First of all, I am new to the community and would like to say hello to everyone. I've been following the QuantNet blog for a few months now, but have never used the forums. They seem to be a great resource and I look forward to using them in the future. Now for my post...
I'm currently an undergraduate in my third year pursuing a B.S. in Finance and a B.S. in Mathematics. Until this past fall, I was unsure what path I wanted to take. All I knew was I loved math and had an interest in finance. After extensive career research, I discovered the quantitative finance industry and found a career path that seemed to fit my interests. My goal is now to get a MFE after graduation. Now that I have figured out the path I want to take, I am having trouble deciding what undergraduate program to complete.
My question is about which math track to choose. There are two choices and each has it's pros and cons. I would like to hear your recommendations on which program would best prepare me for an MFE program. At this point, the finance degree is definite since it is so close to completion and will open up other opportunities within finance if I don't get accepted to a MFE program. Here are the two options:
Here is a sort of secondary question. Since I spent the first few years unsure of my path and didn't follow a plan, completion of either choice will require a total of 5 or 6 years. My question is whether MFE admission committees and/or future employers will consider this a bad thing. If so, would it be wise to base my decision on choosing the program that will take the least amount of time?
I apologize for the length of this post, I just wanted to give as much information as possible in hopes of getting relevant and complete advice. Thanks for taking time to read this, I look forward to your replies.
Tom
I'm currently an undergraduate in my third year pursuing a B.S. in Finance and a B.S. in Mathematics. Until this past fall, I was unsure what path I wanted to take. All I knew was I loved math and had an interest in finance. After extensive career research, I discovered the quantitative finance industry and found a career path that seemed to fit my interests. My goal is now to get a MFE after graduation. Now that I have figured out the path I want to take, I am having trouble deciding what undergraduate program to complete.
My question is about which math track to choose. There are two choices and each has it's pros and cons. I would like to hear your recommendations on which program would best prepare me for an MFE program. At this point, the finance degree is definite since it is so close to completion and will open up other opportunities within finance if I don't get accepted to a MFE program. Here are the two options:
- Mathematical economics track - would graduate in two years due to overlap with finance degree, but lacks computer science courses
Courses: intermediate macro/microeconomics, mathematical economics, econometrics, game theory, international economics, economic modeling - Computational track - has computer science courses, but would require three years to graduate
Courses: computer science (3 semesters), systems software, computer architecture, programming languages (2 semesters), operating systems, discrete computational structures
Here is a sort of secondary question. Since I spent the first few years unsure of my path and didn't follow a plan, completion of either choice will require a total of 5 or 6 years. My question is whether MFE admission committees and/or future employers will consider this a bad thing. If so, would it be wise to base my decision on choosing the program that will take the least amount of time?
I apologize for the length of this post, I just wanted to give as much information as possible in hopes of getting relevant and complete advice. Thanks for taking time to read this, I look forward to your replies.
Tom