What was your undergrad major?

[Yuriy]

I am very curious about the ratio of students in MFE who had previous exposure to finance to those who had non-finance background prior to joining MFE

 

[alain]

I was not aware of the fact that there were history and art majors in MFE

Maggie is a lawyer go figure

 

[kean]

hee

My current major did cover stochastic modeling...I will join your bandwagon later into FE.

Kind of similar to what I'm doing now, but I went from Math to Stats and OR, and, of course, FE

 

[kean]

best

Personally, I think CS/Math is the best combination for FE. Best.

BS in CS/Math (double major)
Would be fun to know more about Quantnet members who are not in the program or already working. Better yet, put a picture to your name

 

[kean]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am a postgraduate math student at the moment. I am no where near quant level.
I think may be a mistake that I was awarded a Senior Quant Analyst title in this forum. I hope I will be in the near future.
I am new to this area.

Cheers,
K

 

[Yuriy]

Yes, CS and Math seem to be the optimal backgrounds for FE.

The only thing is... most CS people don't really want to go to FE. Most of the people who I know to have CS background are not willing to do Finance. They are comfortable doing what they are doing. One person is doing MBA at NYU, another one got MS in management, a few more work as programmers.

 

[Adam]

For whatever it's worth, I was a double major in Theater and English. Studied musical theater songwriting for a bit, as well.

Somebody has to represent the liberal arts around here...

 

[Dmytro]

thanks, Adam, i was waiting for this post ;]
yet another proof that the right undergrad is not what makes or brakes you (Adam kicks ass in this program, btw).

 

[Satnam]

thanks, Adam, i was waiting for this post ;]
yet another proof that the right undergrad is not what makes or brakes you (Adam kicks ass in this program, btw).

I will second that "Adam kicks ass in this program".

 

[Yuriy]

It looks like we have almost all majors covered :D

Anybody from a medical field? Nurses, doctors, dentistis?

 

[woody]

I was supposed to be a filmmaker. I got scholarships for photography and studied a summer in Paris. If it weren't for an accident my senior year that prevented me from lifting heavy cables for a year, I would have been a production assistant in Hollywood instead of coming to NY and ...

 

[Hien]

I was supposed to be a filmmaker. I got scholarships for photography and studied a summer in Paris. If it weren't for an accident my senior year that prevented me from lifting heavy cables for a year, I would have been a production assistant in Hollywood instead of coming to NY and ...

so how did you end up in IT?

 

[alain]

Anybody from a medical field? Nurses, doctors, dentists?

I doubt anybody is from the medical field. If there is one he/she would be a rare case. My whole family is in the medical business (brother, mother, aunts). For that reason I happen to know a lot of doctors. I can tell you that medicine is a very demanding career in itself (pre-med, med school, residency, board tests, etc) so people usually stay there.

Also, after you become a doctor, you don't want to change careers and start over since it is a huge investment.

The other thing is that people go to FE usually for the money. I haven't seen a first doctor begging for money. I think doctors and dentists mint money :D

This is just my opinion though. I could be mistaken.

 

[Yuriy]

Alain, I think what you said makes sense

After all those years of medical schools, money spent, and sleepless nights people don't want to start over. Plus, as you said, if a person makes enough money, and, I add, if he/she likes the field, there is no point of switching

 

[Yuriy]

By the way, I wanted to ask how people came across financial engineering (after studying something else)? Should I start a new thread?

 

[Yuriy]

I was supposed to be a filmmaker.

There was a time in my life when I could appear in a movie but was cut out after the scene was filmed my guess is that I could not properly handle the dog that I saw for the first time.

 

[rockefeller]

I got a BSc in Computer Science and Im also completing a BSc in Business and Economics. Will there be an advantage in the admission since I have the combination of these two bacehlors?

 

[woody]

so how did you end up in IT?

After I arrived in NY (story too long) I snuck into the NY job board and found a posting for software tester, $10/hr. Then started a tech company for the Web boom. Then got a job in energy trading software from a friend. Then started Economics MA. Then became very interested in the mathematics of it (econometrics mostly) and the prof suggested I apply to Baruch...

 

[Yuriy]

I got a BSc in Computer Science and Im also completing a BSc in Business and Economics. Will there be an advantage in the admission since I have the combination of these two bacehlors?

It is hard to say, especially because a lot of applicants have backgrounds similar to yours. Plus some actually have MS in CS, and there are people with PhDs applying as well, and if you add applicants with Wall Street experience... the applicant pool is getting stronger and stronger every year.

 

[rockefeller]

It is hard to say, especially because a lot of applicants have backgrounds similar to yours. Plus some actually have MS in CS, and there are people with PhDs applying as well, and if you add applicants with Wall Street experience... the applicant pool is getting stronger and stronger every year.

yes, Ive noticed by the statistics from some schools that it gets harder each year.
What would you propose if I wouldnt get an admit for fall 2008?
a)taking my MSc in Business&Economics + doing some more math courses?
b)getting a work in a finance related place, like investmentbank or IT-job in finance?