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Is an age of 32 years too late to enroll for MFE?

mojo

Joined
4/12/15
Messages
2
Points
11
I am contemplating of pursuing MFE next year when I would be 32 years old. I have 6 years of trading experience in India and would like to move to US. If I pursue MFE, I would graduate at age of about 34. Would this age be a hindrance for top tier banks to hire me? Should I give up on the idea of MFE?
 
It will not hinder you in getting into an MFE program, but it will hinder you a lot in getting a job. At that age, you shouldn't consider an MFE unless you get into one of the top 3 programs, and an MBA will most likely be the best option for you. The reasons for this are as follows:
- Outside of the top 3 programs, most of the students are fresh graduates coming straight from undergrad in a STEM field. Recruitment at these programs is generally targeted at entry-level quant developer, junior trader, analyst-level jobs. Your age and experience will mean you can't compete for these jobs, and you will have to search on your own. If you don't already have extensive connections in the US, it will be very hard.
- Unless you worked for a reputable foreign firm in India, how firms will value your trading experience in India is ambiguous. So even if you get into one of the top 3 programs, it's difficult to say if you can enter into a bank as an associate or VP.
- An MBA is better because it's the typical "mid-career switch" route in the US. At a top 8 program, you will meet people who come from consulting backgrounds, musical backgrounds, law backgrounds, etc., and their career services are oriented towards placing these diverse people into big firms. You will meet more employers through this route who are willing to consider you as a hire, and since it sounds like your particular interest is in investment banking, this will be the best choice. (Depending on your background, getting into a top 8 MBA might be harder for you than getting into a top 3 MFE though).
- If you think about it from the perspective of an MFE employer: a lot of the demand for technical people like MFEs comes from prop shops and tech firms who are relatively young/small partnerships themselves. It's preferable that candidates don't have too much experience so they can grow with the firm.
 
Thanks for your reply.
I work with an Indian bank's prop desk. So yes the work ex may not be very well or recognised.
Regarding MBA, getting into top 10 b schools should not be a big problem given that I have studied in best colleges of India that are well recognised in US. But I have already done an MBA prior to joining this prop desk. I wonder how will a generic program like MBA help in getting a quant or trading role? I thought a more specific program like MFE would be a better choice. What would be your view on that?
 
So the two goals you stated, "getting into a top tier investment bank," and "getting a quant or trading role" are not necessarily disjoint sets. If you just want to work for a top tier investment bank, then the MBA is superior over an MFE because investment banks need more IB people than they need quants. You wont be doing quant work with an MBA, but you have the best chance at getting into the bank, and if you're really determined, hopefully network within and lateral into the trading desk.
If you take the intersection of your two goals, and are hoping to get a trading position at a GS, MS, or Citi straight out of your degree, then the sad reality is its almost impossible for you - but I agree that an MFE would win in this very specific case. I say this from my own experience interviewing for a FX Trading position at BarCap last semester, where the other two candidates apart from myself were from CMU MSCF and Harvard Applied Math, both of them around my age (23~25). Again they preferred younger, less experienced candidates for trainability and culture-fit reasons.
 
I think if you're doing an MFE in your 30s, then the best case is that you're already working and looking for the ability to advance at your firm - this means part time study. In any other case, as others have mentioned, you'll be competing against 25 year olds. I think drahmah's comments are valuable.
 
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