Master in Quantitative Finance before going to physics Grad School?

[edenstar]

I am considering doing a one year Masters Program at my school in quantitative finance because:

• It is a very good program that is offered at my school which I could get into without taking any GRE's qualifying exams, or even application essays
• It would allow me get a relatively high paying job later in life most likely if I wanted
• I could complete it in my fourth year of undergrad
• I am pretty interested in learning more about it

However, I am also very interested in going to grad school for physics (maybe applied mathematics). I am wondering if getting this masters could somehow hurt my chances for physics grad school. I am an undergrad Physics and Applied math major with a reasonable chance of going to grad school for physics. I am thinking that because physics is a higher priority, I should focus on making myself a more appealing candidate for grad school in my final year. On the other hand, this masters seems like a pretty good opportunity. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Thanks for the post! Sorry you aren't generating responses at the moment. Do you have any further information, come to any new conclusions or is it possible to reword the post?

 

[F=qE]

Here are my thoughts:

IF you can complete your 4th year of undergrad AND complete this masters (In the same year) - then by all means go for it. You aren't losing any time.

But things to consider - Is that program free for you? Those masters in quantitative finance programs are EXTREMELY expensive. And honestly from what I hear they are mainly degree mills. It matters much more where you go for that masters in quantitative finance than many other degrees. Because the point is to meet people while you do it and network.

A Physics PhD that goes to Wall St has just as much earnings potential as a Masters in Quantitative Finance in my humble opinion. And I would argue way more potential due to the added skills that a Physics PhD has. Physics PhDs run Wall St, Masters in Quantitative Finance people work for them. Meaning if you get a Physics PhD, it's almost redundant. And you will learn much more with the PhD.

I don't think having this masters would hurt your chances of getting into a grad school for physics if you did it in the same year while you were still in undergrad. I do however think that a year of research will go farther in getting you into a top notch physics grad school than this irrelevant masters.

You can always do the masters in quantitative finance after the PhD in Physics if you really want it...

Just some things for you to consider :) Again, these are my opinions, I'm not working on Wall St obviously, but I have read up a little on Physics PhD vs Masters in QF just incase I want to explore that route some day...