Risk Management to Hedge Fund using MFE?

saitama_baka · 12/31/23

Hey all,

I am currently in risk management at a bank (GS/JPM/MS/Citi) in India (I have already an MBA from a top B-School in India). I want to work in US preferably in QT/QR domain. I have a strong preference for hedge funds. My GPA in Engineering (at one of top 5 IITs was 9.26/10) but was bad in MBA (below 3). So, now to the questions:

Should I go for MFE degree in US?
Which would be more suitable -- MS in Stats or MFE or MS in CS?
Which schools should I target?
Should I take QuantNet's C++ certification?

Thanks in advance!

Paul Lopez · 12/31/23

How many years of work experience do you have?

saitama_baka · 12/31/23

Thanks Paul for replying. I have 1 years 8 months of work experience (working since 04/22). I also took a gap year between my bachelors and MBA due to personal reasons.
I currently work as a model validation quant.

Paul Lopez · 12/31/23

What is your ultimate goal in terms of ideal job in QT/QR land?

Would also be curious to know what prompted getting the MBA and now wanting to switch back to the more hardcore engineering/coding side of things.

saitama_baka · 12/31/23

Paul Lopez said:
What is your ultimate goal in terms of ideal job in QT/QR land?

Would also be curious to know what prompted getting the MBA and now wanting to switch back to the more hardcore engineering/coding side of things.

My ultimate goal is to go in a quant research role at a buy side firm where I can be part of the team that works on generating money for the firm.

My MBA degree was driven by not seeking a proper guidance and wanted to break into finance. Too late I realized, it was not for me (aversion to marketing courses). But it helped me get a foot in the door as a model validation quant.

quantsam · 12/31/23

Yes you should go for an MFE. You should be competitive for the top MFEs given your strong gpa and relevant work experience.

saitama_baka · 12/31/23

quantsam said:
Yes you should go for an MFE. You should be competitive for the top MFEs given your strong gpa and relevant work experience.

Thanks quantsam. Can you please tell me which MFE I should target?
I have preference for Baruch, Princeton, UC Berkeley, Columbia FE and CMU as my preferences in that order. Personally, Princeton is too expensive. I heard Columbia does not have great career service.
What do you or anyone here think about UChicago? Their ranking has seemed to improve a lot. And they have scholarships too!

MikeLawrence · 1/1/24

saitama_baka said:
What do you or anyone here think about UChicago? Their ranking has seemed to improve a lot. And they have scholarships too!

Cost/reward ratio is better than everyone except for Baruch (if you get the 30% or 60% scholarship). It's high up my own list for when I apply.

I've heard good things about the program recently, but it went through some really tough administrative issues around ten years ago (read old threads, I don't want to go searching for you, some previous students were quite mad) but those seem to have been sorted. Only good reviews in the last three years. Almost feels like a marketing push given that most of them were left on the same days. I kinda doubt it, but the coincidence is a bit much.

quantsam · 1/2/24

saitama_baka said:
Thanks quantsam. Can you please tell me which MFE I should target?
I have preference for Baruch, Princeton, UC Berkeley, Columbia FE and CMU as my preferences in that order. Personally, Princeton is too expensive. I heard Columbia does not have great career service.
What do you or anyone here think about UChicago? Their ranking has seemed to improve a lot. And they have scholarships too!

Yes those are all good. Baruch and UChicago with scholarships would be my choices to keep costs down.

saitama_baka · 1/2/24

Thanks @MikeLawrence and @quantsam for your inputs. What do you think of MS in Stats?
Also, which stats and data science certifications would you recommend to bolster my profile?

quantsam · 1/3/24

saitama_baka said:
Thanks @MikeLawrence and @quantsam for your inputs. What do you think of MS in Stats?
Also, which stats and data science certifications would you recommend to bolster my profile?

I would only seek certifications if you don't meet the pre-reqs for the programs. Check them and see if you have covered them in your degree, else look for accredited places to take them.

Stats could also work, particularly for the buy-side. Make sure its heavy in programming though. It might lack the careers service that some of the top MFEs have and the relationship they have with relevant employers. MFE would be my choice for the combination of stats, programming, financial application and targeted career service.

saitama_baka · 1/8/24

Thanks @quantsam so much!

shuvamsingh · 1/14/24

MikeLawrence said:
Cost/reward ratio is better than everyone except for Baruch (if you get the 30% or 60% scholarship). It's high up my own list for when I apply.

I've heard good things about the program recently, but it went through some really tough administrative issues around ten years ago (read old threads, I don't want to go searching for you, some previous students were quite mad) but those seem to have been sorted. Only good reviews in the last three years. Almost feels like a marketing push given that most of them were left on the same days. I kinda doubt it, but the coincidence is a bit much.

What if i am not from iit but from nit or iiit ( also top engineering colleges in india ) @saitama_baka @quantsam with cse and cfa level 1 preparing for level 2 along with internship in world quant and goldman . Final goal is to get an admission offer right out of grad school and landing citadel, janestreet

Risk Management to Hedge Fund using MFE?

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