<p>what are other good masters degree that one can get straight out of college that are business related. how is a masters in economics viewed? is it enough to make you equal with an MBA? do masters degrees in finance exist? any other related masters degree? what different doors to these different degrees open?</p>
<p>how do you break into trading? how are potential employees evaluated? trading seems to be an innate skill so I dont see how they can be evaluated like ibankers. is getting into trading easier or harder than ibanking? how do the qualifications differ?</p>
<p>would a masters degree in econ be good for hedge funds? it seems like hedge funs do some complicated econ forecasting that only someone with an econ degree can do.. is it an advantage to have an econ degree instead of a mba?</p>
<p>In general, another master's degree is not enough to put you on par with an elite MBA. Those MBA's don't just imply that you went to school, but that you also have some work experience and/or leadership experience to have gotten you admitted to the MBA program in the first place.</p>
<p>There are Master's in Finance degrees available from a few universities worldwide such as Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins, Waterloo and London School of Economics to name a few. They provide solid foundations for gaining a job in many different specializations of finance, however, they also limit you to just that: jobs in the financial sector. If you find after a few years of work in finance that you aren't enjoying it as much as you would like your only option would be to go back to school and pursue an MBA to create opportunities in fields other than finance.</p>
<p>If you wish to be a trader get yourself an advanced science, economics/finance, mathematics degree (masters, PhD etc). Or you could be one of the guys who are natural and dont need any education after bachelors. It depends on what you want to do as there are a variety of different fields in trading each requiring different areas of competence.
MBA is a waste of time for successful traders. Traders who go and get MBAs are the ones looking to get OUT of the trading industry. Typically people in other professions go get MBAs to enter into the trading track.</p>
<p>I am not going to get into an ibank target recruiting school... ill end up at an average school... but nothing like wharton</p>
<p>would getting a masters in econ from some place like uchicago be a good way to get recruited as a trader or would my undergrad degree still hold me back(i have the same question about management consulting).</p>
<p>trading seems like an innate skill so would i even need a prestigous degree if i do well in hard sciences?</p>
<p>i dont really understand what criteria is used to hire traders. perhaps someone could shed some light on this</p>
<p>I don't know about the idea of getting a master's degree in econ (or science or math) with the express purpose of becoming a trader. The fact is, few of the elite graduate programs in these fields offer terminal master's programs. You would have to be admitted into the PhD program (certainly no small feat by any stretch of the imagination) with the 'secret' purpose of redacting back to the master's. I think there are some ethical issues involved in entering a PhD program (and affirming in your statement of purpose that you really want to get your PhD to become an academic) while secretly having absolutely no intention of completing that PhD.</p>
<p>I actually agree with mahras, There are several masters program that cater to people seeking to reenter the financial field. BTW if you can get into and come out of Uchicago with a masters in econ, I highly doubt you would have any problem with getting a job as a trader. I know a guy who graduated from Chicago masters and he basically had no problem what so ever landing a very nice job as a quant. </p>
<p>I happen to have an MA in econ and work in the finance industry so perhaps I can help. </p>
<p>-An MA in econ will probably NOT get you an MBA level job right after college. It will help your chances of employment (e.g. getting a job or getting a "better" job) though. </p>
<p>-After 3 years or so of work, an employer will probably not look at your Masters degree any different than an MBA. In other words, they are close substitutes. You should then make about the same amount and compete for the same jobs as an MBA. Keep in mind that MBA's have work experience coming right out of their respective programs. </p>
<p>-The coursework is very different than that of an MBA. In fact, the coursework is quite different than that of a BA in econ. An MA in econ is very math and computer science intensive. Some would argue that the coursework is more difficult for an MA in econ. I would argue that it is quite a bit more difficult. An MA will give you more of a technical base but it will not give you the soft skills that are actually quite important in business. For example, I was competing for engineering positions right out of my econ program. One caveat is that there are many econ courses that are pretty much meaningless in business. In order to take full advantage of the substitutability of the degrees, you should be careful not to take these types of courses.</p>
<p>-Finally, I think you should really get an MA in econ (or finance or accounting or whatever) only if you like the subject. If you dont like math, computers, and/or economics then you will be miserable and will struggle during your studies. I dont think you should get an MA in econ if you really want an MBA. You may be disappointed. Besides, working is not a bad thing!</p>
<p>Mz1989, those are not master's econ programs you listed, but rather are master's finance programs. I was talking specifically about the idea of getting a master's degree in econ.</p>
<p>would I be doomed to being a quant with one a computational finance type degree?</p>
<p>i want to tradde, not analyze. I am thinking about this because I will be going to a state school and will have little chance of a trading job out of college.... so im look for alternate routes</p>
<p>Doomed to analyze? Many quants are also quant traders. Nowadays many firms trade almost automatically with computers looking for discreptencies or looking for certain conditions to be met before entering a trade. Trading isn't just done with your guy, you better have some method to give you an edge above other market participants so you make a profit. </p>
<p>A masters in economics would serve the exact purpose. MBAs cannot do complex mathematical models. People who have advanced training in mathematics, comp sci, sciences, economics all have good grounding in quantitative modelling. A masters in economics can also be used for fundamental trading as well.</p>
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<p>Hey, I wouldn't generalize too much. I would argue that some of the MBA's coming out of MITSloan, especially those that take many of the optimization and quantitative analysis courses (MIT Sloan is the top quant analysis MBA program) would give even the best quant jock a serious run for their money. In fact, I would argue that they are probably better at quantitative analysis and modeling than many people with master's degrees in econ.</p>
<p>I agree. This is expecially true considering that many people getting an MA in econ opt to take the "easy way out" and take classes such as contract theory, political economics, wage theory, economic history etc. While those classes still sometimes require data analysis, some math/statistics, and or computer programming, they still are much easier than classes such as financial economics, forecasting, dynamic economics, optimization, or other quantitative type subjects.</p>
<p>The best way to become a trader is to get a job in the place you want to work. Prove yourself. </p>
<p>For example, if you want to trade for one of the commodity exchanges in Chicago, get on the floors and find a clerk job. Do well, make friends and you might find yourself getting a shot.</p>
<p>If you want to work for a firm, take any job in the trading department and watch the traders and learn what makes them successful. Prove yourself.</p>
<p>I am not talking about MIT or Uchicago. Those two are pretty quantitative. The rest well I wouldnt place my bets with them. Several of the best quant shops are more interested in recruiting people who know good science and mathematics. </p>
<p>They dont need people who know business or finance because if they are smart enough to complete a PhD in molecular biology from a top program then teaching them actual, market relevant finance isn't hard. </p>
<p>As for trading with experience>Yes it is very important. However, I dont suggest hitting the floor just yet. Floor traders are a dying breed. The US is actually behind the European exchanges when it comes to adopting electronic exchanges which are much more efficient and cost saving. However, the floor traders still have a lot of influence at the different exchanges and they are basically reducing the speed at which the exchanges adopt a more electronic route. But at we can see from this new NYSE-ARCA merger as well as the increase in electronic trading at the CME, floor tradings profitable years are behind it. </p>
<p>But desk trading will still be there (and with more force) and Dstark's comment regarding trading are 100% true.</p>