MFE/MS in Mathematics or Aerospace Engineering

[Harkkam]

Hey guys this is going to seem weird but I'm in a bit of dilemma about what to do with my life.

Right now I'm working as an accountant basically at a small company that sells parts for airplane manufacturers.

I've had experience in the past working for a BB as a financial advisor and understand to a degree what wall st is like.

I live in NYC btw. I have a 3.2 Gpa BA in Economics from a super non target. I really struggled to get any kind of job after graduation.

Recently I was accepted into an Aerospace Engineering program.

I've narrowed down my two options based on my interests:

Path 1:
Get a MS in mathematics, get a good gpa in my MS and take the GRE and apply to MFE programs so I'm competitive at Baruch, UCB etc the top MFE programs.

Path 2: Start my BS in Aerospace Engineering.

Now I enjoy mathematics, physics, finance and statistics as subjects, I want top learn more and I care about them not just as a means to an end.

My true passion in life has been aircraft and spacecraft. I'm a huge nerd in that regard going to museums alone and being in awe studying every little detail.

But having worked at a BB I also caught the prestige bug and going out on the town in Manhattan, seeing professionals interact at the top of their game, the feeling of superiority over others. Plus the starting salary for MFE grads is much higher.

I hate mindless work in excel, I'm doing it right now and it bores me and that's what worries me about my MFE plan that the subject mater is not as interesting as say propulsion dynamics of a Saturn V rocket.

I think securities trading is foolish on a per second basis, a simple random walk that can't be predicted on a second to second or minute to minute basis. I do enjoy subject matter related to credit and interest rate risk, bond pricing and option pricing.

I feel my mindset going in is to try and do the least amount of work possible for the MFE and still get the most amount of prestige and money and "yeah I'm the boss" status. The subject matter is not my attraction.

I'm in it for the prestige, money and feeling of superiority when it comes to finance.

Is that enough to carry most people through?

 

[Varun Dubey]

Nope.

 

[Harkkam]

Yeah I haven't been able to

 

[tfors]

It will also feel nice if those same people suck up to you to get your business as a hotshot in the aerospace field.

 

[Miles Adkins]

I work at a quantitative hedgefund doing investment research all day making pretty good money.

I would drop it in a heartbeat and go back to school for aerospace if I wasn't still paying off school loans and needing to pay rent.

My advice would be to find a psych article online that explains once you make about $80,000/yr, money after that significantly means less to you. I think big lotto winners only feel 'on cloud nine' for like 3-6 months after they inherit their millions.

And prestige and superiority? Lol. Try telling a cute girl that your a big time quantitative analyst. She probably won't have a clue between the difference of a stock and a bond

 

[Saoud Alanjari]

I believe if you are choosing a career based on prestige and money, then you are career for the very wrong reasons.

An MFE is not actually necessary in order to obtain a entry-level quant job since many employers are willing to hire applicants with an MS in a quantitative discipline (mostly from a top tier school).

I would advise you to take an MS in a quantitative discipline of (highest) interest, enroll in some coursework related to quant finance (Stochastic Calculus, PDEs for Finance, Con't.-Time Finance, etc.) as electives, and get a high GPA. This would broaden your career options as well as allow you to apply for quant positions.

Also, this might help Why a Masters in Finance Won't Make You a Quant Trader - QuantStart

 

[ztluhcs]

Just wanted to reply here since I have a pretty pertinent background to the topic here. I did undergrad aerospace engineering, worked for a while at a defense contractor on UAVs, then went to grad school for more mech/aero engineering, and now work as a quant on an options desk. Both careers have boring parts. There are plenty of AEs that spend their entire careers doing finite element analysis on engine mounting blocks, or designing cabin bulkheads for commercial airliners. There are quants who spend weeks at a time debugging other people's code to find minute bugs in corner cases. Ultimately, you're going to be better off working on whatever you're most passionate about, because that will make the inevitable boring parts of your job just a little more enjoyable. That in turn will make you a better performer and should allow you to progress your career more rapidly. That said, you should bias your decision to take into account how long you will need to spend to start your career. Starting with a fresh undergrad degree sounds pretty daunting to me. I'd try to find some way to make the knowledge and expertise you already have at least partially work to catapult yourself into the career you desire.