To all those who read, I would appreciate your advise!I'm currently at quite a critical junction as a mere 21 year old. I'm wanting to (one day) become a mathematical Quant, building market models and pricing systems etc etc but I'm at a stage where I need to pursue a Master's degree and perhaps a PhD.My question is: where would you suggest I apply (and for what course) and if you have any ideas for sources of funding?Ideally, I'd be aiming at top institutions, my ideas so far are:London School of Economics: Financial Mathematics,Cambridge University: Mathematics or Financial Engineering,Oxford University: Mathematical and Financial Computing,But naturally, the fees are in the region of £20k...which frankly, I don't have! I'm quite happy to sign away a good X years of my life in a contract if I could get a firm to sponsor me, but I'm not sure of the best place to start. Ideally, I would do a PhD too, something along the lines of mathematical modelling of psychological tipping points in markets. (i.e. Stocks having difficulty moving in excess of their 52-week average/high/low, or currency markets not wanting to exceed certain integer ratios.I've attached my CV so you can see my background. Correction: You can't attach .doc or .pdf files. My background is that of a well achieving mathematics student, I scored an 81% average over my first 2 years at university (70% is a first), I'm involved in all the investment/banking societies and I worked as an intern for Zurich Financial Services.Many thanks,Jakejt9071@bris.ac.uk

MSc - Student loans, PhD - Start looking for a sponsor based on what you want to do.

Ah, slight complication in that area of student loans. I signed on to a 3 year degree, so I've used up my options with the student loans company (minimal interest), which means I'd have to do it privately. Is that really viable whilst doing a PhD after, it'd be not until 3-4 years later as to when I could pay them back; so along with my undergrad degree, I'd be £50k+ in debt.

Dunno, might be worth talking to some student advisers on this topic. My MSc was around 40K but I paid about half from investment profits and the rest through public student loans which I didn't have to start paying back till 2 years after finishing the degree and that's at 1% interest over a heap of years. Never had to look at private options.I think most options that are specified as student loans even if private must have some kind of once you're finished thingy attached, no?

There seems to be an arbitrage if you do a science or purely mathematical postgrad course. If the words "financial" or "finance" appear in the degree title then the fees rocket. My advice is to join the lateral, cheaper courses that are related eg Maths, Science, Engineering, Computer Science, then choose finance-related electives and write a thesis on a finance-related subject. That way you pay closer to £6k (LSE excluded) rather than £20k+. Also consider other top-rated universities to broaden your choices.

I am in the same situation (no funding for further study) so I have opted to join a BB as a Credit Risk developer for 2 years to improve my business knowledge, programming skills, networking...and then use the saving (estimated around 20K to 30k GBP after 2 years) to pursue higher education. I will be nearly 23 and then 24 by the time I got MFE (ideally). And with 2 years of work experience, I think I'll stand a better chance of getting a entry level quant job...