Is a MFE program really for me?

[Neuron]

I am about to graduate soon and I'm looking to start planning out my next move. I started thinking about possible trying to get into a MFE programming but I'm not sure how much work I'm willing to prepare for cause I don't know how much work is really required. I will be graduating with a degree in software engineering with a focus on simulation base work(Artificial neural networks, swarming and discrete models) My math background is limited to pre-calc, stats and discrete math. I know all MFE programs require a lot of math and I don't have a problem with that, I just need to know if this something I really wanted to, because I might have to go back to school to major in math.So i'm hoping that the Quant community could offer some advice and a better solution. Thanks in advance.

 

[roni]

A good MFE program requires good math skills...
lots of the students have a BS/MS in math/engineering....
So, they have good mathematical background...
programming is also very important

 

[Neuron]

So what advice are you offering? I already know all the things that you have mention

 

[Connor]

Two of the main MFE requirements are math and programming, and you will have candidates strong in both or stronger in one or the other. You will need to take more math to at least meet the minimum prereq requirements, but other than that focus on your programming knowledge/experience.

I wouldn't say that you have to go back to school and major in math but for you to get the MFE prereqs (+ the university prereqs for those courses) I would back-of-the-envelope guess around 10 classes which could be enough at some universities for a second BS. You could also consider a masters in math/statistics/applied math, I have seen some programs that will admit you and allow you to take undergrad courses to bring yourself up to speed.

Now if you are asking whether you should complete a MFE to begin with, that is up to you and what you want to do with your career. A MFE will prepare you for a quant role that mixes financial research/simulation/programming. But if you mainly want to focus on programming for finance, i.e. algorithm trading, go get a masters/phd in computer science.

 

[Neuron]

@conner

Well let me be honest my true goal in the future is to run my own firm with a couple of friends who are into finance/investing just as much as me. I spoke with a couple of school and they had mention to me that most people who go an major and MFE don't venture out to start their own thing. Now whether or not that true is another story. I was also considering focusing on my CS stuff and refining that to become as strong as possible and picking up the math piece by piece on the side, because I believe that my college CS knowledge and experience is about the same as some peoples college lvl math/physics on the forums. So even though I'm not as strong in math as most on here I am proud to say that my CS skills are. Once again I'm trying to achieve a goal here and the way I look at it is, I can either spend the time to go back and get the math to prove to myself I can do it or I can move forward and become even stronger at my programming and financial skills while picking up the math on the side and "Not lose a beat" Once again I really appreciate the advice, cause trying to figure this out by myself is driving me crazy.

 

[alain]

my true goal in the future is to run my own firm

what kind of firm? You say you CS skill are good. Are your software engineering as good? That's what matters.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Unlike the technical side, "startup" in finance needs lot of capital, say hundreds grands or millions while you need much less to start a tech firm. (The numbers are for scale and illustration purpose only).
That's why you don't see students with MFE starting funds. It will be a while before they can pay off the loan and save enough equity to invest in something.
In all likelihood, you will have to work years before you have a track record to get investors.
You can be a math genius with an idea or you can be a computer genius with a tool that makes money. You probably can see where I go with this.

 

[Neuron]

I'm actually a strong software engineering major and the kind of firm of i would to start with my friends in 10 yrs or so is an investment firm possibly more on the lines of VC/stock investing. Both of my friends are software engineering major, so all three of us have done a good amount of coding/design and general financial knowledge.

---------- Post added at 03:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:11 PM ----------

Andy, I do believe you have helped me figure out what it is I want to do. I would rather/enjoy being the guy who create the tools to make it work. My hat goes off to you for helping me over the career choice obstacle.

 

[Connor]

To start your own firm you will need experience in another firms before investors will trust you with their money.

From an individual standpoint, if the CS/SE side is what interests you focus on that in your career/education pursuits.

From a group perspective with your friends, if all of you focus on the same thing (for example CS/SE) then you would need to bring in others to handle other aspects of the business (or be a jack-of-all-trades). Ideally in my opinion you would want to start a firm with a group of people where everyone can bring a unique skill to the group even if there is some overlap.

 

[Neuron]

I totally agree with you, we all want to be good at finance but as far as each of us having a niche we don't. we have specialized in different things in our majors, for example I have done a descent amount of work with neural nets and another one of my friends have done a good amount with genetic algorithms. I guess the next question I must ask myself is what part of finance do I want to focus on mainly myself. Would you mind naming a few specialize areas that I could start my research on and dig deeper? Once again thanks for your time, this has been the best advice I've received in a long time.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Amazon.com: Genetic Algorithms and Investment Strategies (Wiley Finance) (9780471576792): Richard J. Bauer: Books
That may give you some leads on how to apply your knowledge into finance