- #1
zpconn
- 243
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Me: an undergraduate math major, two years left, very well qualified, very disillusioned with the idea of an academic career, considering a switch to finance.
I'm wondering what would be involved in making this switch. This is all hypothetical, but if I were to do this what should I do in the next two years to best prepare for this sort of career? My mathematical background is at probably the second-year graduate level at a normal graduate school but my financial background is very limited--I have some knowledge about it but I haven't taken actual courses. So I'm asking in an ideal world what would be the absolute best way for me to spend the next two years if my goal is to go into quantitative finance? I have a good programming background so I wouldn't need to take any classes for that.
I understand that there may be no single answer to this question, depending on what area I want to go into, but I imagine that surely specialization like that wouldn't occur until being in the workplace or working on a master's degree/Ph.D. in the subject.
Internships are probably very important. I've already got an REU lined up for this summer, but what internships should I aim for the following summer? What are the coolest ones for stuff like this? I've heard good things about DE Shaw but don't know about any others really.
And finally, is there any decent introduction to this career? I've looked a good deal, actually, and all the information is incredibly fragmented with no clear target audience at all.
Thanks very much. I'm just trying to judge my options right now.
I'm wondering what would be involved in making this switch. This is all hypothetical, but if I were to do this what should I do in the next two years to best prepare for this sort of career? My mathematical background is at probably the second-year graduate level at a normal graduate school but my financial background is very limited--I have some knowledge about it but I haven't taken actual courses. So I'm asking in an ideal world what would be the absolute best way for me to spend the next two years if my goal is to go into quantitative finance? I have a good programming background so I wouldn't need to take any classes for that.
I understand that there may be no single answer to this question, depending on what area I want to go into, but I imagine that surely specialization like that wouldn't occur until being in the workplace or working on a master's degree/Ph.D. in the subject.
Internships are probably very important. I've already got an REU lined up for this summer, but what internships should I aim for the following summer? What are the coolest ones for stuff like this? I've heard good things about DE Shaw but don't know about any others really.
And finally, is there any decent introduction to this career? I've looked a good deal, actually, and all the information is incredibly fragmented with no clear target audience at all.
Thanks very much. I'm just trying to judge my options right now.