Getting into quant finance, which course to choose, and other job options.

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11/16/12
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Hi,
First of all, sorry if I seem naive, and a quick note; I live in the UK.
Some background first:
I'm a programmer with a strong background in mathematics. At my current job, I do slot machines maths modelling and verification, so I do a lot of statistics but it's all basic level, it requires thinking a lot but it doesn't require a great deal of mathematical background. Verification is based on coding simulations in C# and checking that my statistics are correct (I guess that's called Monte Carlo simulation)
I want to get into banking, I will be straight honest, it's for the money and the position and because I'm in London so it's the best place (one of) for this kind of jobs. However, I do actually enjoy mathematics and programming mathematical applications, I have always had A* in my mathematics courses, but I studied Computer Science so I didn't do "Advanced" level mathematics.
My situation now:
I have a first class degree Computer Science bachelor from a recognised university but it's not a top-ten one. I'm going to do Master's soon hopefully, and I thought I will do a course related to the field I want to get into. Now here is the thing, I don't necessarily want to be a quant, I basically just want to have a job in the financial industry that requires a lot mathematics-oriented programming.
My options:
So I have three different courses:
Oxford - MSc Computational and mathematical finance
Imperial London - MSc Mathematical finance
Imperial London - MSc Statistics
One of the tutors at Imperial advised me to do Statistics instead of Mathematical finance because, according to him, it's getting more difficult now to get a quant job and Statistics is broader so I have more options regarding my job perspectives.
My queries:
1 - Which jobs satisfy my needs (mathematical-oriented programming in a financial industry) other than quantitative finance?
2 - Do you agree with the tutor at Imperial that I should do Statistics instead of Mathematical Finance, the main thing that attracts me to the Maths Finance MSc is that it includes a three months internship (if I can) which is EXTREMELY important in my opinion, but I still want to hear what you think.
Thanks, I tried to break it down to make it easy to read. Cheers, any advice would be appreicated.
 
talk to recruiter first and see how things develop.
 
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