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PhD and choices: quant or not?

JJH

Joined
12/1/10
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I'm about to start PhD studies. However, I have a tough decision between two departments: Finance and Quantitative Economics. I need to decide which one to choose and it will be a major decision since I will be affiliated with that department for the next 4-5 years.

Here are the pros and cons:

Finance
+ More recognized in the business world, might open more doors later in life
+ Prestige, the staff at finance departement always dress nicely and take proud of what they do
- The PhD courses are boring and less demanding
- Finance covers a whole lot of boring topics other than quantitative applications

Quantitative economics
+ More interesting PhD courses, might suit my interests better
+ More intelligent and qualified people working at the department
- Probably wont be recognized, might be tough to get a job outside university
- The staff and students are seen as weird, geeky people who don't understand business

Regardless of the department I choose, I will still be doing the same type of research. So that is not an issue here, I get to work with what I want. It is the atmosphere, prestige, characteristics and future prospects associated with the departments that I worry about.

Which one would you choose and why? Please also try to think outside the quant box, which option would be more fruitful overall in life? I'd appreciate any opinions, comments, experiences!
 
Don't know where you are going your PhD, but many programs allow you to take a few courses outside your department that are relevant for your research, thus allowing you to take at least a few courses from each program.

What do you hope to do afterwards?

Unless I wanted to specifically be a finance professor, I would choose quantitative economics because more interesting courses and people. Plus I don't like the sound of "dress nicely" ;) Research positions are going to be more interested in what kind of research you do rather than what your PhD is in (finance and economics are fairly related), and finance industry jobs are probably going to care more about the skills you have.
 
PhD Finance is weighted wayyy above PhD Economics in the academic world. Also which school is this at?
 
Phd in finance would also open up the opportunities to work in P/E, investment management, and i-banks in general...though Quantitative phd could also get you there...but not as much as finance...finance phd has more business touch, and is generally more valued in corporate world
 
Joy Pathak said:
PhD Finance is weighted wayyy above PhD Economics in the academic world. Also which school is this at?
Click to expand...

Actually, they are both PhD programs in economics. Finance is part of the broader definition of economics.
At least this is the case where I study (Europe).

As for the courses, the Finance program contains more microeconomics stuff whereas the Quant program is only math and statistics. I consider this to be an advantage of the Quant program, Im hoping that employers would see it this way as well?
 
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