Help me cut down my list of schools.Focus:Sales and Trading

<p>I am a finance major and want to go to a school that recruits for mainly Sales and Trading.
1.UIUC
2. NYU
3. Bentley University
4. Tulane University
5. CUNY Baruch<br>
6. UNC Kenan Flagler
The 6 schools above, I am applying to regardless of anything else. </p>

<p>Now the rest of the schools I am not all that into...but considering applying to just in case:
I dont know too much about their strength in the finance department..and would like more input if anyone has more information.
1.University of Washington/Foster
2. University of Maryland-Smith
3. University of Southern California
4. Georgetown University -McDonough
5. Northeastern University
6.Concordia University
7.McGill- Desaultes </p>

<p>Would you be able to cut down the 2nd list into 4 top schools you would choose as a finance major wanting to go into trading?</p>

<p>you know, in my honest opinion, for S&T, id recommend a math major. being able to think abstractly and quantitatively and quickly is a major aspect of being a successful trader. i was at goldman sachs in tokyo a few weeks ago and talked with the MD at S&T and 18 of 18 people who worked at his fixed income desk had a hard science/math major, being able to decipher brain teasers in interviews and able to think quick on their toes. </p>

<p>and while understanding finance and economics is a good thing, in S&T, at least to my impression, it seems that good decision making by being able to think outside the box is even more valuable.</p>

<p>just my 2 cents.
(math/econ major at a top 20 uni aiming for S&T as well)</p>

<p>the 6 schools u are applying to, they are fine, the bottom 7 id say,
USC, GT, McGill. id recommend UMich as well.</p>

<p>Thanks Genre for that great analysis. I know math/engineering is a better prospect to get hired for sales and trading but I am not particulary strong in that field…</p>

<p>then sir, it seems like sales is for you!</p>

<p>If you cannot do math, you will never succeed at a trading firm or get hired in the first place.</p>

<p>Are u serious??? ***<br>
Ive already made a lot of money and better calls than all the analysts on CNBC
Called the May top, shorted it down to the stone age, called for the bounce from June 7, and called the big move down today on all major indexes.</p>

<p>I also read that you dont need to be that strong in math to trade.</p>

<p>Then why would you need a job? Just do trading for yourself. </p>

<p>You do know that in a trading desk, the trader just takes orders and tries to get the best prices for his clients; they don’t pick the stocks.</p>

<p>Because I need bigger capital to make bigger % gains. Once I start trading and learn all the extra ropes from Wall ST, I plan to trade on my own as long as I made enough capital.</p>

<p>BTW I am up 23% in this volatile market and only 19. But being up 23% on $2000 isnt much…I want more!!!</p>

<p>You need to evaluate your gains in light of the risks you took. There are lots of lottery winners that are up 1,000,000%, that doesn’t mean they’re especially clever.</p>

<p>You can start small. Don’t need much capital. You can leverage. Think options.</p>

<p>Man, if you’re such a genius and you’ve got the markets figured out then all you need is about 1,000 dollars to start and in 5 years you’ll be rich. You could just work at McDonald’s or something to save up in the meantime while your busy manipulating the market and accumulating your fortune. So have you decided on which mansion and exotic car you’re going to buy yet? With all that cash you’ll be rolling in you’re gonna want to get a head start on utilizing all of it.</p>

<p>LOL, I am not saying I am the best…but so far for a newb I like to say Im starting out great. Im wanting to learn more about options and futures and currency markets and that is why I want to go to a great trading school, get hired at a firm and work there for about a decade and then start up my own. </p>

<p>I still have much more to learn, but Im just saying I dont think you need to be super quantative to trade.</p>

<p>i do think a math is a necessity in trading.</p>

<p>If you take a look at what the hedge funds are hiring, they are hiring people with high analytical skills in math and science and no finance background is necessary. The reason for is is that they want people who can break down the derivatives instruments they are trading and know fixed-income instruments thoroughly.</p>

<p>Finance is an extremely easy major. It is almost frowned upon in the elite business world, investment banks and especially hedge funds. They would much prefer a bright math major and then teach him finance on the job.</p>

<p>you sound very confident in your abilities mrgrape. i was up over 200% for the past 2 years and was ranked #1 trader on equitrader (until it went down) and im 20 but i by no means am a good trader at all</p>

