Duke vs. Cornell vs. Berkeley vs. Michigan vs. Northwestern

[Tahoe]

<p>Quantitative finance (Quants) is a field unto itself. Quantitative Analysts are often called “Quants”. You can read this article, which is interesting -but I would suggest you also surf the Internet and do a little of your own research. Read Wiki for starters.<br>

**Wall Street Journal March 9, 2006
Proving Ground
Why StudentsOf Prof. El Karoui Are In Demand
French Math Teacher Covers Structure Of Derivatives;
Banks Clamor for ’Quants’ **
<a href=“http://www.ermii.org/News/Article_NEK_WSJ1.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ermii.org/News/Article_NEK_WSJ1.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
As a result, banks are hiring an increasing number of recruits who understand derivatives. Inside banks, they are known as “quantitative analysts,” or “quants” for short. They are able to marry stochastic calculus – the study of the impact of random variation over time – with the realities of financial trading. Derivatives are financial contracts, often exotic, whose values are derived from the performance of an underlying asset to which they are linked. Companies use them to help mitigate risk. For example, a company that stands to lose money on fixed-rate loans if rates rise can mitigate that risk by buying derivatives that increase in value as rates rise. Increasingly, investors are also using derivatives to make big bets on, say, the direction that interest rates will move. That carries the possibility of large returns, but also the possibility of large losses.

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<p>For this major, at Cornell you would major in ORIE – Here’s another article that you could have found yourself.
<a href=“http://www.orie.cornell.edu/orie/manage/infocus/upload/Financial-Engineering-article.pdf[/url]”>http://www.orie.cornell.edu/orie/manage/infocus/upload/Financial-Engineering-article.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>When I mentioned “quantitative fields” - was referring to fields that involve applying mathematical skills and concepts every day. The “quantitative skills” I am referring to are basic math principals in business. I am looking for competency and solid foundations in Calculus, Accounting, Statistics, Economics, and Finance skills.</p>