Master's in Quantitative Finance around the world and Jobs

[ajnano]

Hi,

I'm a student from Brazil, I study engineering at Universidade de São Paulo (USP), highly regarded in Latin America (top 1 in most university rankings). It has great connections with other universities around the world as well. I also have a pretty good curriculum with exchange to Japan (with scholarship) and internship at one of the biggest hedge funds here. I'm looking to apply for a master's degree in quant next year. I've seen that the best universities for the subject are in the US or Europe, but I think there are some great programs in places like Hong Kong or Singapore. I have some friends that graduated in the US (UCLA, GT, USC), so I think I'm capable on doing well in my applications.

My questions are:

How hard is it to get accepted for a master's degree in quant in a good university in the US or the UK for international students?

If I get a master's degree in HKUST or NUS, how difficult is it to get a job in the US or Europe?

 

[ajnano]

Also I want to add:

How does other universities around the world rank with the American ones in the 2025 ranking in this website?

I saw a pretty cool program at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University with a dual master's degree, where you study the second year in NYU, does anyone have any information about it? How hard is it?

Thank you!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

As a rule of thumb, if you want to work in the US, go to the best programs program in the US. Same to the UK.
It is impossible to do a program in Asia or UK and apply to the US jobs.
US market for quant jobs is bigger than UK, Asia combined.
Look at the Tracker to see profiles of people who get into the top programs. Do your research now.

 

[YuminWu]

I saw a pretty cool program at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University with a dual master's degree, where you study the second year in NYU, does anyone have any information about it? How hard is it?

That program looks cool. However, candidates must first be admitted to PolyU's MSc in Quantitative Finance and FinTech program, and then only 15 students with outstanding academic performance can be admitted to the dual master's program.

This means the competition is intense, and there's no guarantee that everyone can attend NYU's MFE program.