I am in need of advice regarding which schools, if any, in the UK would be best for Math Fin. Also, are the prices justified regarding tuition. I know that reading the other threads that most people do not feel that the prices are justified given the glut of people competing for jobs. Is this true or are some of these people not serious candidates and so the numbers are artificially inflated? Additionally, I have heard that attrition is very high for Phd's from phys. and math etc ... making the transition into the quant field. If this is true does this imply that their is a somewhat steady flow of jobs?I am very concerned that I will undertake one of these degrees and not be able to find a job after having payed a substantial amount of money.My background is a Phd. in chemical physics and I have been accepted to Cam. for MPhil. Finance, LSE, Imperial Finance, City U. Math. Fin. I wouldhave loved to have applied to LBS but I have no work experience. Are any of these other degrees worth it? In other words will theyhelp me get my foot in the door given I have a Phd but no work experience and lack the necessary background in finance? sorry for all the questions

If you have PHD that's another story.For my case I worked a few years before back to school. I am not that fortunate, I need to save enough $ before coming to school to study, particularly in USA schools where the tuitionfee is so HIGH !Mind you, school only teaches you the material, but what kind of job you landed depends on yourown effort finally, my friend.Also because you get into a very specialized field within finance, you should also expect though startingsalary is attractive, but the number of openings is also not steady ... When you see the postings (e..gWilmott), they are almost looking for the same stream of people and persuade them to change job !A fresh graduate without internship experience could prove difficult to raise their interest.I don't intend to give you a wrong impression that this is the end of Quant finance but I do wishto show you some real facts I observed so far.Good luck in your study.Jobseeker

for some reason, i think the PhD is enough to get into quant jobs. when they advvertise for quants, they ask for PhD in quantitative field. .. but i don't see them asking for an additional finance degree. just my thought though.

Thanks for the advice I am most appreciative. However, I am wondering how one is supposed to acquire the knowledge of options, derivatives etc ... if not via course. I grant you I am able to educate myself by reading and can understand the material in theory but what about the formal acknowledgement that one has assimilated the required information. Is it enough to demonstrate the knowledge at an interview if you are lucky enough to obtain same?cheers,adog

That's what I don't understand and argue ! Well, although those banks say they will give you training, I just feel the training are very elementary and bullshit ! That's why in my class, some who has PHD in Maths, Engineering still come to take the MSc course in Fin. Engineering.Sometimes they demand too much. When you really get a PHD in quant subject, they will bully and argue you don't have enough finance knowledge. When you have good enough finance knowledge, they way you don't have good enough maths skills. When youhave both, they will then say you can't code well in C++.These are all wasting people's time, I think. This is rather a matter of the current state of economy than any other true reasons. Remember the old days when Coolman Sucks hire more than 40 MBA from just ColAMBEEAR B-School (guess what firm and school I refer to). Sometimes those MBAs know only soft skills but not hard core tech like the MFE graduates ....Now everything is changed, the MBA from HARxxxxx even sucks .... (pls. don't get annoyed as I am not trying to despise or scorn the MBAs. I am just quoteing the fact that nowadays the economy is bad)....See what I mean ...It is OK both way. If you want to be a trader/structurer, then FE is better choice in my opinion. But if you really want to be a QUANT , then perhaps due to traditional reasons, they still willl pick a PHD (this is even more than true in UK system)

I am wondering how one is supposed to acquire the knowledge of options, derivatives etc ... Is it enough to demonstrate the knowledge at an interview...? >>self-study, as you mentioned, and in answer to the second question, yes.

Coolman Sucks.......Coolman Sucks........ I give up. Which firm are you refering to?

Rhymes with Boldmun Plaques..

Well, I suppose your phd degree in chemistry means you're strong in math. But that doesnt garantee you a job, since the businnes has saturated alot compared to 10 years ago, but there are some opportunities around yes. But what do you mean with artificially inflated numbers? The regular MSc Enginneers are as well very qualified for he jobs! In my opinion they are often more useful than the Phds, since many of them seems to have a strange approach.

"...many of them seems to have a strange approach."do go on, this sounds amusing.

I have no doubt that the MSc people are in many cases well qualified for numerous quant positions; however, it seems that the qualification sought by employers is that of a PhD. This is not always stated in the job description or the description seems to say PhD preferred. It is inthis sense of things that I wonder if the numbers are artificially inflated since presumably, although, I do not know if this is true their are moreMSc people applying for positions than PhD.'s. As a consequence, rightly or wrongly if the employer doesn't want to hire an MSc are these people given serious consideration. In other words if a hundred people are applying and 75% have the MSc qualification are they given serious consideration. Perhaps this is to general to be answered and can only be evaluated on an individual case by case basis but I am curious if there is a general trend. If someone could educate me in this regard I would be most appreciative. Additionally, I have heard it said that employers do not feel the MSc qualification gives enough background for the graduate to be a real quant. I don't think I would agree with this idea but what do I know. Conversely, if this is true I am also not sure that PhD's from various fields with no financebackground whatsoever are necessarily qualified either in as much as some practical experience or knowledge would seem to be in order.However, as one person responding on the thread has stated self-study is sufficient and one can then demonstrate this at an interview if possible.adog

"...are the prices justified regarding tuition."you need to define your utility function 'fore you can work that out.

Jungle,How about the employment situtation of graduated students from your program ? Does your U offer PhD in math finance program ?

j,there are 16 people on course i'm doing. only 4 of those are UK students, and i think all the foreign students are looking for jobs in their home countries when they graduate (china, ghana, norway, sweden, ireland, greece). of the UK students, i think 1 is going away travelling. so we have a small sample to work with... i think of the 3 UK students who're job-hunting, 2 are looking to go into asset management. i was told of last year's class, all the graduates had jobs within 2 weeks of the course finishing. the uni i'm at has a phd finance program. as an aside, i think UK phds operate differently from the US, they're entirely research based, you have no classes.

Which school & program are you ? For non-british, is it hard for he or she to get funding at your university when he or she obtains a admission of PhD in finance ? For those who are from outside UK, can they get a working permission in UK ? Of course, American or Canadian citizens dont need to worry about this kind of things.