UCB MFE Computer Science Minor Worth It?

[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!

 

[Yike Lu]

You realize that virtually everything a quant does is programming based, right?

 

[koupparis]

Take the courses. Think about what you're interested in (and also what's useful) and maybe don't do the minor, and just take other CS courses to supplement your goals/skills. You can always list a CS concentration or the CS courses on your resume instead of the minor.

 

[FE_Starter]

You realize that virtually everything a quant does is programming based, right?

Yes! But what language do they use the most? I heard C++, Matlab and Python.

 

[FE_Starter]

Take the courses. Think about what you're interested in (and also what's useful) and maybe don't do the minor, and just take other CS courses to supplement your goals/skills. You can always list a CS concentration or the CS courses on your resume instead of the minor.

Good point! I will just take those courses that are useful to me.

 

[C S]

Yes! But what language do they use the most? I heard C++, Matlab and Python.

That's what they *say*. But in reality, it's going to be a lot more VBA and Java than C++ and Python.

 

[Yike Lu]

That's what they *say*. But in reality, it's going to be a lot more VBA and Java than C++ and Python.

Depends entirely on the job. Mine is heavy Python and some C++ and a tiny bit of C#. On balance, you're probably right that more jobs are going to involve VBA and Java. That said, if you're a good programmer, you should be able to pick up a new language quickly. I was able to make production changes to Java code having had zero Java experience.