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am i smart enough to be a quant?
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Date: February 7th, 2007 7:43 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building I got a 2380 SAT and took calc 3 and differential equations in high school. but i only got a 1 on the AIME and dont really like proofs enough to major in math. ill probably major in stat and finance. am i smart enough to be a successful quant on wall street? also, how much money do they make down the road and what type of career path do they take? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7562701) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 7:47 PM Author: charcoal beady-eyed office sweet tailpipe yes. lots. depends on personality. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7562731) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 8:07 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building im a normal looking, though short, white who can speak good english. does this help in a field full of azns? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7562857) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 8:11 PM Author: Aromatic coiffed chapel It will help, although the field is not full of asians. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7562883) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 8:15 PM Author: supple sanctuary You speak "English well." =) (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7562920) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 8:17 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building im still in high school. im allowed to be dumb. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7562930) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 8:18 PM Author: charcoal beady-eyed office sweet tailpipe you are mistaken about this field (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7562939) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 8:21 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building probably. i just noticed from reading berkeley's mfe and princeton's mfin program resumes, many are indian and asian. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7562953) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 8:23 PM Author: charcoal beady-eyed office sweet tailpipe lol berkeley and princeton (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7562971) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 8:28 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building Same with nyu mmf, lots of people from french universities. Am i missing something? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7563008) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 8:40 PM Author: charcoal beady-eyed office sweet tailpipe nyu is top dog (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7563091) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 8:46 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building i thouht berkeley mfe was better. What do i need to have a solid shot at nyu as a stat/finance major at UF? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7563130) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 8:52 PM Author: charcoal beady-eyed office sweet tailpipe straight A's in math classes, preferably with proofs but you gotta dance with what you have. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7563171) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 9:00 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building how important is it to have taken real analysis/all the proof-based classes? im not really into the pure math. my school has "basic analysis for statisticians" - is this commensurate? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7563234) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 9:05 PM Author: charcoal beady-eyed office sweet tailpipe Why don't you to the the nyu site, they have tests and assignments posted. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7563258) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 9:10 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building im only a high school senior. im sure i cant handle any of it yet. im sure i will be able to handle any type of computational math they throw at me - im just not into the proofs. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7563299) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 9:20 PM Author: greedy patrolman lol - flame
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Date: February 7th, 2007 10:19 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building no im not (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7563733) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 9:20 PM Author: charcoal beady-eyed office sweet tailpipe who says you have to like them? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7563367) |
Date: February 7th, 2007 8:17 PM Author: garnet swashbuckling hell bbw welcome to banc of america securities (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7562935) |
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Date: February 7th, 2007 11:23 PM Author: stimulating piazza telephone 1. where are you going to ugrad?
2. quants have PhDs
HTH |
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Date: February 8th, 2007 12:23 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building 1. university of florida. 2. what about people that get MFE, Mfin, MMF, etc? I probably wont get a phd. |
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Date: February 8th, 2007 12:27 PM Author: stimulating piazza telephone you should attempt to transfer to a better school if you want to work in finance.
people that get MFE either work in trading or as code monkeys for the banks. |
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Date: February 8th, 2007 12:35 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building i dont want to be a code monkey. trading would be good. i probably cant transfer for undergrad. what is the best way to get into finance, assuming i graduate from UF with a high gpa. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7566543) |
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Date: February 8th, 2007 9:05 PM Author: stimulating piazza telephone try to get as many financial internships as you can then apply to a MFE program.
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Date: February 8th, 2007 11:28 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building what type of internships should i look for after my first and second year? unpaid just to get some finance experience? private wealth management type things? Would IBD be the optimal internship before senior year? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7570646) |
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Date: February 9th, 2007 12:11 AM Author: stimulating piazza telephone "Would IBD be the optimal internship before senior year?"
