MQF vs MS in Financial Statistics vs MS in Mathematical Finance

[mowa]

I am debating between three main options:
The first is to finish a BS in mathematics and CS and then do an MS in mathematical finance.
The second is to finish a BS in mathematics and CS and then do an MS in statistical finance.
The last is to do a BA in mathematics with a CS minor and then a MFE or MQF program.

All three would take the same amount of time. I think the first two would be a good mix of a strong CS/technical background topped with a heavy theory/math focus.
The third one would be more mainstream I suppose. Although I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get into a top-tier quant program (probably “second tier”).
Any thoughts or recommendations on what I should do?

P.S. I am a rising senior (might need a fifth year for the CS major). I considered an MS in CS but that doesn’t really interest me tbh. And it would leave me absolutely clueless about finance.

 

[jarryds]

I could be wrong, but in my eyes, the modern definitions of mathematical finance, statistical finance, and financial engineering are becoming almost interchangeable. The biggest difference between the programs is defined at the academic level, where institutions pick and chose the coursework for their program. My recommendation is to avoid making a commitment on the sake of the title and find a program that studies coursework that interests you. Furthermore, find jobs you want on Wall Street and account for commonalities in the experience and skills sections. Compare these requirements across graduate degrees and shoot for the most similar.

If you wanted to get technical, mathematical finance is a discipline of applied math in finance. You should expect a more rigorous application of mathematics and statistics. An example of a job on Wall Street is a position that uses calculations and models to mitigate risk. Financial engineering is the use of engineering principles to problem solve in finance. I always have seen FE as using the analytical and numerical values found by using mathematical finance and computational finance, respectively, to solve a problem. Technically, FE is not as mathematically rigorous, but again, it depends on how the program defines it.

Seems like people are beginning to make FE an umbrella to all degrees named fin math, math fin, MSMFT, computational fin.

It also really depends on what you want for a job. Quant is a wide field with a lot of different specializations.