July 12th, 2007, 10:54 pm
Hi Dunkan, First of all, I would like to say that I do really appreciate your elaborate reply.I have been trying to elicit information from "people who have already been there" who are at least way ahead of me,but the replies albeit benign, are usually brief like a gospel, such as "Go to Oxford. It's more relevant". With little andno information gain, I can only console myself that neither decisions I make are bad, but it still worries me as the flavour of both courses are quite different. Maybe it does not really matter at all as we bachelors (or masters) are generally undesirableanyway, and it all depends only on our employer's good faith on us.I wrote to Mark Joshi recently who has kindly replied:"my instinct would be oxford as its more relevant to quant. They alsohave a longer tradition of delivering relevant courses as they havebeen running the diploma/msc in math finance for a long time"and also the famous Mark Davis:"I'd go for Oxford, on the grounds that it's more focussed on the needs of a quant career. Of course, either would be excellent."and other people from the quantitative finance dept. in my college: "I'd go for Oxford, on the grounds that it's more focussed on the needs of a quant career. Of course, either would be excellent.""In general, for a quant career in a major financial institution you'll need a PhD either in mathematics or in physics, although there are exceptions. I am not very familiar with the contents of either of the courses you listed, but the one in Oxford sounds more relevant.""My general advise is to do what you are most interested in, since you want to be excellent inorder to convince smart people to hire you for their team. More maths is generally v good and most quant teamsare actually made of phds, mostly. What your taste and financial constraints are, you must know best.All good students I had had have found good work.Otherwise, you may consult the usual web newsgroup for discussion on such topic, but be aware thatwhat is said there is to be taken with a prise of salt unless you can tell whether people tell from experience orguessing. In my opinion, 'brand' is less important than most students think, and excellence and work attitude are more important than many think. "It seems that the general consensus is 100% Oxford, 0% Cambridge and 10% It doesnt matter, but I still don't know why.Maybe you are right. There are no such thing as THE best quant masters programme as there are a spectrum of quant jobs. Perhaps the more relevant question is which part of the Quant sea I would like to sail, and which course doprepare me better for it. On the contrary, I also come to suspect that most quant programmes are like Satyajt Das expensive "quant conveyor belts" rides that lead to no where. In fact, I suspect the whole quantitative finance thing is a scam.It's hard to believe that human's greed and ambition behave "normally" in a market. Probably, the only reason why shrewd banks employs an elite group of academia from the ivory tower, including me and you, is to create an impression of the fairness of the price of derivatives. They created this "garbage" market where randomly priced instruments are tradedso that they can rip off some money from the unknowing and gullible buyers and sellers. The biggest losers at the end are the shameful academia, including me and you, who thought they are doing some socially important and practical research.Maybe I should stick to the more classical old school probability theory which are covered quite thoroughly in Cambridge,and apply it somehow one day to statistical trading. Seems plausible.Finding my way in this Quant sea of elusive information, I hope someone more experience can show me the way.Everything is so mysterious that I am starting to get paranoid. I am also grateful if there are simple answers to the my questions What level of mathematics are required for model building at entry-level ?What level of mathematics are required for statistical trading at entry-level?Will a strong quantitative finance group (Oxford) will help me to get a good job?Are there case studies of non-phd students who got into quant jobs and what do they do?How are the competition? Am I getting a job?Which institutitions I should apply for statistical trading? How much I am getting paid? Is it better to get into an IB or hedge fund?What other kind of quant jobs are close to the money? How do I work my way there?Is the course Optimal Investment and Levy processes in Cambridge relevant?Will a lack of numerical courses affect my application?Does it matter a 9 month or 10 month course?Are they more guides for beginner besides Mark Joshi's?The best quant course in my definition is the one that will land me a job most easily. Oxford or Cambridge?