<p>What are the differences between the financial mathematics major in LSA and a BBA from Ross? What sort of opportunities do kids in the financial mathematics program get in terms of job prospects and internships? If there is any other relevant information about the math major, please share!</p>
<p>Financial mathematics opens up quantitative trading positions (I’m not sure if you would want a masters or not). But you can get job offers at top firms like jump trading(recruits at Michigan) and,Hudson river trading and make nearly 200k first year out of college. You’d want a lot of CS and math. A dual major would probably be best if you’re interested in Algorithmic trading. There are other things you could do as well such as securities pricing. Quantnet.com has a lot of information. </p>
<p>As far as advice on the math major goes, I would focus on analysis and only take the bare requirements for abstract algebra. Mainly take applied math(ODE,PDE,Numerical Analysis, Linear Algebra), probability, analysis, and stochaistic calculus. Definitely take more than the bare minimums as far as analysis goes as it is necessary to develop mathematical maturity and develop probability theory and understanding of stochaistic calculus</p>
<p>Would a financial mathematics degree lead to a good job after graduation even without a strong background in computer science? Are those 200k jobs more of the exception than the rule? Are the opportunities that Ross BBA kids have open to kids with a financial mathematics degree?</p>
<p>Financial Math recruits strictly into quantitative trading positions. It’s much more challenging than a BBA but it’s a great option for the right type of thinker. Ross has publications for where they place kids that you can find online if you want to compare.</p>
<p>I haven’t heard of 200K jobs. Definitely you can get 6 figures when bonuses are factored in, but I’ve never heard of 200K personally, at least not out of undergrad. I don’t know if thes1 was thinking of PhD graduates, or if he simply knows a much better breed than I do, but I can say I’ve never heard of someone getting 200K straight out of undergrad.</p>
<p>I’ve heard of 200k, but those are proprietary trading firms where you are paid on your performance/the firms. But at the end of the day, don’t do it for the money. There’s no way you’ll be good at something you don’t enjoy (especially mathematics). </p>
<p>Without a strong background in CS I’d be a little worried, you want to be a decent programmer at the least as you’re probably not going to be developing models with a BS hence you’ll be implementing them.</p>
<p>There are quite a few 200k jobs directly out of undergrad in prop trading/hedge funds. Not guaranteed comp but potential comp? Sure. With that said, Jump and Hudson River are so-so shops. Most of the prop shops hiring are in the COE as opposed to financial math. They really don’t care about the financial knowledge coming in, just the quantitative background. </p>
<p>Financial math focuses on pricing, which was a skill set heavily demanded by structuring desks on the sell-side but that space has been decimated by ridiculous over-regulation by the government in the form of unrealistic capital requirements and cumbersome legislation like Dodd Frank. These days, only the TBTF banks have the balance sheet and operating leverage to engage in this stuff, which is the opposite of what all the post 08 legislations intended to do. This is what happens when you let a bunch of bozo who knows nothing about the financial markets regulate the financial markets.</p>
<p>@bearcats, you mentioned CoE, but what are some types of majors that these jobs typically recruit?</p>
<p>most of the trading firms that recruit at the CoE career fair look for CS students. i’ve also seen some recruit for IOE (specifically, financial engineering), but the majority of i’ve seen are looking for CS.</p>
<p>Would Informatics also fall under the CS umbrella?</p>
<p>^no. (10 char)</p>
<p>EECS and IOEs.</p>
<p>These is one Informatics track called Computational Informatics which requires just about all the same courses as CS. But you might as well do CS, if you’re thinking about doing that since Informatics’s is more a head scratcher major you’re talking to recruiters.</p>
<p>So, I haven’t been on CC in years but this question is more than enough motivation for me to log back on.</p>
<p>I’m graduating in a month with a dual degree in Fin. Math and Econ from here.
There is a massive difference between the two. It’s essentially a ton of applied statistics with a solid ground in Real Analysis and the calculus. Within the BBA program you will ultimately touch on a few financial mathematics topics but ultimately, you are just merely scratching the surface. Within Fin Math, you derive, formulate, understand clearly, and
model some of the mathematics used in the industry. The majority of your courseload is of graduate-level so be forewarned. You can pretty much do anything, modelling, pricing derivatives. The program gives you the skills to be valuable on the buy-side of finance (HF, AM, PE, etc).</p>
<p>Having said all of this, I highly recommend that you do not undertake this major.
Learn from my mistakes. The majority of your classmates will be graduate and foreign students who already know the material pretty well. Let me preface this by saying that getting into industry is very-highly GPA-driven. If you don’t have above a 3.5 it’s tough getting interviews for jobs and internships. Even if you’ve arguably walked through hell and back, a lot of recruiters have no idea what the program entails. Given the nature of your classmates, whose desires are to go to grad school/know the material pretty well already, you’re already at a disadvantage on the grading scale.</p>
<p>It’s not worth all the suffering. All my non-foreign friends who graduated last semester have either been unemployed or are working in positions that they don’t like/don’t pay much. They are also some of the smartest people I know but undertaking this major does not bode well for your GPA.</p>
<p>Work hard your freshman year, get into the BBA program and do an EECS minor or major as well if you’re interested in HFT or quant shops. You can’t do much with just a BSE/BS in CS if you want to work in HFT, you really need a Ph.D to do something significant. Also, you’re not making 200k straight out of undergrad, that’s the only thing I disagree with that thes1tuation has stated.</p>
<p>I’ve grown increasingly disillusioned with the program here and the dept knows it’s absolute crap. They’re great (in theory) classes, taught be profs with little industry experience, in a dept that cares nothing about you. Don’t do it.</p>
<p>Please PM me.</p>
<p>Informatics is CS-lite, you’d be better off doing just CS/CSE</p>
<p>What was your reasoning for doing that instead of BBA then?</p>
<p>Sesquipedanlian - very interesting on your experience. Thinking back, as opposed to a BBA and a EECS minor or major, what do you think about an IOE major instead? Would that also give you the background for a quant career and the strong Engineering recruiting department (which is about on level with Ross Recruiting).</p>
<p>An IOE major is simply not on the level quantitatively that CS and Math are. It doesn’t have the same reputation or pull that Ross has. It doesn’t give you (own it’s own, you could supplement classes or study outside the major) the financial knowledge that you’d get in Ross or FinMath. It’s just weak on all fronts if you really want to do finance. It’s not that it’s impossible (bearcats did IOE) but it’s not the best major for it. Relatively few IOEs end up in finance careers.</p>
<p>IOE is probably middle ground</p>
<p>Employability demand
Ross > IOE > Financial Math</p>
<p>In terms of quantitative requirements:
Financial Math > IOE > Ross</p>
<p>Thank you both. Appreciate the perspective</p>