Yes, because they are unlikely to have connections that probably help with some of the higher paying jobs. But if you do not have connections, then you are in the same (more competitive) applicant pool for those jobs.
yeah thats partially true. But honestly if your fgli you don’t have to be as smart/talented to get into a top school. Yes admissions are holistic, but there are many fgli students that are really gifted but have poor home environments and end up not attending top schools. The fgli students that do get in don’t necessarily have to be the most gifted, but just have living environments where they are in the position to apply to these schools.
For example two fgli kids, one extremely gifted, the other smart, but kinda average. If the first one grows up with little support from their parents, they likely don’t end up going far compared to their potential. Whilst if they other is really pushed by their parents to pursue their education (an opportunity the parents didn’t get), they’ll get into ivies, even tho they may not be as smart.
Hopefully, that makes sense - a lot of my friends are in a similar situation. Some aren’t even going to college. So I feel this is an area I can speak to pretty well - but i myself am not fgli so I shouldn’t say too much, i suppose
Yeah I agree you can definitely get in through undergrad - ig ill know more once I start interning and taking classes at Columbia. I am mostly looking at QT roles, those you can get in with just undergrad, QR is really difficult to break into with just undergrad, i think those are mainly the math PhDs. Quant Developer isn’t of too much interest as I like math more than cs, but that may change.
I think the two main reasons for the ms, are to build a stronger skill set, and also for the additional network.
Above this, CS bs + Stats ms seems very good for data science which is something I’m very interested in as well.
Of course, all of this is very contingent to change - but i always like scoping out possibilities early on.
Thanks for the help - it seems like you know quite a bit more than me about Quant, so I really appreciate you sharing ur advice!
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This is a just released anonymous senior survey. You may scroll down the Finances section and look at expected income. No connections are involved because in many of these jobs you are putting partner and employee capital at risk. There is no room to hire based on connections.
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Thanks - this is helpful but I’m afraid it might be too difficult to make any judgments on this data.
I think in general, from the fintech field - 300k+ early on is nice, but most often tc will be more than enough to pay off college debt and live very comfortably.
I cant make any assumptions of course, but I think everything will be fine in the end. Id just prefer not to have to take out too much in loans, just to be safe.
I appreciate your help!
Good luck. BTW Fintech != Quant.
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Thanks!
Ur right - sometimes i just group them together under fintech but I mean (quant, ds, swe)
I’m just lazy lol
As others have mentioned, talk to your advisor. Some required courses may not be offered every semester which may make graduating early more difficult.
I would not make financial decisions based on an assumption of finishing early.
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You are lacking an essential quality for a quant- using data to make decisions. Talking to a kid who did it; making assumptions based on your gut, looking at an outlier and assuming it represents the entire world- no.
There are so many flaws in your logic you could drive a truck through it.
Best of luck to you. Do not bet the farm on getting that $300K job after three years of undergrad.
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Hello - I think a $300K job as a quant in NYC is definitely possible. One of my son’s friends recently signed on to a well known firm with a similar total comp, all with only a bachelor’s degree.
But note, these firms are looking for analytical ability: they like ivy league degrees but thats not enough. You’ll need to show your aptitude during interviews. They also like students who do well in olympiads and math competitions. A degree in pure mathematics is valued, so are coding skills.
You mentioned earlier that transferring to Columbia College would make you lose the engineering scholar status. That makes sense. Keep in mind that at Columbia College you can graduate without a major – a minor or concentration is enough. Some even do double concentration. You need 22 credits for a CS concentration vs 49 credits for a major. You could probably do a double concentration in mathematics and CS and still finish in about 3.5 years. The only issue with a concentration is that you don’t get exposure to the higher level classes (unless you take them as electives).
At the BS/MS levels, it is more about the skills and knowledge you acquire to solve problems, not the degree or degrees you may have. It’s one thing if you run out of interesting courses/opportunities at Columbia so you want to graduate early, but it’s completely different if you think an extra degree at another institution taking essentially the same courses that you’d otherwise take at Columbia will make a difference to a knowledgeable employer.
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You will have to pay for those summer courses. They aren’t free.
My opinion…you would be better off getting decent internship or job experience in the summers than taking courses. It’s never too early to start building your work resume. PLUS for grad school, work experience related to your field would be a benefit.
I’m not sure I understand why you need a masters right after your bachelors (a degree you haven’t even started yet). Just get a job…work for a couple of years…there are actually still some businesses out there that will help fund a masters program.
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I personally think working in your field while getting your masters is better as you actually will be working IN the field and interacting with others who work in the field.
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Words never spoken by a successful quant.
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Columbia does not offer credit for college courses taken before high school graduation. But you could take classes this summer, prior to entering Columbia and then receive credit. The only catch is that one of the advisors in the Berick center must approve it. They generally approve transfer credit classes taken at another 4 year university with similar scope/syllabus as that found in the Columbia bulletin.
Once you’re at Columbia, you can take courses over the summer. But the selection of classes is much more limited over the summer, and its quite expensive. You could also take classes at another 4 year college during the summer and transfer them. But they generally don’t approve summer classes after you’ve enrolled at Columbia unless you’re behind or need to makeup a failing grade.
I would suggest that you call the Berick Center for Advising and speak to someone. You won’t get assigned an advisor until later in the summer. But I believe they have ‘at large’ advisors for situations like this.
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The stuff that matters to get an interview from a quant firm is some subset of the following:
- Appropriate coursework (combinatorics or high (grad) level probability courses), courses such as the Math 55 at Harvard or MAT 216/218 at Princeton or equivalent at other schools.
- Association with PUMAC (as a problem writer for instance) or HMMT or equivalent.
- A FAANG or comparable internship (yes, even for a quant role)
- Serious math or theory CS or Stat research with a well known prof that you can report on your resume
- Position of leadership of campus organizations such as ACM or Math Club.
- Reputation of school
- GPA.
- medal at the IMO / IPho
- Your resume should be in the math club resume book, or the equivalent channel at your school.
The order is not a preference order. I just listed them.
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There obviously can be exceptions, but generally speaking, summer course offerings are not only limited in scope, but they aren’t of the same quality at most places. They’re taught by different instructors for different students.
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Ok will do, thanks!
Perhaps - but all this right here is my data?
Also I have talked to quite a lot of people - its definitely is feasible, Id only know if its feasible for me once I start my first semester.
The 300k-400k was just a joke about getting a PhD - i don’t need that much money, realistically no one does. What I was trying to say however, is that since Im not overly interested in research in the long run a PhD wouldn’t be all too useful for my career.