Mathematical Finance Degrees

Definitely, it's mostly up or out in the front lines. These young bucks are taking a big gamble with concentrated degrees and big debt loads so early in their lives.

Once you move up to PM or Account Manager of a really high value added product/line, it's steak dinners at Smith and Wolensky's 3 times a week on the company's tab. Why? Because it brings in money to the firm, the primary goal.

But you can't get those jobs with simply an MS in Finance or (LoL) an MBA in Marketing. As an insider, you will get a nice pat in the back and a few more 10Ks in your bonus. Not a game changer.
 
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xandman said:
Tuition inflation is another crisis worthy of its own thread. Fortunately, I will have a GI Bill with some money left for the graduate degree. But, getting a fellowship/TA will be of supreme importance.

Back on topic, forget about Baruch and it's 6% acceptance rate. However, I think some mathematical or hedgefund whiz ended up and may still be a prolific teacher at CUNY-Stonybrook. I don't know if it's Thorpe, Mandelbrot or somebody else. But then a star professor probably doesn't carry the whole program. Or is it some other CUNY?
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I think you mean SUNY Stony Brook. That'll be Jim Simmons and that would have been a long time ago.
 
So he is gone? I would like to think he would have made a lasting influence on the program. That of course is just speculation on my part.
 
Stonybrook student housing is like Jersey City prices. Double/Triple Chicago's University Village/Little Italy.

Chicago schools are definitely one of the best deals around.
 
What I've found really weird is the obsession with getting a quant job. I've always worked under the assumption that my results matter. If people aren't beating down my door to hire me, that's my fault. And honestly all interview questions aside if you can drop a P&L down on someone's desk with a bunch of black and commas on the bottom, the couriers will be fighting each other to get offer letters into your mailbox.

Similar to the MBA world, financial engineering degrees can be a handy tool towards getting you a career but on their own they amount to almost nothing. Maybe less than nothing, if you consider the debt attached.

Rambling further, you have to wonder about the mind of finance person who's loaded down with debt in the first place.
 
Quant is the flavor of the decade. People chase whatever is hot in the Street. When a line gets hot, the magazine articles rewrite history to show that particular line of business has been the place to be all along. Books are written that make NY Times bestseller, a movie is made to turn it into the zeitgeist and the schools become saturated with applicants who don't have a clue of the real world.

A combination of naivete and unbound optimism of youth. Add the hype and fudged placement/salary statistics from Universities who are also trying to make a profit.

The OP, however, has misgivings about his age and I got my first degree 20 years ago. There are some pragmatic drivers at work here. Probably the belief in the democratization of the markets thru computational technology ( thats another discussion rabbit hole)

More on MathFin programs....C4b** probably knows all the programs pros and cons.
 
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