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Take unsupported Stony Brook Quantitative Finance PhD position ?

Joined
6/6/08
Messages
1,194
Points
58
Well, I just got admitted to Stony Brook's quant finance PhD program.

Problem being? No support.

Costs are about $27k a year and rising by 7-10%, and worse yet, I have no guarantee that Robert Frey will even be around in a couple of years because the state of his health is plummeting like a rock from what I hear (if I had to take a guess as to why, I'd say it's the American epidemic).

But in the meantime, the job market is completely garbage as well.

Do I just say screw it and continue looking for work, or go further into debt hoping for a pot of gold at the other side? I mean, I like quant finance enough that I can see myself doing it for the next 4-5 years and all...but...

I'm a little tired of the declining net worth, the dorms, and the ramen -_-...
 
Did they say no support AT ALL ? Or just for the first year? Can you compete for funding in 2nd year? Many places let you compete in 2nd year. Also, you can possibly teach after your coursework/etc is done to cover some costs maybe. Start off there, and then transfer to a school with funding?

When I was in my PhD program , I used to mix Ramen Noodles and GoldFish to make it taste better and different. lol
 
I believe it's first year, and then I can "compete", but the idea of them taking $30,000 from a poor kid who has no money to begin with by selling him a chance of a dream and then say "so long and thanks for the cash, sucker!" just doesn't sit well with me.

I'm also rather dismayed by how the school associated with Renaissance Technologies itself and its godlike Medallion performance can't support PhD candidates.
 
Have you tried negotiating on the tuition? Ask them for a tuition waiver. Then all you have to take a loan for is living expenses.
 
You applied to only one program?

When are you graduating?
 
To two. Stony Brook and Lehigh. Couldn't apply to any others since the deadline passed and my 4.0 wasn't in by then.

Graduating either May 13 or sometime late June/early July I think.
 
I suggest that you forget about PhD for now and ramp up the job hunt. Are you an international student on F1 visa?
 
I'm a US Citizen! Been in this country since I was 4! (Yeah, go figure, a US citizen who wants to be a quant...well, the world's pretty backwards as it stands right now, so I guess it shouldn't be too surprising, considering hardly anything is these days)
 
So if you're a citizen, why are you so worried about not getting a job? You can get any job - just weather the bad times first.

I'm a US Citizen! Been in this country since I was 4! (Yeah, go figure, a US citizen who wants to be a quant...well, the world's pretty backwards as it stands right now, so I guess it shouldn't be too surprising, considering hardly anything is these days)
 
So if you're a citizen, why are you so worried about not getting a job? You can get any job - just weather the bad times first.

Because I'm only being supported by a mother who teaches piano and have a ton of student loans coming due? Plus, sitting at home while realizing some of your other friends are working is a quick way to feel pretty horrible about yourself.

So it's either a PhD or to work we go. So far, as it stands, Stony Brook is asking for money I don't have.
 
First, stop comparing yourself with others - every person's situation is different. Second, get ANY job if it is really that bad and don't do a PhD without support.

Because I'm only being supported by a mother who teaches piano and have a ton of student loans coming due? Plus, sitting at home while realizing some of your other friends are working is a quick way to feel pretty horrible about yourself.

So it's either a PhD or to work we go. So far, as it stands, Stony Brook is asking for money I don't have.
 
**** man, I feel bad.

You still haven't graduated? Then, relaxxx.

You're an american citizen. You won't have a problem getting a job. Just give it some time.

I personally would suggest you apply to Canadian firms also. NAFTA agreement FTW!

They all have quant positions and very high paying.

I pm'ed you a list of companies in Canada that are hiring aggressively. Hope it helps!
 
Seeing that your goal is to get into a quant job, why not just cut to the chase and consider doing an MFE somewhere The stats from some of the good schools look very good (UCB remarkable placement even in a recession, among other schools like Baruch, CMU, etc). I have friends that finished last year and will finish this year from EE and CS masters that have quant offers at Citadel, DE Shaw and Bloomberg because of the at least decent career services at their schools (UIUC and Georgia Tech)

The job market is bad, but if your current search strategy is not working, then change it.

If you know your goal is a quant job, why do you want to take the long and unsustainable route via unsupported PhD , and then hope for the best. That doesn't make much sense to me.


I'm a US Citizen! Been in this country since I was 4! (Yeah, go figure, a US citizen who wants to be a quant...well, the world's pretty backwards as it stands right now, so I guess it shouldn't be too surprising, considering hardly anything is these days)
 
An MFE would simply be redundant I feel, at this point, since I already will have a master's. Plus, I have no money. None. Less than none, in fact. The reason I applied for PhDs was that I was hoping for a stipend, and to no longer go deeper into a deficit.

Right now, it is about the money, which I simply don't have.
 
Ilya, you'll probably need to figure out the details, but consider job options in Asia. A lot of the banks have aggresive plans for growth in the region and given the relatively simple immigration policies, no one would mind relocating you. They pay well too! I wouldn't take up the PhD. without support, simply not worth it considering your circumstances.
 
Dude, first of all you need to figure out what you want to do. It seems in the past year you've gone from wanting to be a quant, to a quant developer, then to a trader and now it seems you're back to quant.

If you can't find that high-paying, FO position you want, then take kwlmy's advice: take what you can get. Also, as AnoopRN and Joy Pathak suggested, look outside the U.S.
 
It's time to cut the loss, swallow the pride (and dream) and start making money to payback the current student loan. You don't want to be a professional student to be chasing an illusion of a dream job.

Glad I support myself throughout my entire study without any debt by working part-time. I worked the grocery store before so it can be done.
 

A Future History PhD, and the Debt Issue


Check this out. It might give some insight. Here is a thread from The Chronicle that gives a lot of advice from faculty about doing a PhD without funding (the general message: don't do it). The OP was admittedly in humanities, where the job market is abysmal and pay is low; however, there is some insight on there that I think applies to anyone wanting to do a PhD.
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