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NikoBank
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Posts: 1
Joined: July 31st, 2020, 5:20 pm

Student completely new to the quantitative finances world

August 2nd, 2020, 4:33 pm

I will introduce myself, I am a 19 yo university student in Spain who has just finished his first year in the Physics degree(1 out of 4). Recently,I have discovered this whole quantitative finance "world" and i am very interested on it,to the point that i would love to work as a quant one day.The research and reading i have made is quite poor and i do not really understand much. I would like to point out that i know nothing about Economy and this year i have learned a bit of C++ programming(very basic stuff),Algebra and Calculus but as you might expect it was my first year at university and all these subjects were not complex at all,we ve had an introduction to Maths and Physics. 
After this introduction,I would like a recommendation on how to start or how to approach to this world,pointing out my ignorance on Economy and my little knowledge on Maths. What books should I read to start on my journey on being a quant,what subjects on my degree would be more useful...
Summing everything up: What are the first steps for me to become a quant? 
 
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Alan
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Joined: December 19th, 2001, 4:01 am
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Re: Student completely new to the quantitative finances world

August 2nd, 2020, 4:52 pm

welcome -- three suggestions.

1. On books, start with this short, cheap, excellent intro book by Richard Brealey.

2. On the economy, start regularly reading the business section of your favorite local major newspaper, plus the Wall Street Journal (perhaps available for free in your school library).

3. On coursework, since you have calculus, next take a statistics course that uses it. It is just like physics in this sense: you can't really 'get it' until you have had the calculus version.  
 
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bearish
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Joined: February 3rd, 2011, 2:19 pm

Re: Student completely new to the quantitative finances world

August 2nd, 2020, 7:24 pm

That’s all sound advice, although I’d argue for the Financial Times rather than the WSJ, not the least because you’re in Europe. For an entertaining read that tells some behind the scenes quant stories plus some genuine economics and history, I can recommend which is written by a former contributor to this forum. Good luck!