Must have courses in MFE.

[QuantNet]

Hi,

I am an IT professional with 14+ years of exp Engineering background. I love numbers, I am a xls man and want to get into Quant field. I was looking at different MFE programs, and I notice different schools call it with different names. Some call it mathematical Finance, some call it Financial Engineering and some Quantitative Finance.

Wikipedia and other quants on this forum have opined that in the broad vision it does not matter and they are all same. However, are there some 'must have' courses one should look for in the program before he selects? For I also read a opinion on this forum which said unlike MBA the school in MFE doesnot matter. If so is the case, and so is diversity that at one school they dont teach c++ but other it is required, I need help from forum members to understand the 'must have' courses which helps me to narrow down to better programs.

Thanks in advance for all your help,

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Most headhunters here will tell you that they want people with strong c++ skills. I haven't seen any quant job ads that specially say that c++ (or enter some kind of programming language here) is not wanted.
When you pick an mfe program, avoid one that is too similar to an mba program. Select one that has c++ as a required tool (no vba, matlab stuff here), stochastic cal, finite difference, some kind of risk modeling, some flavor of structured finance.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Let me just say this one more time: You gotta have C++ in an MFE program if you want people to treat you seriously. And even if you teach C++, you gotta be real serious about it if you don't want your graduates to be laughed at during interviews.
I'm not familiar with other programs and how serious they are about C++ but Baruch is very serious about putting C++ in their students head. So serious that C++ pimps like Dominic noticed

Baruch seems to have some of the best C++ teaching of any MFE, as well as decent maths, and they have had to fight for some years.

 

[geniustud]

Required Courses

Hi Andy,

Thank you very much for the quick response. I have posted te outline of the program I am considering. It seems to have all the must have courses you mentioned. I dont see c++ however. Need your thoughts and opinion.


Financial Economic Theory (FINN 6203/ECON 6203)
Financial Econometrics (ECON/FINN 6219)
Derivatives I: Financial Elements of Derivatives (FINN 6210)
Risk Management and Fixed Income Derivatives (FINN 6211)
Statistical Techniques in Finance (MATH 6201) or Advanced Business & Economic Forecasting (ECON 6218)
Derivatives II: Partial Differential Equations for Finance (MATH 6202)
Stochastic Calculus for Finance (MATH 6203)
Numerical Methods for Financial Derivatives (MATH 6204)

Students must also chose two (2) Elective courses from the following list:
Directed Study Economics (ECON 6800)
Mathematical Economics (ECON 6100)
Advanced Macroeconomic Theory (ECON 6201)
Advanced Microeconomics Theory (ECON 6202)
Graduate Econometrics (ECON 6112)
Monetary Theory and Financial Theory (ECON 6235)
Applied Probability I. (MATH 6128)
Applied Probability II (MATH 5129)
Analysis I. (MATH 5143)
Numerical Solution of Ordinary Differential Equations (MATH 5171)
Financial Computing (MATH 6205)
Special Topics in Finance (FINN 6058)
Topics in Economics (ECON 6090)
Any MATH/STAT 6200 course level or higher

 

[Andy Nguyen]

That is UNC program. The way they structure it, you take a few courses in FIN, few in ECO, few in Math depts and get a degree once you have enough credits. They don't have a centralized program per se.

I don't see anything you can do about them not having C++ course. Or you can apply to another program.

 

[geniustud]

You are amzing. yes. it is UNC program. Pls help me. Is it worth taking or it is a fluffy graduate degree?

 

[Yuriy]

I agree that C++ is necessary for an MFE program but it is not the most important subject. The most important is Stochastic Calculus.