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PHD or Msc in financial mathematics?

busrel

Joined
12/3/11
Messages
4
Points
11
Brief summary about myself:

Undergrad: Computer Science & Maths (hated CS)
Msc: pure Mathematics (area: Complex functions of single variable, another minor area: quantum computing) LOVED it.

Now I either go for financial mathematics in PHD or Msc? PHD seems to be the formal routine but some argues that it might be waste of time and hard to complete. Msc ? holding two very closely similar Msc degrees sounds weird on the resume... IMHO.

My goal: buff up my resume in order to work at some big financial company and earn $$$. (sounds sinful to you academia. I am a poor guy wants some bucks despite I love maths :D )

My work background was purely IT, was an Intel engineer after undergrad... lost interest, actually, never liked CS.
 
If you don't like programming, you will get lost in math finance... how do you plan on making money for the firms you will be working for? programming is essential. Open quant job ads and see that programming is a must. Some do more programming than others.
I know somebody who is doing a PhD in FE and he doesn't like programming or he doesn't want to program... He's lost right now because he loves math and he's amazing in it but he doesn't want to do anything with programming... so, he plans on going into academia after he graduates.

Figure it out before you choose.
 
I said I hated CS doesn't mean I am not good at it, othewise how did I get a job at Intel after intensive interviews...
 
great, be condescending when someone is giving sound advice. You are aiming for a job with intensive programming and hate to program....And it is not that hard to get a job at intel with little to no programming experience.
 
busrel said:
I said I hated CS doesn't mean I am not good at it, othewise how did I get a job at Intel after intensive interviews...
Click to expand...
I never implied that you were good or bad at it.
You said you hated it, so I assumed you didn't want to do programming.
Good luck in making $$$
 
I like finance, and I love reading security analysis written by Benjamin graham and that's why I wanted to land a financial position rather than a dull engineer who had dealt with RTL craps all my 2 years at Intel... Maybe I wasn't presenting myself clearly, actually I didn't hate CS, but rather hated programming for the sake of programming. I liked a lot courses in CS such as OS design, computability (NP class), algorithm design.... I am a more theoretical guy than a practical person.
 
ETA: Do most applied math school accept someone with prior theoretical math Master degree? I have heard they can refuse you if you already got a degree in a very similar field... well if it's that case, I'd be destined for a PHD.
 
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