Doing a finance/financial math Masters in Australia

[Heisenberg]

I am currently pursuing a 4 year degree in Financial Mathematics. I am hoping to do a Masters at Australia. University of Melbourne offers a Masters program in Finance which is kind of in the top of my list at the moment. How ever I am not sure to what extent this program is recognized globally and the rankings. Would appreciate if someone could suggest Masters programs on finance or financial mathematics that are well recognized in Australia. Thank you.

 

[vxg]

why are you planning to do it in Australia ? I graduated with undergrad finance degree from the University of Melbourne and while for undergraduate degree, it is okay, I really struggle to find any world class graduate degree in Australia.

regarding UniMelb Masters of Finance, I has some friends that were doing it in the past, I don't think it's quantitative at all plus apparently it is targeted for people who does not have finance background and would like to switch to finance. Take this with a grain of salt, but according to my friend who were there, the admission standards are quite low and she was not impressed at all with the quality of her classmates, plenty of people there doing master because they could not land a job after undergraduate degree. She actually switched to another program halfway.

UniMelb has another program called Master of Commerce, which I think is a better program since it has a higher admission standard so the quality of people seem to be better, but I would still recommend US/UK programs any day over this one.

For specialised quant program, I think UTS in Sydney has one that is quite practical. If I am not wrong, the head quant of Commsec used to teach there, it is however part time only. UNSW also has one but I am not sure of the quality.

Another thing with Melbourne is that the finance jobs here are quite limited especially if you have specialised yourself to quantitative finance.

 

[Heisenberg]

why are you planning to do it in Australia ? I graduated with undergrad finance degree from the University of Melbourne and while for undergraduate degree, it is okay, I really struggle to find any world class graduate degree in Australia.

regarding UniMelb Masters of Finance, I has some friends that were doing it in the past, I don't think it's quantitative at all plus apparently it is targeted for people who does not have finance background and would like to switch to finance. Take this with a grain of salt, but according to my friend who were there, the admission standards are quite low and she was not impressed at all with the quality of her classmates, plenty of people there doing master because they could not land a job after undergraduate degree. She actually switched to another program halfway.

UniMelb has another program called Master of Commerce, which I think is a better program since it has a higher admission standard so the quality of people seem to be better, but I would still recommend US/UK programs any day over this one.

For specialised quant program, I think UTS in Sydney has one that is quite practical. If I am not wrong, the head quant of Commsec used to teach there, it is however part time only. UNSW also has one but I am not sure of the quality.

Another thing with Melbourne is that the finance jobs here are quite limited especially if you have specialised yourself to quantitative finance.

Thank you for your valuable advice. I was hoping to get in touch with a person with some first hand information and I am glad that I did. I am hoping to migrate to Australia and that is why I am looking for a Masters program over there hoping that it would make things easier. The master of commerce indeed looks to be more quantitative. Master of Actuarial science at UniMelb is also on my list but I do not know how the job market is for actuaries in Australia and how well that qualification is recognized.

 

[vxg]

I think the most important thing is to secure a PR if you want to immigrate here, I am not sure if master will help you secure a PR (I got my PR when I graduated from undergrad degree, and that is only because I did accounting on top of finance which are deemed critical skills in shortage). One of my friend graduated with maths/actuarial double degree. Top student, but could not get a PR, and hence he could not get a job until now (he graduated in 2011) since 90% of jobs here require you to be a PR/citizen, so I suggest you determine first whether doing master here will help you get PR

I don't know much about master of actuarial science but actuarial centre in UniMelb is headed by Mark Joshi, a very well regarded professor who was ex quant himself. you can google him and go to his site, he has forums he will check regualrly if you want to ask him questions as well

 

[Heisenberg]

I think the most important thing is to secure a PR if you want to immigrate here, I am not sure if master will help you secure a PR (I got my PR when I graduated from undergrad degree, and that is only because I did accounting on top of finance which are deemed critical skills in shortage). One of my friend graduated with maths/actuarial double degree. Top student, but could not get a PR, and hence he could not get a job until now (he graduated in 2011) since 90% of jobs here require you to be a PR/citizen, so I suggest you determine first whether doing master here will help you get PR

I don't know much about master of actuarial science but actuarial centre in UniMelb is headed by Mark Joshi, a very well regarded professor who was ex quant himself. you can google him and go to his site, he has forums he will check regualrly if you want to ask him questions as well

Thanks alot!

 

[alaa]

I recently graduated with a bachelor degree in banking and finance (Excellent grade with cumulative GPA=3.68) and i am hoping to get my masters in Quantitative finance from an Australian University .

I have two choice:
MS Quantitative Finance at UTS
MS Financial Mathematics at UNSW

I am an international student and i don't have enough information about these two universities but i know that they are among the top 5 in Australia.

which one provides the best program related to Quants? I really do appreciate anyone's advice

 

[themarketprofessor]

I think the most important thing is to secure a PR if you want to immigrate here, I am not sure if master will help you secure a PR (I got my PR when I graduated from undergrad degree, and that is only because I did accounting on top of finance which are deemed critical skills in shortage). One of my friend graduated with maths/actuarial double degree. Top student, but could not get a PR, and hence he could not get a job until now (he graduated in 2011) since 90% of jobs here require you to be a PR/citizen, so I suggest you determine first whether doing master here will help you get PR

I don't know much about master of actuarial science but actuarial centre in UniMelb is headed by Mark Joshi, a very well regarded professor who was ex quant himself. you can google him and go to his site, he has forums he will check regualrly if you want to ask him questions as well

You're all wasting your money there unless you're so loaded with money If you don't mind me being blunt and forthright here, i have been there and done that! Actuarial field and profession are saturated, not much of career path or choices for you. While the real world professionals are talking about an overhaul of the financial and ecnomics theories (including financial "engineering"), you guys are looking into universities for master degrees?

Get real guys! It looks certain to me that you guys have got no practical guidance whatsoever!

 

[Manss]

I recently graduated with a bachelor degree in banking and finance (Excellent grade with cumulative GPA=3.68) and i am hoping to get my masters in Quantitative finance from an Australian University .

I have two choice:
MS Quantitative Finance at UTS
MS Financial Mathematics at UNSW

I am an international student and i don't have enough information about these two universities but i know that they are among the top 5 in Australia.

which one provides the best program related to Quants? I really do appreciate anyone's advice

Hi Alaa,
I am planning to study quant finance in Sydney and currently faced with the same choice of yours. Could you please share with us your experience with the program you started and whether you feel it was the right choice or not?

 

[Kpkp]

Hi Alaa,
I am planning to study quant finance in Sydney and currently faced with the same choice of yours. Could you please share with us your experience with the program you started and whether you feel it was the right choice or not?

Hi, Did anybody join UNSW for masters in Financial Mathematics? How was your experience?

 

[Apu]

Bumping this up. Could someone please share any reviews about UNSW for Masters in Financial Mathematics? What are the faculty, course and placements like?