Engineering PhD switching to MBA Finance

[bernardlevy]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to posting here, but have always found this forum to be immensely helpful when seeking advice regarding school or career. So, I would appreciate it if would help evaluate my chances for an MFE or an MBA, with emphasis finance.

I'm currently a first year PhD student at a Top 5 engineering school (CalTech), majoring in electrical engineering. It wasn't easy for me to get here - my university accepted only about 5% of applications for the PhD program this year. However, I've become somewhat jaded by the fact that engineers don't make that much money, so I would like to switch to the finance industry. Yes, I apologize, but, it's all about the money (I don't come from a particularly wealthy family).

Some background: I have a BS and MS in electrical engineering, with a 4.0 GPA for my MS and <3.5 for my BS. My GRE scores are Q: 800, V: 700, AW: 6.0 (all >90th percentile). I also have internships at Intel, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and quite a bit of consulting experience. Unfortunately though, I have no full-time work experience.

My question is: given my background and motivation, what are my chances in making into one of top MBA schools, with an emphasis in finance?

Thank you all for your help.

 

[echostate]

First, your chance for a decent MFE program is much better than that for a MBA program.

Second, an EE PhD from Caltech is highly appreciated in quant finance. You can even stay in your PhD program a few years (and get a Master degree from Caltech) and quit when you find a full-time quant job.

Third, if you really want to be a banker instead of a quant, you should go for an MBA (instead of either a PhD in EE or a MFE). But in that case, you might be posting at the wrong place (quantnet).

 

[atreides]

From your brief profile, you will probably have little trouble getting into a top MFE program.There are a few PhD converts on here quantnet who made a similar switch.

However, If money is your only motivation, I'm sure that won't go well with the ad committee when they read your SOP.

Have you looked at the MIT WFin??

 

[TraderJoe]

The MBA requires minimum 2 years full-time work experience. Average is 5 years.

If you want quant job, the PhD in EE from Caltech is much better than MFE and zero debt.

 

[Yike Lu]

Send me a PM. I did my undergrad at Caltech.

 

[Connor]

Engineers are always in demand and get paid well. I would recommend finishing your PhD and possibly getting a masters during your PhD if possible.

Work experience is not a requirement for US MBA programs, some admit students straight from undergrad just the average work experience is in the 2-3 year range.

If you only care about the money then invent something.

 

[alain]

stay as a PhD while you look for a Job. Try to concentrate your PhD in DSP. You will be golden... but don't half *** your studies.

 

[latency]

You can get into a role which MFEs get into with your background. If you are looking to work in HF/algorithmic trading, there is a firm in Los Angeles, madison tyler which recruited students from caltech in the past. RGM in Austin is another example. I am sure you can find other roles too. If on the other hand, you don't want to do quant kind of work and would like to get an MBA I would suggest getting a few years of experience.

Hello everyone,

I'm new to posting here, but have always found this forum to be immensely helpful when seeking advice regarding school or career. So, I would appreciate it if would help evaluate my chances for an MFE or an MBA, with emphasis finance.

I'm currently a first year PhD student at a Top 5 engineering school (CalTech), majoring in electrical engineering. It wasn't easy for me to get here - my university accepted only about 5% of applications for the PhD program this year. However, I've become somewhat jaded by the fact that engineers don't make that much money, so I would like to switch to the finance industry. Yes, I apologize, but, it's all about the money (I don't come from a particularly wealthy family).

Some background: I have a BS and MS in electrical engineering, with a 4.0 GPA for my MS and <3.5 for my BS. My GRE scores are Q: 800, V: 700, AW: 6.0 (all >90th percentile). I also have internships at Intel, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and quite a bit of consulting experience. Unfortunately though, I have no full-time work experience.

My question is: given my background and motivation, what are my chances in making into one of top MBA schools, with an emphasis in finance?

Thank you all for your help.

 

[bernardlevy]

Thanks very much for the suggestions. latency, I checked out those firms and they are quite interesting. Incidentally, one of them is coming to my school soon, so I just get a chance to talk to them soon

Honestly, I dont think engineering is as great a profession as it used to be. Engineers with PhD's make 100-200k, then get laid off at age 55. Even if you make it into technical management, the career prospects are not so bright. One way to get rich is to start a company. But, the problem with this is that it is extremely difficult to find financing, and even with financing, nearly impossibly difficult to properly time the introduction of your product/technology into the marketplace. In essence, I would say that 98 out of 100 startups FAIL and generate no money for the engineers behind it.

I am tired of working for the man; I wanna be THE MAN. I want to have a deep understanding of finance, which, paired with my technical background, will maybe give me some advantage on Wall Street. Perhaps as a quant with an MFE, perhaps as a MBA involved in venture capital. I want to get closer to the money, so that I can make more money. I watched some documentary last night about quants as the "alchemists" on Wall St. The guy at the beginning said the the closer you are to money, the more money you will see for yourself. I have to say, that made a whole lotta sense to me.

---------- Post added at 10:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:38 PM ----------

stay as a PhD while you look for a Job. Try to concentrate your PhD in DSP. You will be golden... but don't half *** your studies.

Hello Alain,

May I ask why you recommend concentrating in DSP? Within the EE community, I had always been under the impression that integrated circuit design, especially RFIC for communications electronics, was the most lucrative area.

Thanks for your input.