Free course: Introduction to Finance

[Trev]

This is on Coursera, taught by a University of Michigan professor, for free. Enrollment is open and the first assessment is due this Sunday. Basic level finance that might be helpful for those from engineering/comp sci fields wanting to enter a MFE program with zero prior coursework in finance. No college credit. Also might be a good ramp-up for those aiming at the CFA Lev 1 for December.

https://www.coursera.org/course/introfinance

 

[CygnusXOne]

I'm signed up for this. I'm a physics student, and quant hopeful with no financial background. Hopefully this is a good starting point.

We should form a study group or something for all of the prospective quants from non-financial fields.

 

[Trev]

Good luck CygnusXOne

Looks like they extended the first homework slightly to be Due: Mon 30 Jul 2012 6:00:00 AM PDT so anyone who's interested should complete that today.

First module was basic, took only a couple of hours to listen to the lectures and do the homework. Lecturer is certainly aiming the class at those with no background in finance whatsoever in fairly bite-sized chunks.

 

[Trev]

Small correction... It's still possible to earn the certificate even after missing week 1's HW. From the syllabus:

COURSE GRADING AND CERTIFICATE
Your performance will be evaluated using a pass/fail grade. The philosophy behind our grading is to make sure you gain adequate competency to be granted a certificate. To qualify for a certificate, you will need to fulfill the following requirements:
• A score of at least 70% on five of the nine assignments,;
• A minimum of 70% on the final exam.
You will be allowed two attempts at each assignment as well as the final exam; but both attempts must be completed by the respective deadlines. You may of course attend the whole class regardless of your performance on assignments or the final, but a passing grade is necessary to receive a certificate.

So in order to get the certificate you only need to pass 5 of the 9 assignments, the first one is closed, so is a fail by default, so any late enrollments are down to 5/8 pass grades plus the final exam of course.

 

[Zeuge]

I'm waiting for this:
https://www.coursera.org/course/compinvesting1

 

[Trev]

I'm waiting for this:
https://www.coursera.org/course/compinvesting1

Zeuge, Looks like it's now been scheduled for Oct 22nd 2012 (6 weeks long)