S&T is better. Neither probably recruit at your school. |
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Date: February 8th, 2007 8:30 PM Author: charcoal beady-eyed office sweet tailpipe 2) not all and being a quant isn't hopefully your end goal anyway (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7569660) |
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Date: February 8th, 2007 11:26 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building yea i would like to end up doing prop trading for a hedge fund. private equity seems cool too, but coming from UF I doubt I'd have the pedigree to be able to go BB->PE->MBA->PE which seems to be the only way to do it from what i've read. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7570635) |
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Date: February 8th, 2007 11:30 PM Author: charcoal beady-eyed office sweet tailpipe network, network, bbq, network (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7570657) |
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Date: February 9th, 2007 12:12 AM Author: stimulating piazza telephone go to a real school
HTH |
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Date: February 9th, 2007 12:15 AM Author: Rough-skinned church building i am too much of a poor to go to a real school. my parents are retired, so have money saved up that they cant spend for school so my EFC is high, but my available money is low. if i went to an ivy i would probably graduate 60,000+ in debt. and its too late to apply by now. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7570969) |
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Date: February 9th, 2007 12:16 AM Author: stimulating piazza telephone you are kind of screwed then
HTH |
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Date: February 9th, 2007 12:19 AM Author: Rough-skinned church building i know. any more reccomendations? im hoping a prestigious mfe can hide my TTTdom (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7571013) |
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Date: February 9th, 2007 12:22 AM Author: stimulating piazza telephone MFE costs money + you need work experience to make it worthwhile. It still might be your best option though. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7571043) |
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Date: February 9th, 2007 12:34 AM Author: Rough-skinned church building i think 50k for an mfe is a better investment than 70 for a BS. what type of work experience will be available for me after undergrad that will be good for an MFE or MBA? high gpa math/stat major with a few courses in finance and econ. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7571129) |
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Date: February 9th, 2007 12:44 AM Author: stimulating piazza telephone "i think 50k for an mfe is a better investment than 70 for a BS."
This is a foolish assumption.
"what type of work experience will be available for me after undergrad that will be good for an MFE or MBA? high gpa math/stat major with a few courses in finance and econ."
anything you can get that is finance or stats/programming related. |
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Date: February 9th, 2007 7:10 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building hm. the concensus that i usually get is that 70k debt for undergrad = stupid. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7575024) |
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Date: February 10th, 2007 12:38 AM Author: stimulating piazza telephone in general yes, but if you sure you want to work in finance it's not a terrible investment (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7576829) |
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Date: February 10th, 2007 1:04 AM Author: Rough-skinned church building i am fairly certain. but how sure can a high schooler be about anything? alas, it is too late to apply now. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7577032) |
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Date: February 10th, 2007 1:32 AM Author: Metal Set princeton's financial aid is entirely need-based and all the financial aid is GRANTS.
also if you are truly smart you could get a national merit scholarship, further eroding your costs.
my parents paid less for me to go to Princeton than my state school (PSU) would've cost... and my parents are not poors. |
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Date: February 10th, 2007 1:34 AM Author: Rough-skinned church building im a national merit finalist. according to princeton, my EFC is 17,000 per year. my parents are willing to put in about 5,000 per year. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7577233) |
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Date: February 10th, 2007 2:22 AM Author: Metal Set how do u know for EFC?
you got in?
you got into #1 UG school but youre going to UF?
man, i cant tell you how stooopid that is for finance. instead of going to a school where you could get S&T in your sleep, youre going to a school where the i banks you'd want to be at dont even recruit.
not smart |
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Date: February 10th, 2007 10:26 AM Author: Rough-skinned church building let me clarify. i did not apply to anywhere except UF. my parents used princeton's, and a few other calculators to determine my EFC. based on this, UF seemed like a much better option. at this point, I did not know anything about finance or even that I wanted to be involved in it. I also didn't take SAT II's since UF wouldn't need them.
