Hey guys, I finally find out what I want to do....Quant. I will major in math and investments...yes, double major. And double minor in (Political science and Economics) . I just wanted to ask anyone w/ some knowledge. How was their experience as being a quant? Any suggestions? PS I am only a sophomore in college. Thanks.
You forgot one thing, learn how to program in multiple languages. Maybe studying physics will help too.
you should ask this question on the Wilmott forum, that's where a lot of quants are hanging out. Perhaps reading this is helpful too: http://www.markjoshi.com/downloads/advice.pdf Also, have you read Derman's "My life as a quant"? You might consider pursuing a masters in financial engineering.
what does a quant do? sit around all day and try to dev MA crossover trading systems? and endless combos of other thiings?
Just so that you know - the vast majorities of quants get stuck in back/middle office risk and portfolio construction. These jobs pay very very well, but they don't lead to trading or portfolio management. But most quants are perfect happy in those roles. The quant world, oweing to its closed ties with academia traditionally, is a very elitest one on par with Goldman's banking groups. Where you went to school will matter a whole lot. That being said - few quants end up being quants without grad school. Moreover, forget what you hear about majoring in physics. That's very much over with. Most respectible phd programs now have finance, which is specialized enough to stand on its own. And no, actual quants don't development ma systems.
Yeah, I think that you need to be like PHD or at least a MS to get a job. Honestly, the only reason I want to do quant is because of: 1) I want to research strategies and equations that interest me while getting payed. And/OR 2) Start trading a portfolio for a hedge fund (we'll see with that one though). Start my one hedge fund, solely based on my assumption (there is no better way to blow 10mil on just a theory and still be looked at as a sane being ). Hey, what Schools do you guys recommend aside from Ivy.
I read a list at wikipedia under "quantitative finance" BS in Quantitative Finance at James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA MS in Mathematical Finance at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA Master of Quantitative Finance at Rutgers Business School, Rutgers University, Newark-New Brunswick, NJ, USA MSc in International Finance at the Campus of Finance, Nuertingen University, Germany MSc Finance at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA Msc in Financial Mathematics at the University of Warwick, Coventry, UK MS in Mathematical Finance at University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA Masters in Mathematical, Trading and Finance at Cass Business School, City of London, UK Masters in Quantitative Finance at Cass Business School, City of London, UK MS in Financial Mathematics at Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey Master's degree in Mathematical Finance at Boston University, Boston, MA, USA MS in Financial Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA MS in Financial Mathematics at the Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA MS in Financial Mathematics at the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA MSc in Mathematical Finance at Oxford University, UK MS in Quantitative and Computational Finance at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA Master of Advanced Studies in Finance at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), Switzerland Master of Mathematical Finance at University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada Master of Mathematics in Finance at New York University, NY, USA Master in Quantitative Economics and Finance at University of St.Gallen (HSG), Switzerland MSc in Financial Mathematics at Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh BA in Financial Mathematics at Asbury College, Wilmore, KY, USA BSc Mathematical Finance Specialization at Trent University, Peterborough, ON, Canada MS in Mathematical Finance at University of North Carolina Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA MSc in International Securities, Investment and Banking with a Specialism in Quantitative Finance at International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) Centre, University of Reading, Reading, UK Master's in Mathematical Methods in Finance at Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics , Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Ouch. Top tier All of them. What do you guys think I need to get on my GRE or GMAT in order to get in one of these schools??