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am i smart enough to be a quant?
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Date: February 7th, 2007 7:43 PM Author: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: electric grizzly marketing idea point 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: onyx sexy nibblets 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: bespoke swashbuckling wagecucks pisswyrm 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: electric grizzly marketing idea point 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: electric grizzly marketing idea point 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: electric grizzly marketing idea point 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: electric grizzly marketing idea point 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: electric grizzly marketing idea point 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: Multi-colored locale sound barrier lol - flame
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Date: February 7th, 2007 10:19 PM Author: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: electric grizzly marketing idea point 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: Abusive crackhouse athletic conference 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: laughsome domesticated party of the first part half-breed 1. where are you going to ugrad?
2. quants have PhDs
HTH |
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Date: February 8th, 2007 12:23 PM Author: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: laughsome domesticated party of the first part half-breed 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: laughsome domesticated party of the first part half-breed 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: laughsome domesticated party of the first part half-breed "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: electric grizzly marketing idea point 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: electric grizzly marketing idea point 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: laughsome domesticated party of the first part half-breed go to a real school
HTH |
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Date: February 9th, 2007 12:15 AM Author: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: laughsome domesticated party of the first part half-breed you are kind of screwed then
HTH |
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Date: February 9th, 2007 12:19 AM Author: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: laughsome domesticated party of the first part half-breed 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: laughsome domesticated party of the first part half-breed "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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: laughsome domesticated party of the first part half-breed 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: Adulterous chad 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: Adulterous chad 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: laughsome domesticated party of the first part half-breed 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: Excitant autistic tanning salon 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: electric grizzly marketing idea point 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: Indecent skinny woman pit "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: charismatic becky 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: laughsome domesticated party of the first part half-breed 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: laughsome domesticated party of the first part half-breed 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: Stirring Orchid Sanctuary Wrinkle 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: laughsome domesticated party of the first part half-breed 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: Mischievous cruise ship partner 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: charismatic becky 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: Mischievous cruise ship partner 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: laughsome domesticated party of the first part half-breed 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: Mischievous cruise ship partner 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: electric grizzly marketing idea point 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: electric grizzly marketing idea point 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: carnelian wonderful windowlicker 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: Indecent skinny woman pit 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: Indecent skinny woman pit 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: Indecent skinny woman pit 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: vermilion idiotic theatre 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: Amethyst House 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: laughsome domesticated party of the first part half-breed how's structuring, does it blow ass? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=576710&forum_id=1#7654493) |