart. prepare as much as you can in advance. With UCB MFE on your resume you are anyway going to get a good job and secure employment. Look at their placement stats. Focus more on doing well in the UCB MFE program than on getting a job as a quant developer later on.

Good point! Are you a UCB MFE graduate btw?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I have met many students graduated from top MFE programs and can't program. These students had a hard time finding a job.
So CS minor is a signal to employers that you are more technical than the average graduate. It may get you an interview but you will have to prove yourself during the interview.
If MFE doesn't work out, CS will open doors in other fields.

 

[Daniel Duffy]

CS is useful of course, but the ability/willingness to get your hands dirty by programming its vital IMO.