Career/Education Advice

[shift]

I currently hold a job offer (1yr contract but often extended) in S&T at a non-BB bank, however, have always been intrigued by a career in quant finance. I haven't been able to break into the industry throughout my time at university and decided very late on to apply to some master's program. This meant I was limited by the programs I was able to apply to as I have not taken the GRE and my applications were somewhat rushed in general. In saying that, I hold an offer from UChicago for the MSFM program. I have been toying with the idea of asking for a deferral on my offer, working for one year and then reapplying to other programs after putting some more effort into my applications. I understand that deferrals are rarely granted and in reality, I would likely have to forego my offer. Being an international student, I am not all that familiar with the prestige of various US unis, but from what I have gathered, UChicago ( and the MSFM program in particular) is very well regarded, however, am slightly deterred by the fact that the program has only broke into the top 10 in QuantNet's rankings this year and is ranked substantially lower in the risk.net rankings. I am hoping to land a job in QR/QT, and would appreciate some insight into what my most favourable option would be to land a job like this at a prestigious firm.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Arbitrary]

UChicago is great. In the US the prestige is on par with all the other top unis, e.g. columbia, outside the US it may be a bit lesser known. Do you want to work in the US after your degree? Chicago places about 40%-50% of their students into Prop-Trading/HF/AM which is really good, with many being brand-name shops as well. The question is probably, will you be able to be part of that 40%-50%, and if not, would you be okay working in other areas of QF? Price is also a big question. I see from the tracker you got a 30% scholarship - so would you be able to pay ~60k for this degree. If you are absolutely sure you want to pursue QF long term for your career (im assuming your S&T position is non-quant) then I would personally take it, but think about what you would do if you wouldn't land a QR/QT role, it's always good to have a backup plan before committing to something.

 

[WSBquant]

Depends on your focus. But Uchicago prog has fantastic placement and the project lab. Many do land in QT QR. If you look at the US news ranks, it’s ranked on par with Columbia at 12th.

Unless you are aiming for the tier 0 (ie top 3/4) it’s a great opportunity to be at Chicago. After all it’s the heartland of all the major HFs