Steven Institute Technology - BS in Quantitative Finance

[lgriscom]

Hello All,
I am brand new to the forum, I wanted the community's opinion on the strength of the QF undergraduate program at Stevens to which I have been accepted. I have also been offered entry into their accelerated masters program. I understand this is one of the few QF specific undergrad programs in the country. Proximity to possible internship, job placement in NYC has me excited.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

This is a very specialized track. Are you sure you don't want to do more traditional STEM degree to explore more options later on? Things may change a few years down the road and being too specialized early on may be disadvantageous.

 

[lgriscom]

Your point is valid, I have offers from several competitive schools for a STEM business tract, but I feel myself being pulled toward QF for many reasons. I started my high schools first ever stock trading club, and have participated in several trading competiions and done quite well. Stevens has also mentioned how specific the curriculum is, but they also mentioned that it is easier to transfer out of QF then into it, which is why I am leaning this way to begin. Curriculum is attached. Does anyone know if the QF undergrad program is well respected by potential employers. Almost all QF programs are Masters level, how does this undergrad QF degree compare?

 

[jarryds]

I would heavily advise against doing a QF undergrad program. As said before, it is unnecessarily specialized. Plenty of BS degrees find their way into quant - there is no need to risk it in undergrad.

The real issue here is that quant is a graduate degree based field. In other words, you should fully expect to pursue either an MS or a PhD to break in. There is only a select few groups of people who will break into specific quant roles fresh out of undergrad and Stevens is not included on that list.

I would study math, CS, or physics for your undergrad. You can probably take some of the QF courses as electives or maybe they offer a minor. You cannot compare an MS and a BS - the former assumes you already have the latter.

Editing after looking at the curriculum - definitely not. Way too many filler courses from the business department. The business department should not be teaching you math.