- Joined
- 12/1/14
- Messages
- 5
- Points
- 11
Hi everybody,
Is an MFE really worth it after doing a Ph.D. in CS (from a top 4 school - MIT/CMU/Berkeley/Stanford)?
I've recently received offers from a few prop shops + hedge funds, who've mostly mentioned to me that they "don't care" about finance and that I could "easily pick up the material in a matter of 2-3 months." After speaking to several MFE program directors, however; they claim that finance is really important, and that I'd likely not be working in the most desirable "trading" areas at these firms.
I'm a little confused, since the type of work that I'd be doing at the prop shops/hedge funds as part of my internship are either (1) long term strategies or (2) HFT. It seems likely that I could do one of these areas as a full-time position as well.
This then begs the question... what doors would the MFE open that my (soon-to-be) Ph.D. cannot? In my case, the MFE would cost $80K + the time I'd lose by doing an MFE. After graduation, I've heard that my target base + bonus would be somewhere near $400K if I do well; which means that I'd lose around this much in opportunity cost if I go with the MFE as well. If I do go with the MFE, would my prospects of landing a high-paying "trading" job be higher? Would the starting salaries offset the lost time?
mfrobo
Is an MFE really worth it after doing a Ph.D. in CS (from a top 4 school - MIT/CMU/Berkeley/Stanford)?
I've recently received offers from a few prop shops + hedge funds, who've mostly mentioned to me that they "don't care" about finance and that I could "easily pick up the material in a matter of 2-3 months." After speaking to several MFE program directors, however; they claim that finance is really important, and that I'd likely not be working in the most desirable "trading" areas at these firms.
I'm a little confused, since the type of work that I'd be doing at the prop shops/hedge funds as part of my internship are either (1) long term strategies or (2) HFT. It seems likely that I could do one of these areas as a full-time position as well.
This then begs the question... what doors would the MFE open that my (soon-to-be) Ph.D. cannot? In my case, the MFE would cost $80K + the time I'd lose by doing an MFE. After graduation, I've heard that my target base + bonus would be somewhere near $400K if I do well; which means that I'd lose around this much in opportunity cost if I go with the MFE as well. If I do go with the MFE, would my prospects of landing a high-paying "trading" job be higher? Would the starting salaries offset the lost time?
mfrobo