What should I do?

[ribero]

Hello. I'm a staff accountant at an accounting firm. I've been in this industry a few years. Now, I'm 27 years old and figured out that I don't want to be in this industry anymore. I decided to change my career. I always wanted to be a quant. I know this is very hard and, perhaps, is quite late to start to be a quant. But, I want to try before it's really really late.

I graduated from UIC and majored in finance. Took only Calculus I (actually, took it during high school) and never learned any programming. My biggest concern is that I did not take enough math courses during college.

Here are some options that I have in mind:

1) Taking some math and programming courses at a local college school and try for MSFE at UIUC.
- I'm not sure if this local school is good enough to prepare Graduate school.
- If I take this route, then my actual attendance to UIUC will be in 2015. This is making me to hesitate.
- Or, I can try for MSF and focus on Financial Engineering specialization.

2) Take GMAT/GRE and go for MSF in IIT.
- I heard IIT MSF is okay. I found Financial Engineering concentration from the website, but I'm not sure about the quality compared to MMF that IIT provides.
- Or, I can go to IIT MSF and also study some math courses in local college. Then, try to transfer to IIT MMF. (I don't think I can go to MMF right away because I did not take Calculus II or more advanced math courses.)

3) Going back to UIC and get second bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Computer Science.
- Perhaps, this option might take the longest time among the options, but learn thoroughly.


I picked these list because I want to stay in Chicago. However, if there are better options away from Chicago, I'm willing to take it.


Thanks in advance.

 

[systemtrader]

I believe you can take math courses offered by UIUC to prepare your math.

I think this math Certificate from UIUC will prepare you for math on MSFE:
https://netmath.illinois.edu/certificateprogram

Personally I think UIUC MSFE and IIT MSMF are great choices to have especially in Chicago area. Also, personally I would rather have/ go for a FE(UIUC) or MF(IIT) than a MSF focused on FE.

btw can't you take single coures at UIC to prepare your math? also going for a 2nd undergrad is pointless if you're going to go for a MS. Just prepare your math and programming for 1-2 years.

 

[ribero]

I believe you can take math courses offered by UIUC to prepare your math.

I think this math Certificate from UIUC will prepare you for math on MSFE:
https://netmath.illinois.edu/certificateprogram

Personally I think UIUC MSFE and IIT MSMF are great choices to have especially in Chicago area. Also, personally I would rather have/ go for a FE(UIUC) or MF(IIT) than a MSF focused on FE.

btw can't you take single coures at UIC to prepare your math? also going for a 2nd undergrad is pointless if you're going to go for a MS. Just prepare your math and programming for 1-2 years.

Thanks. I added undergrad option because I felt I'm starting from the beginning. I guess I don't need that one anymore.

 

[C S]

You're going to have to explain what your goal is in terms of getting an entry-level job. If by "quant" you mean close to the action at an investment bank or trading firm, then I don't see it happening at all. You'll be competing with people that are stellar quantitatively, not just math but programming. These are people that have spent at least their undergrad, often losing lots of sleep just to program or do math. Taking some courses to catch up in a short time just isn't going to cut it. Your competition has too much of a head start.

Now if you mean by "quant", working in some kind of risk modeling, maybe in these growing areas related to the increased regulatory environment, then that's more reasonable. But you see, everyone that lost out for the first type of position that I described, they're now your competition. And even though they lost out in the other competition, they still have the head start I described.

There's no point in spending money on an expensive degree that's designed at getting a certain type of person up to speed and equipped to tackle the Wall St job market if you're not really that type of person. This type of person generally has a much stronger background in the relevant areas than you seem to. And the average such person usually finds these MFE programs go at a more rapid pace than they would like.