What's the point of FE?

[Franklin]

Why not get a master in mathematics and take some C++ classes to be a quant? All of the job interviews say that you can have a master in mathematics and be a quant. What makes this FE degree so essential?

I want to go the way where you get a master in mathematics from a top university and be eligible to be a quant.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Well, you forget that the whole idea of MFE degree is marketable highly focused skills.

A lot of MFE applicants obtained BS, MS, PhD in Math/CS or other highly quantitative disciplines. By your reasoning, they would just walk right to Wall Street and get a quant job. Just for starter, you don't learn finance in a top Math or CS program.

People pay on average 60K for an MFE degree just so that they can get trained and then placed at Wall street investment banks for internships and full time positions.

Do you happen to know any top Math/CS dept that able to find Wall Street internship and job for all of their graduates ? It's not their job to find you job. On the other hand, the whole structure of an MFE program is involving around training and finding you jobs. It's a different between an academic degree (Math) and a professional degree (MFE).

I also have to say that not every MFE is equally successfully or aggressively when it comes to job placement. Some are doing a bad job, some are doing excellent job, some are not doing any thing at all. That's one of the reasons people tend to pay lot of money just so that they have a better chance of getting a job.

 

[Franklin]

I know that MFE is a combination of computer programming, math and finance. However, I didn't know much about the advantages of having a MFE. You've clearly explained that to me. Thanks.

What if you want to pursue your education in mathematics at a undergraduate program or a state university and then apply to a MFE program later on. Aren't you at a disadvantage there because you don't know much about C++ and finance? Would your grades suffer?

 

[Yuriy]

Well, let me say a couple of things.

People with MS in Math or any other quantitative discipline can find a job in finance, and I know several people who happen to work in finance or were offered jobs in finance having MS in Math, Stats, OR.

There are two points here that need to be stressed.
(1) There is a higher chance that you find a job in finance with MFE than with MS in Math.
(2) If you want a job in finance, why going for MS in Math? That is, why would you spend time and efforts taking Topology, Differential Geometry and some other courses that you would not use, if instead you could take courses in disciplines that you are more likely to use at work.

One more point is that companies know what MFE is and they sometimes prefer to hire people who already know something about finance.

On the other hand, if you get an MS in Math from one of the top schools, I think you'll have good chances of getting a job in finance.