Undergraduate Advice

[Silfen]

I realize most of the education advice here is about graduate education, but I'd like some advice about undergrad. I'm interested in quantitative finance as a career path, although I would like to keep my options open. I'd also like to know which college decision will help me the most with that goal in mind (or whether undergrad matters at all), and what degrees I should be interested in.
The options I am considering are:
- Northwestern (school of engineering)
- Tufts (school of engineering)
- Carnegie Mellon (Mellon College of Science)
- Swarthmore

There are pros and cons for all of these schools. At the moment, though, I am leaning toward Northwestern and likely a degree in applied math. Let me know what you think.

 

[Connor]

Northwestern or CMU.

But the more specific you are the more we can specifically help you. :D

By keeping your options open do you mean in general or open within the field of finance? Are you leaning towards a math degree? Engineering? Computer Science? Etc? What are your general interests? Strengths?

 

[dhonch]

IMHO, Northwestern and CMU look best on a resume. You're best off going to one of these schools, especially in a mathematical/physical science discipline. Good luck with your search.

 

[alain]

It all depends what you are looking for. I really don't know if the people who wrote before me ever heard of Swarthmore but it might be better than the other 3 (by a lot) if you are looking to impress somebody with your resume. It all depends on what you are looking for.

 

[Silfen]

By keeping your options open do you mean in general or open within the field of finance? Are you leaning towards a math degree? Engineering? Computer Science? Etc? What are your general interests? Strengths?

Well, I'd rather not force myself into quantitative finance with my degree choice if possible, although that's something that I suppose I will be able to weigh more when I am actually enrolled and taking classes. The degree is slightly dependent on where I end up, but as I said, I am leaning toward an applied math degree. Computer science is probably my second choice. I am more likely to pursue an engineering degree than one in math or physics. Math is probably my favorite and strongest subject, but I am also interested in economics, finance, computer science, and to a lesser extent physics and biology (not a huge fan of chem, at least at a high school level).

It all depends what you are looking for. I really don't know if the people who wrote before me ever heard of Swarthmore but it might be better than the other 3 (by a lot) if you are looking to impress somebody with your resume. It all depends on what you are looking for.

I have very mixed feelings about Swarthmore. On the one hand, it is very well regarded and by far the most selective school I was accepted to. It's also a rarity among small liberal arts colleges in that it has an engineering department. On the other hand, I've been at very small private schools all my life, and it might be time for a change of pace. I'm also not sure if Swarthmore is a good match for quantitative finance in terms of its degrees and courses.

 

[Connor]

I had never heard of Swarthmore before but looking at their website it looks like a nice place. But from a future perspective you need to consider job placements or grad school placements for after you graduate.

First off I am a promoter of double majors; I believe there are a few members here that double majored in math/cs. Minoring is also a good way to get exposure at the undergrad level.

You definitely want to go for a more technical degree like engineering or a hard science. I wouldn't recommend doing finance or economics alone (great options for double major).

As for having the most options inside and outside of finance, I would recommend double majoring with math/cs or math/eng then minoring in economics. That sounds like alot (because it is) but this would prepare you to work in finance, study finance/fe at the grad level, and also prepare you for many jobs outside of finance. Lots of options

 

[alain]

But from a future perspective you need to consider job placements or grad school placements for after you graduate.

Just because of this, I will put Swarthmore as #1 choice.

I've been at very small private schools all my life, and it might be time for a change of pace.

this will complicate things a little because it looks like you want to change pace. However, it could be a drastic change going from a small class to a lecture with 100+ students (sometimes 300+).

 

[Silfen]

I had never heard of Swarthmore before but looking at their website it looks like a nice place. But from a future perspective you need to consider job placements or grad school placements for after you graduate.

Swarthmore sends a higher proportion of its students to top grad school programs than Northwestern does - in fact, the proportion at Swarthmore is more than double NU's. (according to WSJ, that is) I don't know exactly how meaningful that number is, but I certainly wouldn't have trouble getting into a good graduate program from Swarthmore.

First off I am a promoter of double majors; I believe there are a few members here that double majored in math/cs. Minoring is also a good way to get exposure at the undergrad level.

I like the idea of double majoring, probably in AM/econ or something like that. One of the reasons I like applied math so much is that it allows me to pursue a career in a very wide range of technical fields.

this will complicate things things a little because it looks like you want to change pace. However, it could a drastic change going from a small class to a lecture with 100+ students (sometimes 300+).

That's true, and Swarthmore is still something like five times the size of my high school. What do you think of the course offerings at Swarthmore, particularly in engineering and math?

 

[Joy Pathak]

I had researched american liberal arts colleges a while back, and it is crazy how strong some of these universities are. I had never heard almost ANY of the colleges previous to doing my own research online.

Swarthmore is a top 5 liberal arts college with a good program. It seems like they basically nurture the students to excel in top PhD programs. I had looked deeply into the claremont consortium as 3 of their colleges fall in the top 10. I don't know much about Swarthmore but I read a bit online and it seems like a strong place.

The Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium published a comprehensive study on the Ph.D. productivity of all undergraduate programs in October 2006. The study found that Swarthmore ranked third among all institutions of higher education in the United States as measured by the percentage of graduates who go on to earn Ph.D.'s. Only Caltech, at number one, and Harvey Mudd, in second, outranked Swarthmore, with Reed, MIT, Carleton, Oberlin, Bryn Mawr, University of Chicago, and Grinnell rounding out the top ten, respectively.

http://www.reed.edu/ir/phd.html

Harvey Mudd is in the claremont consortium which also holds CGU.

 

[Silfen]

Unfortunately, I was waitlisted at Harvey Mudd. It may still be an option, but it's an uncertain one.

 

[Joy Pathak]

Unfortunately, I was waitlisted at Harvey Mudd. It may still be an option, but it's an uncertain one.

That's pretty cool. These are all very selective schools.

I was looking at the recruiting schedule for Harvey mudd and Claremont Mckenna when looking at the CGU program since the MFE students can attend the career fairs too and it is just insane. Everyone basically comes there to recruit at those schools whether its Yale,Duke,etc, for grad school or Yahoo,Google,Bloomberg,UBS, Jet Propulsion lab etc. .

Good luck! Hope you pick the best one that fits you!