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QUESTIONS ABOUT BEING A QUANT

Joined
11/27/09
Messages
4
Points
11
I am in my first semester as a junior at Binghamton University. I am majoring in Mathematical Sciences and Economical Analysis.

By the end of this year I will have finished Calc 1 2 3, Linear Algebra, ODE, PDE, and a introduction to higher mathematics class, as well as intermediate microeconomic and macroeconomic theory.

I can graduate by next year easily if I follow this path. I want to go to graduate school for Mathematical Finance.

Is it better for me to spend an extra year in college (this is only my second year in college because of advanced placement credits) and get a degree in financial engineering and math or graduate next year with economical analysis and math?

Also is there any difference in a mathematical finance and financial engineering?

What will I need as a prereq to get into a top PHD program in this quant finance feild, and what will I need to get on the GRE?
 
Congratulations on your progress sofar.

I would encourage you to try for an internship on a trading floor for next summer, to get a better understanding of the landscape. I see that you are already thinking ahead in terms of MFE and PhD, so an internship should expose you to enough mentoring on those as well.
 
What will I need as a prereq to get into a top PHD program in this quant finance feild, and what will I need to get on the GRE?

If you are applying for a PhD, you'll probably have to take the GRE subject test as well. Generally, 800 in quant on the general test and above the 75th percentile in the subject test (math) at the very least would be fairly respectable.
 
I understand that I will need to take the GRE and what not to get in.

Any ideas on good places to get internships? Also is it better to graduate next fall and then get an MBA from a school like Binghamton University with a concentration in accounting and financial engineering? or get an undergraduate degree in financial engineering in the same amount of time, and basically the same cost?
 
MBA != financial engineering, ever.
Another stereotype. An MBA is not going to stop us from doing what we want to do.

I did bump into a few PhD's who had anti-MBA bias. Some were convinced and worked with me and I lost few battles :)
 
Lately, I've come to believe that it depends on the school. CMU's MBACF is its FE program. MIT's OR program is in its Sloan school of mgmt, and Wharton has UPenn's PhD in statistics.

Not all MBAs are created equal. I am led to believe that you can go massively quantitative in an "MBA".
 
Let me qualify, he said MBA with concentration in accounting and fe.

To me that reads as "accountant", not "quantitative analyst".
 
Beware of Linear Thinking in a Non-Linear World

For those who are obviously oblivious about the latest developments in the world of financial accounting standards and their significant implications for future black swans, here is the latest word on "risk accounting" from someone most on this forum will surely recognize from a recent post. If the world of finance depends upon asset valuations, guess where those valuations come from: you already know the answer if you are up with the latest developments in the world of finance covered in the CFO or the Economist (or even NY Times to which one of the above link points): if you don't know the answer it is about time to figure out two acronyms, IASB and FASB? For those who may not know the first thing about financial accounting standards or how one of the greatest hedge fund managers discussed in an earlier thread on this forum raked in $300 million by using forensic accounting practices, it is about time to expand your horizons.

Let me qualify, he said MBA with concentration in accounting and fe.
To me that reads as "accountant", not "quantitative analyst".
 
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