Help needed with regards to how helpful masters in statistics is in making to a quant prop firm

whyamievenhere

whyamievenhere

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10/6/24
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I am a B. Tech graduate from IIT-Delhi majoring in computer science (amongst the top education institutes of India), with a CGPA of 8.88/10. Afterwards I worked as a quant researcher in an Indian high frequency prop trading firm for the past 2.5 years, leaving last month due to stagnation of growth and differences with the founders with regards to the direction of research.

At my current firm, the strategy we developed was based on using a very high order rate to collect spread for market making which is not scalable in other firms without my old firm's execution. While I did attempt significant research in alpha research, vol curve trading and other stuff which we couldn't exactly take to live due to lack of senior experience in our firm. I believe I have a decent understanding of quant fundamentals and want to give myself another chance to grow in the industry by getting to work and learn under experienced people.

While I have been applying to various firms for quant research, my lack of strategies which I can write from scratch has often gone against me in interviews, and hence I am looking to do a masters degree to start afresh. I applied in Baruch MFE (rejection after 2 rounds), Princeton MFE(no interview) and CMU MSCF(waitlisted) first. Afterwards post these results and some thinking, I decided to apply in masters of statistics programmes in early Feb, and could apply to the following programmes only in the time left:

  • MS Stats in UIUC (Got accepted).
  • MS applied statistics and data science at UCLA (Got accepted)
  • MS Statistics in Warwick (targetting finance specialisation) (Got accepted)
  • MS Statistics in University of Georgia (Rejected)
  • MS Statistics in Finance at Imperial (Results awaiting)
  • MA Statistical Finance and MA in Statistics in Columbia (Results awaiting)
It would be really helpful if I could get help regarding which program would be beneficial in further career development, or if none of them would be all that helpful with regards to starting afresh in the industry. Thanks in advance for the help.
 
Assuming you are indifferent as to the country you work in, I'd guess MS in stats at Warwick is best. I think the Imperial program you applied to is not their target program, but they do have one that is very well regarded. Similarly, Columbia has at least five quant-ish programs- this one is far from their best.

Why not take a year to reapply to Baruch, Uchicago, and CMU? Did you take the Pre-MFE courses from Baruch? You could take those and they will help your odds- two interviews at Baruch is good, they will not look poorly upon your application if you reapply.

You could also wait until this fall and apply to CMU's masters in ML or something similar. You have the work experience, you can play to your strengths here and just use the school to get a visa and a new internship.
 
Hello @MikeLawrence, thanks a lot for your reply. This is actually my second year of applying for Baruch and CMU, I didn’t take the pre MFE courses as I felt I had a good understanding of the fundamentals taught in them, but I had done all of Dan Stefanica’s problems from his book and a lot more prep based on my experience last year( where I also made it to round 2 of interviews) but still couldn’t clear it, given that I left my job this year would it be a good move to do nothing for a year more and then reapply ?

I guess I can try to apply to MS in ML in CMU, but my ML background is not that outstanding to get an admission there given how fierce competition has become in the masters degree. I couldn’t make it to thel MSCS and MSML programs at the end of my undergrad, and my job had little application of ML too 🥲. So what would you suggest to do from here ?

Also would you suggest applying at UCB MFE ? A friend of mine studied there and said that the program is not that good and he isn’t getting many good opportunities, and hence I didn’t apply there. I can try my luck there too. Also do you mean imperial’s masters in risk management and financial engineering is the more reputed one ? The applications are open for that one so I can apply there too right now.
 
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whyamievenhere said:
Hello @MikeLawrence, thanks a lot for your reply. This is actually my second year of applying for Baruch and CMU, I didn’t take the pre MFE courses as I felt I had a good understanding of the fundamentals taught in them, but I had done all of Dan Stefanica’s problems from his book and a lot more prep based on my experience last year( where I also made it to round 2 of interviews) but still couldn’t clear it, given that I left my job this year would it be a good move to do nothing for a year more and then reapply ?
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Ah, dang. Hmm, probably not.
whyamievenhere said:
I guess I can try to apply to MS in ML in CMU, but my ML background is not that outstanding to get an admission there given how fierce competition has become in the masters degree. I couldn’t make it to thel MSCS and MSML programs at the end of my undergrad, and my job had little application of ML too 🥲. So what would you suggest to do from here ?
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I'm not sure. You're better placed to figure that out than me. Most of my prep has been for MFE's.
whyamievenhere said:
Also would you suggest applying at UCB MFE ? A friend of mine studied there and said that the program is not that good and he isn’t getting many good opportunities, and hence I didn’t apply there. I can try my luck there too. Also do you mean imperial’s masters in risk management and financial engineering is the more reputed one ? The applications are open for that one so I can apply there too right now.
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I'm not applying to UCB, I don't recommend anyone else do so either (for now, year 2025, as the director and admissions office are in shambles). Best to wait it out- historically they are a top program, and I hope they will bounce back.

I mean the 'mathematics and finance'- which also happens to be ranked first in the QN ranking. I know a guy who went here, very smart guy, did well.

Mathematics and Finance MSc | Study | Imperial College London

www.imperial.ac.uk www.imperial.ac.uk
 
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