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Hello,I am currently involved in a FE program and very much interested in the subject. The problem is I have business administration undergrad. and need to cover more math. Which topics should I consider studying? I want to use my time in the most efficient way. (I work during the day as a business analyst-not related to finance- and attend courses at night, do the homework in the weekend) Which topics in math have higher priority in relation to financial engineering? Which books do you suggest?I have started with linear algebra (the least I know among others), since I know some statistics and calculus. Is that a meaningful choice? I really would appreciate if you could provide me detailed info and a bit motivation (I deal with basic topics that are far away from applications, dark in the night, at home. As a result I sometimes cannot avoid asking myself questions like will I have enough patience to see the end of the tunnel or am I on the right track about gaining analytical skills?)Any other suggestions are welcomed...I can also participitate any colloborative financial engineering studies over the net.

I'd say you're on the right track with linear algebra and then calculus. How much math you need really depends on what kind of role you're looking for, but understanding ordinary differential equations should be the minimum level of calculus you aim for. For many spots you'll need a passing familiarity with partial differential equations; for a few, you'll need to be an expert.Statistics and probability should be the next step. Really, you don't have to go too deep here - don't delve into the world of t-tests and F-tests, but figure out what a chi-squared distribution is all about. Understand Bayes Theorem.Then you might want to muck about with stochastic calculus. The best way to learn this, IMHO, is to read some very introductory stuff and then try to work problems out on your own with a pen and paper. Stochastic calculus texts tend to be extremely formulation- and notation-heavy and so put newcomers off. Best to have a decent intuition before you dive in and trying to figure out wtf the books are talking about, so you can translate back to something like normal math-speak.

Hi Goman, I am a fresh MF student , still struggling to come to a level of Mathematical prowess , which is required for being in high finance. You can refer to the thread "Path to Enlightenment" in the Book section. It gives a detail list of books required , level wise. Mghiggins, are there any good books on probability/ or online sites ? Best wishes

Hi Wienner,I am glad to meet a fresh MF student who struggles to reach a certain level of mathematical capability like myself. Right now I am dealing with some essential mathematical concepts as I have indicated before. Certainly it would be more meaningful if I could cover these topicsthrough specific examples from finance. What would be more interesting (but less attainable right now) and so more motivating would be to learn things while working on real life projects. Thanks for your suggestion about "Path to Enlightenment"

Hi Mghiggins,Thanks for your suggestions and detailed explanations,I was very nice to learn that I am not going in the wrong direction. I am learning about Gaussian elimination, vector spaces, orthogonality...I am trying to cover as much as I can. Suggestions about anything you find especially important is welcomed.

Wienner,Try this book from the free ebooks thread Intro to Prob

another nice website is SOS Math it has an intro to everything.

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