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which background is better?

Authentic

Joined
5/4/08
Messages
6
Points
11
hi all i was wondering which background is better for a career in financial engineering: physics or math. Now i know that both fields are related for obvious reasons, and you can do well with either and a more important question would be which field interests me the most but just for the sake of others opinions, which area is the better choice and the area that will be a better adjustment to the topics in FE?
 
Physics................................................
 
i have heard this opinion from others with physics being selected the most.
what is your reasoning for this alain? what subjects or topics in physics are gonna be an easier transition to FE?
 
Either is fine, with several caveats. I would put more emphasis on Physics over Math. With either, the more that is involved with application over theory the better. Wall Street wants people who can code as well as who can think and think efficiently.

And INTERNSHIPS are an excellent idea, either way. Get your head out of the books and see how people are using their degrees. It will also make you more marketable when you are looking for a job.
 
Authentic said:
i have heard this opinion from others with physics being selected the most.
what is your reasoning for this alain? what subjects or topics in physics are gonna be an easier transition to FE?
Click to expand...

You should be knowing this yourself. Things like computational fluid dynamics, computational plasma physics. Where 1) you play with PDEs, 2) you play with concomitant numerical techniques, 3) you do a fair bit of coding, and 4) you can think like a physicist (i.e., approach problems heuristically, make do with approximate answers, have some idea of error estimates). Mathematicians -- particularly the "pure" breed -- are often poor at this, or lack the requisite skill set and experience. If I here hiring a quant and had two applicants about whom I only knew that one was a mathematician and one a physicist, I'd choose the latter.
 
i understand your comments wolf and can clearly see how a physics background would help in the study of FE. As long as i know that hope isnt lost for us math guys. thanks for the input
 
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