Hello all learned quant-related professionals and aspirants. The quality of information I have gleaned from this forum prompted me to post my questions. I hope you can provide me with some food for thought. I want to read an MsCF but have found that deadlines are already over for several schools (Stanford, NYU, Princeton, UChicago) and very tight for some (CMU). Being an engineer in Singapore, I learnt of the pioneer UChicago Financial Mathematics program in Singapore - the first intake for this program outside of the US. The deadline for this program is in May and I definitely have time to tweak my application as best I can. I have a Bachelors in Engineering from Singapore and graduated 2nd in my class (I was the reserve Valedictorian). My GPA is 3.78/4.0 and I have academic transcripts showing my competence in maths and programming but little finance background. I am hoping that my credentials will make my application to UChicago be a challenging but not futile attempt. I have several questions:Would this program be perceived poorly in comparison to the same program based in US? Would this hamper my chances of getting a job in the States after graduation, if I so desire? Is there major quant work done by banks in Asia (Singapore) or is the brunt of the work still being done in US/London with Asia doing the lower level quant tasks? A related question to above is: how valuable is working for a few years in US before returning to Singapore? I have read on other threads that one will get to learn much more being a junior quant in the US as compared to starting out in Singapore due to the different nature of the work done. How old is too old to start work as a quant? If I go the Uchicago(Singapore) route, I could enter the workforce in 2010 when I will turn 31. If I choose to do a Masters in the US, I could be looking to enter the workforce in 2012 when I will turn 33. Is this too old? Please, any and all comments and opinions are appreciated. They will help me in deciding if I should pursue this opportunity in Singapore. Thank you all.

I think you have a very good chance of making it to the finmath program at uchicago. But its news to me that they have started the program in Singapore. The program is very intensive its like a math boot camp. The problem is 1 yr is to short a time for what they teach.My personal opinion is that it is going to be difficult for you to look for a US job from singapore. Even students from Chicago have a tough time looking for jobs, simply cos the program is not marketed well. But on the bright side i think asia is a very upcoming market for quants specially on the buy side.

First of all, emh thanks for the reply and the kind words! I get a feeling that you'd be leaning towards a US-based education if you were me. Several other friends I have spoken to also lean in this direction. Does any one have any positive things to mention about Asia/Singapore? Also, in your personal opinion, is there any school whose graduands have a comparably easier time landing their first quant job in US as opposed to UChicago?

i think Berkley and CM are better at placing their students as they have the programs in the business school (unlike uchicago) where its in the Math dept.I believe NYU and Columbia obviously have a big locational advantage.You could explore UK schools too.

U. Chicago Singapore 'Financial Mathematics' programhttp://www-finmath.uchicago.edu/new/msfm/singapore/singapore.html http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site ... ewsLang=en

Add to the list a new program held jointly by NUS and Columbia: DOuble Professional Degree in FInancial Engineering, one from NUS and one from COlumbia.The Professional Degree is supposedly a POST-MASTER qualification, and one of the admission criteria is candidate must already have a MSFE or equivalent!Derman is in SIngapore this week to give a public briefing about this program.http://www.rmi.nus.edu.sg/DPD/Singapore's seriously an education hub in Asia now. You can actually earn Master degrees from MIT, Chicago, Columbia and Insead right in SIngapore! Intriguing.

The top tier banks in Singapore do not have much in the way of quant roles. If you want to work for the likes of DBS or maybe StanChart you may have more luck. Some funds in Singapore may be possible though.Several of the banks hire MFEs into roles like product control for valuation risk or price testing sub-departments but most do not find that all that enticing.Bit more going on in Hong Kong and Tokyo at the banks although in reality all the main action is London or NY.