Master in Computer Science VS Master in Math

[Eric.Z]

Hello,

I will have have graduated from college with a bachelor's degree in math and start working in a quantitative trading firm in April. There are no quant finance program in my area; my only options are master in math and master in computer science. Although I graduated with a math degree from college, I have taught myself a number of computer science courses and have internship experience at top tech companies in the west coast. I am well prepared for both programs.

Both programs take 10 classes to graduate.
The MA in math program has only one mandatory class to take and 9 electives where math, cs, statistics, even fiance class could count.
The MS in engineering of computer science program have seven mandatory classes to take, including algorithms, networking, machine learning and 4 more CS classes. The remaining three electives can be math, statistics and finance as well.

Given the information above, which program could be more helpful to a career as a quant?

Thanks


EDIT: the master of CS program is twice more expensive as the masters in math program and yes, the institution that offers the CS degree is more prestigious.

 

[GoIllini]

1.) I'd get yourself situated first. Work for six months then start thinking about grad school. The only thing that sucks worse than finding out you have a miserable boss is to find out you have a miserable boss AND be stuck taking a graduate CS class in what little spare time you might have had to find another job.
2.) I'm of the view that you already have math. You don't need more math. Let's talk about something a bit more applied.
3.) I'd lean towards studying CS. I'd also keep an open mind about Statistics or an MFE program.

But I'd work for six months, maybe a full year first. If you're bored, follow some Udacity or MIT OCW courses to prepare, but don't sign up for any graduate level courses for a grade until you're doing well.

 

[Eric.Z]

1.) I'd get yourself situated first. Work for six months then start thinking about grad school. The only thing that sucks worse than finding out you have a miserable boss is to find out you have a miserable boss AND be stuck taking a graduate CS class in what little spare time you might have had to find another job.
2.) I'm of the view that you already have math. You don't need more math. Let's talk about something a bit more applied.
3.) I'd lean towards studying CS. I'd also keep an open mind about Statistics or an MFE program.

But I'd work for six months, maybe a full year first. If you're bored, follow some Udacity or MIT OCW courses to prepare, but don't sign up for any graduate level courses for a grade until you're doing well.

What are the reasons that lead you to think I need CS more than math?
Correct me if I am wrong. I thought one has to have advanced math background to be a quant. I never had a chance to take courses like formalized stochastic calculus, pde etc. in college. The job I have is not related to quant either.

 

[GoIllini]

What are the reasons that lead you to think I need CS more than math?
Correct me if I am wrong. I thought one has to have advanced math background to be a quant. I never had a chance to take courses like formalized stochastic calculus, pde etc. in college. The job I have is not related to quant either.

Well, my core advice to you is to wait and to establish yourself on the team before you decide if you have time for a part-time quant degree.

Stochastic Calculus is very helpful and very important. This is something you can probably cover in an MFE or Stats program, or perhaps even take as a CS MS student. Right now we're trying to build out your quantitative toolkit. Your math undergrad is great for getting you into grad school, but it's not as good as engineering or CS or Stats at ensuring you will always have a job. So that is why I'm steering you in the direction of something more applied.

Prop shops and trading firms don't have the same stability as, say, IBM. There is a good chance that sometime in the next five years, you'll be on the job market again, and there is a moderate chance that this job search won't be voluntary. A more applied degree that's ancillary to your undergrad but not directly related gives you a broader and stronger safety net.

Definitely take a stochal course. And definitely take an econometrics course if you can. But I'd just recommend pursuing a different graduate degree than Math. You already have it; you can certainly go deeper in it if you want, but why not diversify your credentials? There are few unemployed programmers and statisticians out there. Besides, there are a lot of synergies between math and programming at a prop shop.

And finally, you don't even have to make up your mind until you've been working for six months. You can certainly start planning and thinking, but you don't have to decide right now.