Breaking into New York hedge funds (Jane Street, DE Shaw, Two Sigma, etc.) as a University of Wisconsin student quadruple majoring in Finance, Mathematics, Computer Science, and Data Science
Hello, I am a student at the University of Wisconsin majoring in finance, computer science, data science, and mathematics. I am interested in breaking in to top tier hedge funds as a quant trader/researcher and am wondering what I should be doing to reach that goal. Will I have any shot at landing an internship that could convert in to a full time offer while in undergrad or will it be nearly impossible coming from the University of Wisconsin? If that is the case, what masters program and school would be the best to attend post grad to further qualify myself for said role?
After two majors, the marginal return of having additional majors really goes in the toilet. You could definitely better allocate time if you want to maximize your shot at quant.
Would you be able to further elaborate on that please?
add a fifth major to understand diminishing marginal returns
in all seriousness, you will be seen as incredibly smart and diligent if you just pick those three majors (Comp. Sci, Math, and Data Science). I understand you have those credits to use so that makes sense. Those three majors is enough to get interviews. Adding a fourth major, is diminishing marginal returns because there is an incredibly small benefit, but a significant extra cost of time needed for that fourth major. Its actually a negative marginal return if you ask me if you factor into opportunity costs. You can use that time saved by not doing that fourth major to prepare for a career, which will be more effective.
He shouldn't need to elaborate on common sense. Cut a couple majors and spend that time grinding prep for the interviews instead. Or ignore me and add on a fifth major
You are clueless. Womp womp
Can you help me understand then? I am a freshman trying to gain an understanding of what I should be doing over the next 4 years to give myself the best shot at success.
Step 1 - transfer asap, nearly impossible from UW
join IBC
bro as my id states I don’t know anything about quant but it really is a bad idea taking more than 2 majors in college.
No quant myself but I’d start networking, talk to people to get an understanding of their approaches / work (as much as they’re willing to share), build your own models / data sets, backtest them, let live data run through it and check your hypothesis etc.
Don’t just grind theoretical frameworks but get into the trenches.
Well Jane Street is not a hedge fund so there's that.
But in all honesty networking doesn't matter, just do well on the Putnam and make sure you're doing exceptionally well in your math/CS coursework. Coming from UW is a hurdle, mostly because it doesn't point to patterns of sustained excellence (ACT/PSAT/Nat'l Merit are meaningless since the rigor/concepts are trivial). To get a look you need some national recognition, be that through Putnam performance, Kaggle, datathons, etc. You'd have an easier time leaning into CS and getting a dev seat rather than a QR seat given your background.
Also, the attitude that you're a lost genius who's misunderstood and got stuck at UW despite being the smartest person in the room is not very becoming.
I was never saying I got stuck at UW. It’s the in state school and I get all my tuition paid for on scholarship. I got into other top universities I just made the decision based on cost not realizing how important where you go to school actually was.
Transfer if financially possible, study greenbook and other quant guides and make sure to know stats well. Study CS and Math or Stats. Just grind for interviews and you will be fine lol, will be much easier from a top school to get interviews tho
So I actually have the opportunity to transfer to MIT and have been debating it. Is it worth it and what effect will having that visible transfer on my resume have?
Respectfully, no fucken shit it’s worth it 😂. I transferred to a t10 and no quant firm has said a word about it lol only time they even ask about school life is behavioral in phone round or final round. So transfer and get above 3.5
All prop firms pretty much put their candidates thru the same interview process. Unless your application is getting desk rejected (unlikely given your description of your education), you're on the same level playing field as kids attending Harvard. There's plenty of posts on the forum about how to prepare for the jane street interview process.
This forum will not be helpful to you. I’m a quant/trader at a bank and can answer some questions if you have specific ones. Head over to QuantNet for real info. Also there is less of a prestige element in quant but coming from a non ivy/MIT/S/Caltech/CMU/GT will make it a bit harder. If I were you I’d target smaller Chicago trading firms/market makers as there are a ton and geographically it will be easier. Get an internship at a 3rd/2nd rate firm sophomore year and try and go for the big guys junior year.
Step 1 - make yourself less identifiable on an anonymous forum trevor
Step 2 - transfer schools to a target/semi traget
Step 3 - win math olympiad
Step 4 - drop unneeded majors to focus on recruiting / networking
Step 5 - fulfill destiny of making $500k a year
Step 1 - Way too easy to identify, especially with easy username confirmation
Someone else mentioned IBC - they have a pipeline where hedge fund alumni hire sophomores out of IBC (not exclusively, but it's certainly the majority), so that could be a pathway. Not sure if this is still relevant for you depending on your year, but if IBC isn't the route, I would network with former alumni that founded hedge funds. Ricky Sandler used to teach a class remotely every other semester, so the presence is there. PM for additional names, etc.
I'd follow some quants on fintwit to get sense of practical application. @wifeyalpha @nope_its_lilly @INArteCarloDoss, idk many more than that, I followed them tangentially from they something tweeted that I agreed with. I would read through their tweets (I think wifey has threads on AQR research/white papers for quant stuff), and try to recreate portfolio/backtesting models etc. Also see who they interact with for broader base of quant people. That could give you some ideas to start.
Just think in back of your head of projects you could do on the side - even just to include on your resume that would have key words to get past resume screeners
Edit: Idk much about quant Im on the SS so maybe Im off. But I from non-target background too and this is something I wish I was told from the start.
Wifey is a pseudo quant who failed at investment management at a tiny boutique. No qualification in mathematics, comp sci whatsoever. He was exposed last year or so. Find better accounts to follow. It's so weird that everybody tries to call themselves quant these days on the internet when they're not lol.
You don't need most of the things mentioned here, and you might find better advice on QuantNet. Securing an internship as an undergraduate at a top quant firm would require an incredible amount of luck and skill regardless of your school. So, while you can certainly try, I wouldn't consider it a probable path.
That being said, if I were to do it again from the position of OP, I would probably major in math (pure, applied, stats) and CS, and complete a relevant thesis just to get my feet wet.
Then, unless you enjoy research and are okay with spending another 4+ years in school, I would opt for a top quant finance grad program. This would give you a reasonable chance of joining a quant shop afterwards. Even if this doesn't work out immediately, as long as you land a quant role somewhere reasonable, you will have a shot at joining a quant fund, although it may take a few years. Just relax, enjoy your scholarship, and use the money toward your master's program.
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