Quote from FreedomPhighter:
Thanks for the reply. I really do love mathematics. Stanford has a pretty strong Mathematics department (whether it is better than Oxford is yet to be demonstrated....how many Stanford faculty have won the steele prize in recent years? lol)
I am sorry to tell you but YOUR statement seems a bit ridiculous. Didn't you realize that posting my question to what I thought would be a professional forum is part of my research? The fact is that I was hired by a trading firm for an entry level position in trading without an Oxford mathematics degree! I assumed that with the Oxford degree, my prospects are better but wanted some input from "professionals" (i can't help but laugh when I use that word on here). I think the prospects are significantly better for me considering the fact that I will be obtaining a masters in both mathematics and the foundations of computer science. Nonetheless, I have been told by a professor I know that Oxford on my resume is "...as good as gold..." as far as employment is concerned. In the least, I am confident that it will serve to get me interviews (which, as i keep saying, is all I really want anyways)
I respectfully disagree with your statement that there is NO job market for math masters. I know that when I use job sites like monstertrak.com or careerbuilder.com, many many trading positions require a degree in mathematics or some other physical science (most often the requirement is stated as "...computer science, physics, or mathematics degree with a strong academic record"). The hedge fund positions, I have noticed, almost ALWAYS require an MS in mathematics from a top 10 school. I will soon meet that requirement and see no reason why I wouldn't get interviews for such positions. Of course, other opinions are welcome...
Thanks.
What's so amazing about this and other posts I've seen from you is that it's clear that you've already made up your mind what the answer is to your original question, and that you're only looking for
confirming responses from ET members. Even when people who apparently know what they are talking about tell you flatly that an Oxford degree will not help you, you automatically discount their opinions and dismiss them as unknowledgeable, jealous, or spiteful.
This kind of selective acknowledgement therefore begs the question -- why post this thread in the first place? If you're not willing to accept
humbly (and I use that word as sarcastically as possible) what people have to say, then you shouldn't be posting on a publc forum a question that's bound to receive a full spectrum of responses. If you've taken the time to read through other threads in this forum, you'll find that except for the occasional wisecracks, people here are actually genuinely helpful, even in the Career Trader section (where, incidentally, you still didn't realize you should've posted your second thread). ET isn't a paid service, it's a free public message board, so you can't be offended by the wrath that your post can incite.
You're clearly proud of what you've accomplished academically, particularly from humble beginnings, and you should be proud. However, being proud doesn't mean throwing your accomplishments repeatedly in people's faces; that's just being insecure. Hey, my parents immigrated from a third world country right before I was born, and I got a BS from MIT and an MBA from Stanford, but until this post I never found it necessary to martial my academic credentials out every time I posted (if I get wisecracks now for mentioning it, so be it). But you've managed to mention "Oxford" so many times that it would be easier to just make it part of your tagline ("Future Oxford graduate, which I hear is as good as gold, and, according to my boss, the best trader intern to have never made money!"). I shudder to think how often you bring up your accomplishments in normal conversation.
You're obviously young, and you've managed to be successful at school. But, as many people in the workforce will attest, success in the workplace is an entirely different thing (sorry, but internships just don't count -- the responsibilities given to you just don't compare), and success on the trading floor is probably on the extreme edge. Academics is structured, linear, and rational, where the brightest continue upward. Trading, on the other hand, can be unstructured, discontinuous, and often irrational, where success can be fleeting and even the brightest can see there lives ruined rather arbitrarily. It takes a thick skin (which you clearly don't have) and not a thick skull (which you definitely have).
Take the replies and move on dude. You've used up way too much brain cycles and ET hard disk space trying to hold your ground.
