<p>Hi, I am wondering what are the steps besides my basic plan I should take to become a hedge fund quant. I will be a junior in college who is a mathematics major and a computer science major. I plan to get a Ph.D in mathematics with a specialization in computer science and something more finance related. I have already complete half of my upper division courses and began mathematical research and will begin come computer science related research. Would it benefit me if I took any business course for a minor? What other things can I do in the meantime to better prepare me for a hedge fund quant career?</p>
<p>Learning about Finance and Economics.</p>
<p>A Masters of Financial Engineering might be more beneficial and less time consuming for getting a quant job with a hedge fund, over getting a PhD in mathematics.</p>
<p>Some quantitative finance courses would help. It does not matter if the Math department offers it or the Finance department. Just make sure it covers:</p>
<ul>
<li>Stochastic Calculus</li>
<li>Martingales (may need to chat with the Statistics department)</li>
</ul>
<p>…and the Economics courses like Ominous said. Economics will help you with the decision-making aspect.</p>
<p>Stick with Mathematics and Computer Science double major. You need the mathematics over finance for a quant position. Get a job as a quant before you pursue your Ph.D. I would look at some of the large firms like the Chicago Merchantile Exchange(CME), Chicago Board of Options(CBO), Options Clearing Corporation(OCC), New York Stock Exchange, etc. Just to name a few. This will give you a better basis for eventually getting a future quant position and learning what a quant really does.</p>
<p>hit me up when you are managing 1mill +</p>
<p>All of the Masters of Financial Engineering programs I have looked at (CMU, Princeton even though thats not what its called, etc.) are very math and computer based. One program even strongly recomends C++ programing ability along with an extensive calculus and statistics background. I was suprised at how few business classes were in the curiculum.</p>
<p>As a quant, you really do not need to know business. You will learn it but it is not your prime focus.</p>
<p>check out the MFE at Baruch College as well.</p>
<p>Well I heard that many of the best hedge funds prefer Ph.Ds in quantitative fields such as math, cs, physics, or statistics over any others. It is true right? Should I really go into the work force before going into a Ph.D even if I can get into a top 20 institution directly? I just do not really want to stop my academic momentum, since I will finish undergraduate before I turn 20 and if I for some reason I choose later hedge funds is not my thing, couldn’t I easily go into something else that requires quantitative skills? I heard quants do quite a bit of research, so would it not deviate much from my current work in research? For my math course background, I have taken time series math course, many statistics courses, real analysis, complex analysis, financial mathematics, but also recently have began the more abstract side of math like abstract algebra (although I do not think it would help directly). So basically I should just continue focusing on math and computer science?</p>
<p>For the record you do not need to have a MFE to become a quant. MS in Math > MFE.</p>
<p>[Hedge</a> Fund - Quant Analyst — Find great jobs at Jobs.PhDs.org](<a href=“http://jobs.phds.org/job/23641/gqr-global-quant-recruitment/hedge-fund-quant-analyst]Hedge”>http://jobs.phds.org/job/23641/gqr-global-quant-recruitment/hedge-fund-quant-analyst)</p>
<p>Want a job? :P</p>
<p>Ya it says PhD in mathematics in the requirements section</p>
<p>Seems like you are on a very good trajectory. If you can handle the math phd workload and like academic research, I would say definitely do it. You will always have the chance to branch into finance via networking, recruiting or and advanced finance degree if you so choose. You will also have a nice safety net for when your quant fund blows up =p</p>