'Computational Finance & Risk Management' @ University of Washington

[Rajan]

Hello,
University of Washington's applied mathematics department has launched a program on 'Computational Finance & Risk Management' in June 2011.
Although the program is new the Applied Mathematics department is very reputed.
Please tell me how is the program?
Does the financial Firms only recruit people from the top the top ranked school?
Is there a good chance to get recruited into a finance firm if one maintains good academics in a decent finance program?
Thank You.

 

[Ken Abbott]

Is there a good chance to get recruited into a finance firm if one maintains good academics in a decent finance program?

There is little chance of "getting recruited" anywhere. That's not the right way to approach it. You have to pursue jobs aggressively. I can name many people form 2nd and 3rd tier programs who have great jobs because they took a thoughtful and enthusiastic approach towards the job search. Joy Pathak, who frequents this forum, is the world champion in this arena. Seek his input.

NB: I took the "get recruited" approach 30 years ago and I paid for it by spending a year in purgatory at a small institution.

 

[Rajan]

@[Ken Abbot].
Thank for your reply. I will definitely keep in mind what you said about job finding.

-Do the employers prefer people from Big universities like CMU, CU?
-If I took a course from University of Washington on computational finance which is a newly launched course
and manage to maintain good academic record, will the employers see me as a potential candidate equal to
some one from CMU?
-Will they evaluate both of us only the basis of knowledge and not the just the respective program reputation?

It would be really helpful for me if you could answer my questions.
Thank you.

 

[Ken Abbott]

@[Ken Abbot].
Thank for your reply. I will definitely keep in mind what you said about job finding.

-Do the employers prefer people from Big universities like CMU, CU?
-If I took a course from University of Washington on computational finance which is a newly launched course
and manage to maintain good academic record, will the employers see me as a potential candidate equal to
some one from CMU?
-Will they evaluate both of us only the basis of knowledge and not the just the respective program reputation?

It would be really helpful for me if you could answer my questions.
Thank you.

Those are difficult questions to answer - it's hard to evaluate anyone by their degree alone.
I can say, however, that when we get a number of good people from a single place, we tend to go back there. Recent examples include Baruch, NYU, and CMU. We've also have a number of outstanding people form Wharton, but these students tend to have BS degrees (my experience with them suggests that they don't really need masters degrees).

 

[Ben-Husky]

Hi Rajan,
Here is some information and discussion regarding the computational finance & risk management program.
https://www.quantnet.com/threads/u-washington-computational-finance-program.9473/