Financial Engineering

<p>In general, as market makers we don’t really bet directionally a ton, we make money by selling above and buying below fair value. That said of course you’ll probably be running prop positions and/or leave on certain risks that you like. We don’t invest tho, that’s for sure.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot guys! What would be the significant differences between FE and OR? They tend to be in the same departments.</p>

<p>^^^^^^^^</p>

<p>Bump.</p>

<p>ya me too 10char</p>

<p>There’s a significant difference between OR and FE in terms of the careers they generally cater to. The reason they’re often in the same department (at many schools, including Cornell, Columbia, and Princeton) is that they’re branches of applied math. Both of these fields use the same underlying mathematical methods, such as differential equations, multivariable calculus, matrix theory etc. Thus, its easier to put both degree programs in the same department. </p>

<p>Operations Research focuses on optimization problems while FE focuses on a wide range of financial models. FE major create models for risk management, quantitative trading, and financial analytics. OR majors create models of networks and processes. For both majors however, the mathematics needed to build their respective models is actually quite similar. Thus, OR and FE programs won’t different that much at the undergraduate level. At the graduate level, the programs become very different. Banks are willing to hire OR undergrads for FE positions in the financial industry. Graduate students in OR, however, are usually not hired into FE positions at their level.</p>

<p>Hope that helps. Sorry if it sounds rambling or incoherent (I wrote it at 4:00 AM lol).</p>

<p>Thanks a lot, that made a ton of sense.</p>