Basic Q: Will an MSFM benefit a person wanting to work in prop trading, trading something like futures? Most of MSFM will be option pricing, but trading shops in chicago mostly do not deal in derivatives (AFAIK, but I may be wrong). Though statistics courses will help.

QuoteOriginally posted by: pgeek1Basic Q: Will an MSFM benefit a person wanting to work in prop trading, trading something like futures? Most of MSFM will be option pricing, but trading shops in chicago mostly do not deal in derivatives (AFAIK, but I may be wrong). Though statistics courses will help.pgeek1, you get a pretty well rounded financial mathematics education at Chicago. Certainly pricing derivatives is a big part of the curriculum, but you learn a lot more than that. I've been taking their Preparation Course over the last year, and I attended the Review Sessions last year, and from everything I've seen and heard, graduates get a wide range of jobs in the finance industry. A lot of them get jobs in prop shops, and I would wager that most graduates in the next year or two will work in prop shops because the banking industry is in such shambles, but a lot of prop shops have done really well. As a program, Chicago does a lot to help you find a job, and they network with a lot of businesses in the Chicago area, so if you're hoping to find a job in Chicago, I think getting the MSFM will be a great step toward that.This was asked by someone previously, but I thought I would answer it since it might be relevant to someone deciding if they want to get an MSFM: the University of Chicago is a bit more "theory" based than a lot of other Financial Engineering programs. The other programs like NYU or CMU will teach you the formulas you need to know and how to implement them. The program at the University of Chicago will teach you the formulas, but they will teach you why the formula is and how to derive it. You will get to know the underlying mathematics for better or worse. They also have a programming sequence if you need it, but I believe the coupling between the theory and the programming is a bit loose (some application, but mostly a programming class). I think they take the stance that if you learn the theory inside and out, it will become quite natural to you how to implement it. And if it's anything like my computer science undergrad, I think I would agree. They didn't teach me how to program in Computer Science, but the application in programming was quite natural once I understood the underlying theory of CS.You can check out their curriculum at http://www-finmath.uchicago.edu/new/msf ... m.phpAgain, if anyone is attending this fall, let me know and perhaps we'll get a chance to meet in class. There are 90 students each year, so I doubt you get a chance to meet every one, especially since a lot stay home and just watch the lectures online.Bill