edit: and yes, i realize going to UF over princeton/stanford/whereever i couldve gotten in is very stupid for finance. my only option would be to transfer, but i've heard transfer admissions are near impossible. |
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Date: February 23rd, 2007 3:55 AM Author: stimulating piazza telephone princeton doesn't even accept transfers (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7654491) |
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Date: February 10th, 2007 2:30 AM Author: Razzle-dazzle Center Main People what do you mean you're not "into proofs" Try to take some pure math classes first, then decide. they shouldn't be too hard at UF. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7577406) |
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Date: February 10th, 2007 11:57 AM Author: Rough-skinned church building you are correct. im just assuming i wont like it. they just dont seem interesting. ill take some pure math classes though and see if they change my mind. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7578038) |
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Date: February 10th, 2007 12:07 PM Author: charcoal beady-eyed office sweet tailpipe doesn't matter if you like it, just be able to do it and it's not like the majority of quants do theoretical work. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7578059) |
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Date: February 10th, 2007 1:08 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building i should be able to handle it. that is my main question though - most quants dont do theoretical work. why require the proofs? just as an intelligence test? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7578258) |
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Date: February 10th, 2007 1:46 PM Author: learning disabled plaza coffee pot "Theoretical work" as in developing a lot of new theory? No, not generally. But it is work that requires a fairly solid understanding of the existing theory. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7578528) |
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Date: February 10th, 2007 4:17 PM Author: umber internet-worthy whorehouse UF person in princeton's MFIN:
http://www.princeton.edu/~bcf/MFin/MFinCV_Carnathan.pdf |
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Date: February 10th, 2007 7:59 PM Author: stimulating piazza telephone I know this guy:
http://www.princeton.edu/~bcf/MFin/MFinCV_Kee.pdf
He dropped the intro courses to Stanford's Financial Math program because he couldn't hack it (stanford program is VERY theoretical)
He could've done better if he hadn't graduated a year early. ML Research is a bit TTT though he's in a decent group.
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Date: February 10th, 2007 8:03 PM Author: stimulating piazza telephone AHAHAH I know this guy too:
http://www.princeton.edu/~bcf/MFin/MFinCV_Hoda.pdf
This guy is destined to be a code monkey. No way this guy could handle stanford's program either. He probably made the right choice though going to pton.
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Date: February 11th, 2007 3:35 PM Author: Fragrant pink orchestra pit You seem retarded. Good thing you're going to have a miserable career to suit your miserable personality (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7584148) |
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Date: February 10th, 2007 9:53 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building i read on another forum that stanford was much more theoretical and more go on to phd's. princeton's placement seems a lot better though. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7580990) |
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Date: February 10th, 2007 10:11 PM Author: stimulating piazza telephone That sounds about right. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7581124) |
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Date: February 11th, 2007 12:11 PM Author: Awkward haunted graveyard Is it a toolbag finance thing to add your GRE score or should I throw my 800 quant. on mine? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7583011) |
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Date: February 11th, 2007 12:31 PM Author: umber internet-worthy whorehouse it can't hurt. it seems like everyone else on that site included their scores. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7583082) |
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Date: February 11th, 2007 12:33 PM Author: Awkward haunted graveyard I'd never seen it before these but you're right, most do. I thought that could be a sign that I'm planning to apply to grad. school and not gonna take their job long term (which is completely true). (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7583090) |
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Date: February 11th, 2007 1:13 PM Author: stimulating piazza telephone Princeton's MFin program IS grad. school... (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7583257) |
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Date: February 11th, 2007 1:32 PM Author: Awkward haunted graveyard I know, I'm talking more about my situation (took the tests, looking for a job in between graduation and grad. school). (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7583346) |
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Date: February 11th, 2007 2:30 PM Author: charcoal beady-eyed office sweet tailpipe lol princeton (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7583702) |
