• C++ Programming for Financial Engineering
    Highly recommended by thousands of MFE students. Covers essential C++ topics with applications to financial engineering. Learn more Join!
    Python for Finance with Intro to Data Science
    Gain practical understanding of Python to read, understand, and write professional Python code for your first day on the job. Learn more Join!
    An Intuition-Based Options Primer for FE
    Ideal for entry level positions interviews and graduate studies, specializing in options trading arbitrage and options valuation models. Learn more Join!

Need help choosing my undergrad major.

  • Thread starter Thread starter burno
  • Start date Start date
Are these quantitative majors really as difficult as you're describing them to be?
I'm OP btw, and I forgive you @Lukee 😂

Since I've decided to major in Stats and minor in Math, I'm supposed to be enrolled in 3 math classes next term. Is that going to be too difficult? I aced all of the "basic" math/stats courses (calc I,II,III, lin alg, intro to stats, econometrics), but now I'm second guessing myself lol.

Also, how low do you think you can destroy your GPA for a math/stats major to be worth it?
They aren't as hard as assumed, or bragged about by those who passed them, but they aren't easy (if taught at the right depth). With how I operate, it was very hard but only in bursts. I took statistical inference this lats semester, 'hardest stats class taught to undergraduates' per my professor, or at least the most computationally intensive. I only worked in earnest ~15 days of the semester, half before the midterm and half before the final. Never solved a problem outside of those days. But during those days I did almost nothing else. solved every problem in the book that we covered and could solve them on command. The upside is that I have made a good habit of revisiting material afterwards, so I've got most of the standard mathstat stuff on lockdown and eventually I'll have most of the inference I was taught on lockdown too. I seriously learned the material, but mastery takes more time. I won't make any promises for some of the inference questions, as other things are more applicable to mfe prep, but I'll get most of it. (not literally everything able to regurgitate on demand at the moment because I haven't been using it for my internship at all, but give me 5-10 or so minutes on wikipedia for almost any topic and I'm probably back in business.) I am still in absolute dread of a particular type of normal distribution inference with unknown mean and unknown variance though. Just copying down the answer for that problem took an hour and a half, and it was already worked out in front of me.

So... not really, but I stand by the fact that there should be weeks where you hardly see anyone. You'll be fine is the point, but its not a business major where you actually are never pressed for your sleep.

It isn't worth is to destroy your GPA, but you need to know this stuff for the job and if you aren't capable and/or willing to work hard enough to learn the material (which will keep your GPA up) then you probably need to reevaluate your plans. That said, if you took all the hardest courses (like stats through inference, measure theory and math through several real analysis/upper lvl other things) than you can get away with a lower GPA than a base Econ graduate anyway.
 
Last edited:
Since I've decided to major in Stats and minor in Math,
A bit lobsided choice?
Stats is easy if you know maths IMO.
It can easily be learned even after a maths degree.
 
I'll be honest, I'm of the opinion that as a first year you don't yet know what a hard class is like; you should ignore those people and add the stats major. Yes, it will be hard, but often the 'terrible professors' are just teaching hard material in a demanding way. I say that from personal experience, having taking the first calculus based statistics course and denounced the professor as horrible, then taking the following two math stat courses from the same proff and realizing I just wasn't willing to study like I should have been. You want the job few others get? Study like few others are willing to do. If you commit, the GPA shouldn't be what kills you. If it does, you probably didn't earn it. Though there will be some weeks where you hardly get to see anyone, that is what it often takes.
You are 100% correct that I don't know what hard classes are like yet which is exactly why I am scared to take on too many. To be fair the person that advised me to avoid specific classes is a couple years older and has taken some of the more rigorous ones, but he isn't exactly studious so I think you are probably right that I should ignore his opinion.
We are lucky to be able to do this now, while in school, and not curse our past selves for not committing like we meant it once we are out in the real world working non-quant jobs and studying full time on the side trying to make the switch. Personally, I don't feel like waiting to find out what the other, less fortunate, side is like. I'll study day and night for now if I think any of the material is worthwhile. I just have to make sure I actually learn everything and I'm not just spreading myself thin.
I really like how you put this, it isn't gonna get any easier to learn the material in the future so I might as well start studying hard now. Thanks Mike
 
What would be best for a trading/hedge fund career?
For a trading career, a math degree is not that much more helpful than an econ degree would be on the job at least. I haven't used any math past high school, I would describe the job more as quick logical deductions with incomplete info and a very limited amount of time, not really solving anything rigorously - I don't know many traders who really cares what a filtration is, or what a stochastic discount factor is or blah blah. There are quite a few traders with econ as a second major, minor, and I seen some traders with just an econometrics degree. That being said we do like people that takes the hardest quantitative courses and excels in them, not because the material directly translates to the job but we hire people who are competitive, and can win no matter how challenging it is.
 
For a trading career, a math degree is not that much more helpful than an econ degree would be on the job at least. I haven't used any math past high school, I would describe the job more as quick logical deductions with incomplete info and a very limited amount of time, not really solving anything rigorously - I don't know many traders who really cares what a filtration is, or what a stochastic discount factor is or blah blah. There are quite a few traders with econ as a second major, minor, and I seen some traders with just an econometrics degree. That being said we do like people that takes the hardest quantitative courses and excels in them, not because the material directly translates to the job but we hire people who are competitive, and can win no matter how challenging it is.
echoing this...

i would also take considerable time to get familiar with internship recruiting schemes at your school asap and talk to trader alumni to understand what are the different types of "tradings" and "hedge funds" out there, how they got their jobs, and what it really takes to succeed.
 
Back
Top