<p>and also, your list sucks and i have no idea where you got the idea that those schools were good for getting into S&T. for ex: baruch…tulane…bentley…etc… really? if you were so smart, you’d know that in finance it’s all about who you know. For S&T though, look into ivies, dook gtown, umich, nu, nyu, mit, UChicago, CMU and UTexas & Rice for Houston</p>

<p>First of all, Wall St. is nothing if not a meritocracy. It has little if nothing to do with who you know. No one cares who your uncle is or who your grandfather was if you aren’t going to make the firm money, maintain your VaR, and beat your benchmark. </p>

<p>Second, you clearly don’t know much about the business if you don’t know Tulane’s presence in trading specifically. </p>

<p>Tulane Finance propaganda below</p>

<p>RANKINGS:</p>

<p>Tulane’s Finance Dept. ranked 10th in the World, 8th in the US (Financial Times ’08)
[Tulane</a> University - Financial Times Names Tulane University Among World’s Top 10 Schools for Finance](<a href=“http://tulane.edu/news/releases/012808.cfm]Tulane”>http://tulane.edu/news/releases/012808.cfm)
[FT.com</a> / UK - A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN: THE TOP TEN SCHOOLS IN SELECTED CATEGORIES](<a href=“A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN: THE TOP TEN SCHOOLS IN SELECTED CATEGORIES | Financial Times”>A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN: THE TOP TEN SCHOOLS IN SELECTED CATEGORIES | Financial Times)</p>

<p>Tulane’s Finance Dept. ranked in the Top 15 nationally (Princeton Review ’09)</p>

<p>VIDEOS:</p>

<p>CNBC video about Trading coursework at Tulane:
[News</a> Headlines](<a href=“http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=615836031&play=1]News”>http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=615836031&play=1)</p>

<p>PROGRAMS OF NOTE</p>

<p>*Burkenroad Equity Research Program:</p>

<p>1)Article from US News about Burkenroad equity research program at Tulane:
[Tulane</a> Students Pick Stocks for Real - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2008/04/16/tulane-students-pick-stocks-for-real.html]Tulane”>http://www.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2008/04/16/tulane-students-pick-stocks-for-real.html)</p>

<p>2)Article from Financial Times May ‘10, “Programme with a buy rating” : [Financial</a> Times: Programme with a ‘buy’ rating Freeman News](<a href=“http://freemanblog.freeman.tulane.edu/freemannews/index.php/financial-times-programme-with-a-buy-rating/]Financial”>http://freemanblog.freeman.tulane.edu/freemannews/index.php/financial-times-programme-with-a-buy-rating/)</p>

<p>3)General Info on Tulane’s Equity Research Program
[Freeman</a> School @ Tulane](<a href=“http://www.freeman.tulane.edu/burkenroad/whatis.php]Freeman”>About Burkenroad Reports - Freeman School | Tulane)</p>

<p>*Darwin Fenner Student Management Fund ($2million):</p>

<p>General info
[Freeman</a> School @ Tulane](<a href=“http://www.freeman.tulane.edu/fenner/]Freeman”>http://www.freeman.tulane.edu/fenner/)</p>

<p>I think if someone is truly interested in trading as a career, then an education is a must. Read all you can on your own, trade all you can on your own, but ultimately no one will hire you if you haven’t jumped through the same hoops as everyone else. </p>

<p>Finance, math, and engineering will prepare you for the mindset and skill set necessary for a trader. Econ will prepare you for the background of market movements.</p>

<p>I should have clarified: its about who you know to get the interview. Obviously if you don’t make the firm money you will get axed. I thought you guys would have understood, oops. And rankings don’t mean ****. Go talk to analysts at BBs in S&T (T specifically) and see if anyone from Tulane is on their desk lol</p>

<p>Well, for one, I WAS an analyst at a BB and am a TU alum. For a school the size of tulane, it has a very good presence. I understand you’re younger so you aren’t going to know what schools have what sort of presence in what fields but I trust you’ll ultimately find schools like Rochester (which hasn’t been mentioned) and tulane have great presence despite not being one of the “bigger” names. For instance Stanford used to be THE school for VC, much more so than anything on the east coast. Anyways, that’s my two cents.</p>

<p>My point about a meritocracy was simply that you have to earn that interview. You do that a number of ways and yes it can be who you know but it can’t be that alone. Having family connections won’t generate alpha. Firms know that, and they typically won’t waste their time interviewing someone just because of nepotism.</p>