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Date: February 11th, 2007 2:58 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building why the lolz? is their program inferior in some way to the others? their placement record is impressive. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7583890) |
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Date: February 11th, 2007 4:57 PM Author: charcoal beady-eyed office sweet tailpipe only because of "princeton" (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7584564) |
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Date: February 11th, 2007 3:09 PM Author: jet-lagged tantric state ape http://math.nyu.edu/financial_mathematics/content/04_current/02.html (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7583969) |
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Date: February 11th, 2007 7:09 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building so many of them are from foreign universities. it is tough to compare how i might stack up against them. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7585353) |
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Date: February 11th, 2007 11:31 PM Author: learning disabled plaza coffee pot Those French schools are prestigious as all hell. The Ecole Polytechnique is probably the top French UG, has a rigorous entrance exam process, and only takes 400-500 students a year. The other French colleges those people went to are similar. The Indian Institute of Technology system is also extremely selective. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7587116) |
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Date: February 11th, 2007 11:37 PM Author: Rough-skinned church building im fucked. should i just be an actuary instead? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7587140) |
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Date: February 11th, 2007 11:52 PM Author: learning disabled plaza coffee pot Actually, you should be fine as long as you do really well in school. Some trolls are giving you some bum advice on this thread. That stuff about UF not being good enough is retarded. If you're smart and know your shit, you just need to get people's attention long enough for them to figure that out. So you will want to make sure your coursework is as challenging as possible. Don't let yourself end up with a transcript that is indinstinguishable from that of someone dumber than you. Take hard classes and do well in them (which will also make you better at what you want to do). Once you get interviews, the names and course titles on your resume won't matter much- you will have to be quick and knowledgeable, because that's what they need.
As far as the actuary thing goes, it's a pretty decent option, but don't just do it because you think you can't get something you prefer. |
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Date: February 12th, 2007 12:04 AM Author: Rough-skinned church building thanks. i generally take what i get from this board with a grain of salt. hard classes = math, hard sciences? What is the best way to improve my interview skills? Vault?
I've always had actuary in the back of my mind in case finance doesn't pan out, i.e. my options are commercial banking or crappy master's or actuary. |
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Date: February 12th, 2007 12:17 AM Author: learning disabled plaza coffee pot I think math carries the most credibility (and is the most directly relevant), but on the other hand, you can't force yourself to become great at something you can't stand to study. In any case, it has to be something primarily quantitative. As for interviews, they are actually very highly technical. It is important to show that you know the hell out of something relevant (good at math, good at programming, and knowledgable about derivatives are the main areas). The salary negotiation is probably the only important non-technical aspect. |
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Date: February 12th, 2007 12:57 AM Author: Rough-skinned church building are you talking about interviews for quant jobs? i see those as highly unlikely out of ug. or are you talking about IB or MC jobs that would be a reach for after ug, but solid work experience before mfe or mba? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7587661) |
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Date: February 23rd, 2007 1:25 AM Author: 180 Sepia Hall i worked in s/t last summer, and of the 40 UG interns in my class, i would say half the class was incredibly good, and half the class was incredibly random with little in between. a good 50% were from a select few Ivies (H, P, Penn, D). Another 20% from equivs (Duke, S, MIT). There was a good number of engineers from CMU (maybe 10%). These guys tended to end up on structuring, trading, and research desks. The last 40% came from all fucking manner of schools (I think I remember a Univ. of Southern Maine in there), and some had low, low SATs, or low GPAs (3.1s, etc). A lot of the latter types had athletic backgrounds and were put into sales though. the regional schools there were, were close to NYC. In contrast, as I recall from the resume book, all the H and P kids had 1600s, etc.
so if my experience was representative of other s/t floors, and i presume it was, you're already shooting yourself in the foot by going to UF. a 4.0 even in a quant major from there does not hold much water compared with a 3.5 from an Ivy, and you'll have to distinguish yourself on other fronts. you can get into a Hdege fund for sure, and if you're happy floating around in the buy side forever, you might not even have to go to grad school. |
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Date: February 23rd, 2007 3:57 AM Author: stimulating piazza telephone how's structuring, does it blow ass? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7654493) |