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What is the typical education of a quant?

mhtran

C++ Certificate
Joined
11/3/09
Messages
12
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113
Dear,
I've been very impressed with what you're discussing in this forum, and I feel like wanting to become a quant too. Because you're professionals in this field, I highly value your opinion/advice and would like to ask what is the best education path for an undergrad to become a quant. I've spent quite a time reading through your topics and still remain confused about this, and thus will thank you very much if you can help. Here are some education options I'm thinking of for an undergrad, after doing my search:
- Master's in FE / FM / applied or pure math (is this the most popular one?)
- PhD in math / physics
- PhD in econ/financial econ/finance
- Just take a job and self-study for CFA / actuary exams
- MBA + CFA/actuary exam

It looks like the MFE is the most common on this forum, but I wonder how you actually pay for this degree. I've visited the sites of NYU, Stanford, Berkeley, Chicago, Cornell etc. but almost all of them offers no funding. Given that the program's annual cost is 50-60k, isn't it not easy to find 100-120k to pay for 2 years?
Again, thanks in advance.
 
A quick survey of the active members here would show majority of them are holders of MFE degree and other similar type in math finance. A good number of others are PhDs in quantitative science. Few but not rare are holders of both PhD and MFE.
There are many degrees that would get you a quant job but the most direct and understably most popular here is the MFE.

People take a loan to pay for tuition. How they get or able to pay back the loan, I don't know; none has offered to share their journal.
Some programs offer partial scholarships (CMU, IIT,etc) but you still have to acount for the remaining 50K+ balance.
 
Would people with Operations Research degree (MS or PhD) be able to work as quant?
 
I wouldn't know. Whether one gets a quant job is not necessarily always a function of the degree they hold. You can't easily get a quant interview with a degree in criminal justice so the type of degree is only pre-requisite for an interview. After that, it's pretty much what you know.

The strong selling points of these MFE programs is that they teach you relevant stuff asked in the quant interview. And they get you to these interviews.
 
Andy said:
I wouldn't know. Whether one gets a quant job is not necessarily always a function of the degree they hold. You can't easily get a quant interview with a degree in criminal justice so the type of degree is only pre-requisite for an interview. After that, it's pretty much what you know.

The strong selling points of these MFE programs is that they teach you relevant stuff asked in the quant interview. And they get you to these interviews.
Click to expand...

Isn't it true though, that an MFE won't get you a pure quant job (or at least not as readily as a PhD in math/physics/engineering)? At least that's what I've heard/read. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
All over the place, really. I met a guy at the quantnet picnic who only had a BS out of a no-name school, worked for Citadel for a couple of years thanks to an alum connection, and then got a quant job somewhere else.

At the same time, you have people like Emanuel Derman who had three POST-DOCS after a 7-year PhD.

And of course, Dr. Simons has a PhD, as does David Shaw...and Derman and Robert Frey, both former superquants, are now in their schools' OR departments. So...take it for what you will.
 
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