MFE after PhD, PhD after MFE, and related questions

[Yuriy]

Shakti, now I see

One of the things you can do is check departmental websites of each school you want to apply to and find professors with interests similar to yours. Usually, professors have homepages where they list their interests along with publications, and some publications are available in PDF format. Study those topics and see if you like any of them.

 

[finssite]

Hi Yuriy,

Thank You for the reply! I've been reading papers trying to figure out a potential opportunity with some professor. I'll be spending the next few months improving myself in algorithms and data modeling. Simultaneously, I'll search for relevant papers and professors in Finance. Also, the online courses in FE should help. Please keep me in mind if you come across any relevant research projects in Finance.


Thank You,
Shakti

 

[QuantNeeds]

Depends on where you go. Most schools won't give you money for more than 4-5 years. So if you do it Full-Time being a Teaching or Research Assistant, then 5 is the maximum without Masters degree. But if you have a Masters in a related area, subtract 2 years. Also, as someone told me and I will probably see that for myself, at some schools, all you need is to complete a certain number of "in class credits" and pass qualifying exams and then you can do your thesis while working Full-Time anywhere in the world. So, if you already have relevant Masters, and they let you do your thesis Part-Time, then you go to school for a year or a little more and pass qualifying exams and after that do the thesis while working.

Hi Yuriy,

When applying for positions your resume and application would state say,
MSE (date completed) and ____ Ph.D. candidate? Basically can you technically say you have completed the masters program? And how would you state that you're almost done with the doctorate, but will complete your thesis while you work? Some funds and IBs are looking for Ph.D.s but you are not necessarily done...but have completed half of the work #-o

 

[Yuriy]

Hi Yuriy,

When applying for positions your resume and application would state say,
MSE (date completed) and ____ Ph.D. candidate? Basically can you technically say you have completed the masters program? And how would you state that you're almost done with the doctorate, but will complete your thesis while you work? Some funds and IBs are looking for Ph.D.s but you are not necessarily done...but have completed half of the work #-o

You become a Ph.D. candidate only after "advancement to candidacy" -- kind of means that you are almost done -- which will happen after you pass exams and satisfy other requirements depending on your school. If you are admitted to a Ph.D. program, you are not a candidate but just a Ph.D. graduate student. There is a long way from admission to candidacy, and some people don't make it.


Depending on your background, you can enter a Ph.D. program with just a Bachelor's degree; in that case you might have an option to complete a Masters degree as you work towards Ph.D. But if you already have a relevant Masters degree, you might be waived from certain classes and just work on those that you need for the Ph.D., which means you don't complete any Masters degree.

For example, if you have an MS in Statistics and get admitted to a Ph.D. in Statistics, you still have to pass exams based on introductory statistics, but you don't need to take those courses.