Undergrad education advice B.Com vs B.Sc

[Niq W.]

this sounds like a bunch of dung...

It comes across in your admissions essay.. the admissions essay asks you why you want to join the program and what are your long term goals, I'm sure they would take it well if you wrote "for the women and the Bugattis"

 

[Niq W.]

Fair enough. So it is good enough for admission in your opinion?

I think it is, I got admitted to multiple programs with the amount of mathematics in the McGill program, maybe even a bit less, but I think its more important to have an overall strong profile from all aspects needed for MFE (Comp Sci, Math, Finance, internship/work exp.) than to have very strong math only, although it definitely helps.

 

[LongShort]

I think it is, I got admitted to multiple programs with the amount of mathematics in the McGill program, maybe even a bit less, but I think its more important to have an overall strong profile from all aspects needed for MFE (Comp Sci, Math, Finance, internship/work exp.) than to have very strong math only, although it definitely helps.

That's reassuring! I find Comp Sci very interesting anyway so I will be sure to take some more advanced classes at university. Unfortunately, I have to start out taking some really basic programming classes but they could provide the opportunity to learn a new language.

 

[bigbadwolf]

I'm sure they would take it well if you wrote "for the women and the Bugattis"

The women, the cocaine, the single malt whiskey, the Porsches (or Bugattis, if you prefer them). Why these shitheads insist on hypocritical responses is beyond me ..... Of course it's for the money. If you demonstrate sound math and programming knowledge and have the financial means, they shouldn't be insisting on pious bullshit.

 

[Yike Lu]

Let's say I'm an HR person and I have never heard of BCom (for whatever reason). If I receive 100 resumes, I might have some automatic filtering looking for BS, MS, PhD. Do you see BCom in that list? boom goes the dynamite.

I don't see this is a large barrier. You can probably write "Bachelors" and be fine. There is enough fragmentation in what BS vs BA vs whatever else means in the US and in the world generally that this goes to least common denominator of "Bachelors".

 

[tfors]

The women, the cocaine, the single malt whiskey, the Porsches (or Bugattis, if you prefer them). Why these shitheads insist on hypocritical responses is beyond me ..... Of course it's for the money. If you demonstrate sound math and programming knowledge and have the financial means, they shouldn't be insisting on pious bullshit.

It's probably like: "given you're in it for the money (otherwise you wouldn't be here), are there any other motives that might be interesting?"

 

[bigbadwolf]

It's probably like: "given you're in it for the money (otherwise you wouldn't be here), are there any other motives that might be interesting?"

You're right. But as I see it, there's nothing inherently interesting about quant finance. It's a rag-bag collection of techniques and practices in vogue at the present time. If someone writes pious hogwash on how "he has a passion for quant finance," I'd burst out laughing. I wouldn't burst out laughing if he wrote on how elegant and beautiful algebraic geometry or cohomology theory is. The admissions committees are asking for sanctimonious bullshit.

 

[Daniel Duffy]

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

 

[LongShort]

Not that I have much experience with quant finance (I definitely have never used anything close to professional grade). I still find being able to model trends in the markets, as well as applying financial algorithms to be extremely interesting. Maybe it's just me being naive, however I definitely look forward to hopefully entering the industry.

 

[PhDWill]

This feels like a very Canada specific question btw. Not sure an American hiring manager would even know the difference between BCom and BSc. Higher chance of an American MFE director knowing though, as it's more relevant.

It's the same in the UK, hiring managers are complete tools/morons. They have no idea what qualifications people have and how they compare against each other. It's a pure madness around here, mostly due to hiring managers having either GCSE's only or A-levels, at most some crappy BA degree. This system needs a major overhaul.

 

[Philip_Mitterrand]

My 2 cents.

Admissions committee look at transcripts not tagline and if all the math courses are checked
you are on equal footing. If this fact gives you a mental edge.

Dilip Madan, Editor of Journal of Math Finance, started with a Bcom and was the PhD supervising committee of Nassim Taleb !

Good evening everyone,

I am currently a high school student who plans on going to McGill University in the fall. I will be registered in the BCom program where I hope to double major in finance and math. Because McGill allows BCom students to also pursue a major in math or statistics , while doing electives in computer science, I am wondering if this background would be sufficient for entry into a MFE program.

Personally I would prefer to complete a BCom as opposed to a B.Sc for the following reasons:
- I would be able to pursue finance jobs straight out of undergrad as I may not have the ressources to immediately pursue grad school. (Not coming from a wealthy background)
- B.Sc grads cannot double major in finance and math while BCom grads can

To sum my long post up, would having a math major and a BCom degree put me at a significant disadvantage when applying to MFE programs as opposed to someone who had completed a B.Sc.

( I have also completed all the grade 12 math courses, can code in C (including objective-c) and am learning VBA. Therefore transferring to something "mathy" in my first year should be very possible)

Thank you all for your time,
CE