MSc in Financial Maths for a C++ dev with no finance or banking background

[mandhan]

Hey Guys,
I am sure a query related to this has been addressed on this forum many a times, however I thought I will seek your opinion on my situation which might be little different given my background and aspirations. Apologies if its a long read.

I am a couputer science graduate and have studied engineering and discreet maths for at least 2.5 years of my 4 year degree. I also went on to do my MSc in software engineering soon after that. Here I did not do much of math but more of computer algorithms and data structures etc.

I have been out of uni for more than 8 years now and have been in full time employment for this period. The job has all been about operating system development for a leading smartphone manufacturer and heavily focussed on programming, especially using C++ and OO concepts.

I have been planning to do a degree in financial mathematics for some time now and have recently applied to warwick for their full time FM course. I know I have not really used any serious maths in my professional career but I am confident that given decent background in maths and coupled with some pre-studies, I should be able to catch up.

Now here are my concerns. Clearly, given my profile above, I am an 'outsider'. However my aspirations are not to be a quant, at least not immediately after I finish the MSc. I am fully aware that it takes years of research and ideally a PhD to be successful as a quant. I know that MSc does not necessarily lead to a lucrative quant career, let alone for someone like me who does not even have a finance/banking background.

What I will be seeking after a good maths education, combined with my solid C++ development experience, is a front office role with responsibilities that lies somewhere in between that of a desk quant and an quant developer, Where to start with, I get to apply some of the academic learnings but at the same time be quite hand on.
However, I would be eager to know what could realistically be my career options with a degree in financial maths.

Do you think will it be a bridge too far for me? Or should I first switch to a back office IT job in a bank before thinking about doing this MSc. If I manage to get into Warwick, the least I am hoping that it will equip me with quality education and a well regarded degree which will give me a platform to have a career in FO sometime in the future.

I will be glad to know your honest opinions, suggestions, feedbacks.
Regards,
mandhan

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Now here are my concerns. Clearly, given my profile above, I am an 'outsider'.

No, you are not. Many members have a similar background and have gone on to the same career path that you envision. Coding/technology skills are your assets, not liabilities.
I'm not familiar with the UK programs to know whether they are as career-oriented as some of the top programs in the US.

 

[mandhan]

Thanks for your reply Andy. Quite reassuring indeed.
Warwick in UK is one of the leading universities for graduate studies and its maths department ranks alongside the Oxbridge and has some very distinguished faculty members on board. They also have one of the strongest links with the financial industry (read City..) of any non-london based schools in UK.
Naturally, its very competitive to get in as well.

 

[fin_girl]

yeah, most of the roles after MFE require sound programming skills in C++.. u might land up in a quant developer role after ur mfe , given ur years of expereince in programming.. However, I wonder whether 8 years exp into IT is a bit too much? Also,u need to have some knowledge/courses into the finance side..