Imperial RMFE, Imperial Maths Fin, Oxford MCF, UCL CF, EDHEC MFE

[BigClout]

Hi there,

I just wanted to get some advice on which courses you would pick from these 4, specifically if you are someone who has aspirations of working in developing trading strategies and models for HFTs/Hedge Funds/MMs (i.e.: Citadel, Jane Street). I'd love to hear your opinions and what you understand are preferred in the industry.

1. MSc Risk Management and Financial Engineering (Imperial)
2. MSc Mathematics and Finance (Imperial)
3. MSc Mathematical and Computational Finance (Oxford)
4. MSc Computational Finance (UCL)
5. MSc Financial Engineering (EDHEC)
6. Any others you have to suggest

For context, I'm an Economics graduate with 2yrs experience at a large asset manager. I have a preference for a part-time masters but it's not a hard requirement. I've applied to all of these except for 2 and 5. 2 I haven't applied for specifically because I'm skeptical that, even though my bachelors was a very mathematics intensive programme, I won't meet the entry requirements. This is similarly my fear for any other non-MFE/CF programs, such as pure CS, Mathematics or Statistics. I have generally refrained from looking at Data Science degrees as they can be a mixed bag, but I would consider it if anyone could suggest a really good one that is well respected. I would also consider an Economics program, but it would have to be one with a substantial amount of computational application, such as the Cambridge MSc Economics and Data Science (or better). I'm not willing to do a PhD.

My biggest question is between the 2 Imperial courses, because I already have an offer for 1 and am wondering if I should risk it to change to the other, or if I can try to convince the university once I'm already there to allow me to switch.

Anyways, I look forward to hearing back from you all. Thanks!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Hi @BigClout
Welcome to QuantNet and much appreciate you putting the timelines on the Tracker.
We are currently surveying the UK programs and hopefully will release our first UK quant programs for the first time in late March/April.
In the meantime, we do see that we pick up quite a huge amount of traffic and membership from UK which is quite exciting. Stay tuned and I believe you will get a lot of important information about the UK programs from our collective wisdom here.

 

[BigClout]

Hi @BigClout
Welcome to QuantNet and much appreciate you putting the timelines on the Tracker.
We are currently surveying the UK programs and hopefully will release our first UK quant programs for the first time in late March/April.
In the meantime, we do see that we pick up quite a huge amount of traffic and membership from UK which is quite exciting. Stay tuned and I believe you will get a lot of important information about the UK programs from our collective wisdom here.

Thanks Andy I really appreciate that! If I were to give my 2 cents, from my own research it seems like the UK doesn't really care too much on whether someone has a finance background. I've seen an absolute bucket load of people who work at Citadel, Jane, Optiver etc. who have taken really obscure masters or PhDs like Autonomous Systems, Traffic Control, Bioengineering and really out there stuff like that. Generally I'd say MFE type programs and even Economics seem to be in the minority of firm's junior level hires these days and the firms here seem to prefer people who did pure maths, physics, engineering or something of that nature. PhDs seems to be a very big preference as well. Obviously I'm a novice and wouldn't profess myself as any sort of authority on the matter but that's what it looks like to me.

What also might be lovely is if perhaps the website looked into defining what each of the roles mean at each firm. E.g.: I've been told that at some firms your "quant researcher" is more like what you'd expect a trader to be and your "quant dev" is more of what you'd expect a researcher to be. Just a thought.

 

[Quantgrad]

Hey BigClout, nice to hear from you! I am in the same situation as you. If you don't mind it would be insightful to have a chat these days!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

@BigClout
Just checking in to see if you have any update on your Imperial and UCL applications? I don't see any update on your tracker yet.
It's been a while and you should have your decision by now.

 

[ibby]

Thanks Andy I really appreciate that! If I were to give my 2 cents, from my own research it seems like the UK doesn't really care too much on whether someone has a finance background. I've seen an absolute bucket load of people who work at Citadel, Jane, Optiver etc. who have taken really obscure masters or PhDs like Autonomous Systems, Traffic Control, Bioengineering and really out there stuff like that. Generally I'd say MFE type programs and even Economics seem to be in the minority of firm's junior level hires these days and the firms here seem to prefer people who did pure maths, physics, engineering or something of that nature. PhDs seems to be a very big preference as well. Obviously I'm a novice and wouldn't profess myself as any sort of authority on the matter but that's what it looks like to me.

What also might be lovely is if perhaps the website looked into defining what each of the roles mean at each firm. E.g.: I've been told that at some firms your "quant researcher" is more like what you'd expect a trader to be and your "quant dev" is more of what you'd expect a researcher to be. Just a thought.

Hello,

My name is Ibrahim and I'm turning 16 and I've decided that I'd like to work in Quant Finance. I'm doing everything possible to get into Cambridge Math for my Bachelors. It seems that it's the best undergraduate degree in the UK to become a trader/researcher at an elite hedge fund/prop shop/market maker e.g. Jane Street, Citadel, Optiver.

To optimise my competitiveness and overall maximise my earning potential, which Masters would then be ideal?

The obvious ones are:

Imperial MathFin
Imperial RMFE
Oxford MCF
Oxford Statistical Science
Cambridge Part III Mathematics (Mathematical Statistics)

It's not just about money, I genuinely love Math and Finance. If you have any insight whatsoever about anything I've said, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you,
Ibby

 

[lourano.x]

Thanks Andy I really appreciate that! If I were to give my 2 cents, from my own research it seems like the UK doesn't really care too much on whether someone has a finance background. I've seen an absolute bucket load of people who work at Citadel, Jane, Optiver etc. who have taken really obscure masters or PhDs like Autonomous Systems, Traffic Control, Bioengineering and really out there stuff like that. Generally I'd say MFE type programs and even Economics seem to be in the minority of firm's junior level hires these days and the firms here seem to prefer people who did pure maths, physics, engineering or something of that nature. PhDs seems to be a very big preference as well. Obviously I'm a novice and wouldn't profess myself as any sort of authority on the matter but that's what it looks like to me.

What also might be lovely is if perhaps the website looked into defining what each of the roles mean at each firm. E.g.: I've been told that at some firms your "quant researcher" is more like what you'd expect a trader to be and your "quant dev" is more of what you'd expect a researcher to be. Just a thought.

I'd say it all comes down to how eager you are to get a quant position. I beleive that in the initial interview stages, everyone is considered completely equal in the eyes of quant boutiques. The key is whether you're mature enough to handle the challenging maths problems presented in those first steps.