UChicago - Quant or IB?

[mjrmjr]

I'm an incoming (transfer) undergrad student to the University of Chicago. I know that I want to pursue either Quant or IB (or SWE if it doesn't work out).

I'm thinking doing a CS major (and maybe a math minor) but this might not be optimal for IB. Also, while UChicago is good, quant requires you to be insanely cracked at math. I was a bit of a math competition kid in HS but didn't get USAMO or anything like that. However, quant seems a lot more interesting.

Do you have any insights on what career to dive into and what to major in?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

IB and quant finance are two distinct career paths. You may have to decide which path to take because the skillset, the personality, the work environment, the future exit paths are different.
Are you introvert or extrovert? Do you enjoy meeting clients, pitching deals?
Do you enjoy spending days building models and debugging lines of codes?
Do you enjoy stochastic calculus, probability, brain teasers?
Some of the guides in this list may give you better pointers.

Thread 'Master reading list for Quants, MFE (Financial Engineering) students'

7/1/07

QuantNet International Guide to Financial Engineering Programs

DOWNLOAD GUIDE​

FREE QUANT CAREER GUIDES

• What do quant do ? A guide by Mark Joshi. (see attachment)
• Paul & Dominic's Guide to Quant Careers (see attachment)
• Paul & Dominic's Guide to Getting a Quant Job (see attachment)
• Career in Financial Markets 2024-2025, a guide by efinancialcareers.
• Interview Preparation Guide by Michael Page: Quantitative Analysis. Download
• Interview Preparation Guide by Michael Page: Quantitative...

• Andy Nguyen
• Replies: 307
• Forum: Books

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[kombuchalover]

I'm an incoming (transfer) undergrad student to the University of Chicago. I know that I want to pursue either Quant or IB (or SWE if it doesn't work out).

I'm thinking doing a CS major (and maybe a math minor) but this might not be optimal for IB. Also, while UChicago is good, quant requires you to be insanely cracked at math. I was a bit of a math competition kid in HS but didn't get USAMO or anything like that. However, quant seems a lot more interesting.

Do you have any insights on what career to dive into and what to major in?

If you want to limit your chance of failure just do Econ at uchicago and do IB. There’s a lot less competition for IB roles and the brand name moves more mountains for roles in IB. If you want quant, I think CS, Math, Physics, Econ all make sense. But yeah you will have to be extremely strong at math to be offered a trading job. Quant Dev is a coding centered role that pays well. If you want that then go for CS.

 

[mjrmjr]

If you want to limit your chance of failure just do Econ at uchicago and do IB. There’s a lot less competition for IB roles and the brand name moves more mountains for roles in IB. If you want quant, I think CS, Math, Physics, Econ all make sense. But yeah you will have to be extremely strong at math to be offered a trading job. Quant Dev is a coding centered role that pays well. If you want that then go for CS.

If I want to try for IB as well, do you think I can major in Math? I hear that the choice of major doesn't really matter that much for IB; just want to get some opinions on this. This way, I could try to pursue quant as well.

 

[andqkjwndk]

Speaking as someone with a few quant trading offers from top firms (think Jane Street, Five Rings, Citadel Securities, etc.), I can say that the level of math expected in QT interviews is generally no more than first- or second-year undergraduate material — mostly probability, stochastic process, statistics, game theory, and occasionally some combinatorics or graph theory.

That said, firms do care quite a bit about pedigree, both in terms of school (MIT, Ivies, Stanford, UChicago, etc.) and major. So being at UChicago already puts you in a strong position. If I were in your shoes, I’d recommend majoring in Math, Stats, or Physics, with some exposure to CS, Econ, or Finance courses.

As for IB, I personally wouldn’t go down that path unless you’re totally fine with working 80+ hours a week....I for one never even considered it