Engineering Degree for Trading?
I'm a high school student interested in economics and finance. I am looking into a career in trading. I have sent a bunch of emails to prop trading firms around the country asking questions about a career in this field. I have managed to talked to a few traders and they have various opinions on what college degrees are necessary. I was wondering what your opinions are on necessary degrees for trading. How does a computer engineering degree look? Thanks.
Edit: I should mention that I am looking at engineering to make myself more marketable. I am very interested in trading and best case scenario would be to get into trading and have the computer engineering degree to fall back on.





I'd avoid choosing a major
I'd avoid choosing a major until you are done with freshman year, because what you think a major is like in HS and what it is is often very different. Take as many classes in different areas as you can and keep an open mind. I narrowed my focus too early and I had to do catchup when I realized I hated my first choice. That was my biggest mistake in UG.
If you're interested a quant
If you're interested a quant trading/structured products role it'll definitely look good. The questions is what do you want to trade?
Computer Engineering would be
Computer Engineering would be excellent, but what's more important is the college name. Make sure you get in to a top university.
You wont go wrong with
You wont go wrong with engineering. Double up Enegineering and Econ..
ivoteforthatguy wrote: I'd
I'd avoid choosing a major until you are done with freshman year, because what you think a major is like in HS and what it is is often very different. Take as many classes in different areas as you can and keep an open mind. I narrowed my focus too early and I had to do catchup when I realized I hated my first choice. That was my biggest mistake in UG.
I agree wait at least 2 semesters before you settle down. I know too many people who made the mistake of going in as a particular major then a few majors later they settled down. Most importantly get a 4.0 your freshman year.
Most of the prop firms
Most of the prop firms recruit from the top engineering programs around the country so you definitely can't go wrong.
I 2nd everything the guys above have mentioned about waiting a few semesters before deciding.
I have done this (or close to
I have done this (or close to it) and I can only say that you should probably not study engineering unless you actually *like* engineering. It's a tough major, and it will be tough to get through hundreds of hours of thermodynamics/fluids problem sets if you are just doing it to get into finance.
If you could actually see yourself doing CompEng professionally, go for it. Otherwise, I might look for something more in line with your interests, like FinEng, Computational Finance, or Actuarial Science. Maybe a school with a very quanty business major (MIT?).
But, chubbybunny is 100% right: school name matters. The B- Harvard CS major will beat the A+ Georgia Tech engineer every time, even though harvard's engineering department is weak.
If you guys could do it again
If you guys could do it again what would you do?
Georgia Tech is most likely the school I'll be at. Trading or something related to investments is definitely what I want to do. I'm hoping that getting an engineering degree might even the field when I'm trying to compete against some ivy league grads. How about this question. Would I be better off with an economics degree or engineering degree at GT? GT does not offer finance. I believe they do offer quantitative finance as a masters though.
I guess that gives me another option. Engineering or econ with a quantitative finance masters.
I could definitely see myself going into computer engineering though. Thanks for the help so far guys. I appreciate it.
I went to Tech for undergrad
I went to Tech for undergrad and can offer you a little insight. DRW, Wolverine, and Belvedere recruit from Tech. You then get the other Chicago prop firms that don't conduct on-campus recruiting but will post positions on Tech's career services site. Citadel, Morgan Stanley, and Deutsche Bank also recruit on-campus but mainly for technology positions.
GT doesn't offer a finance degree but it does have a Management degree where you can get a finance certificate. Management is considered the easiest major at Tech but the first couple years will be a grind. Since all the degrees at Tech are a Bachelor of Science, you'll have to take all the required calculus, sciences, and programming courses.
If you go into Tech Computer Science program and do well, you'll have no problem getting interviews with prop firms. During your studies you lose interest in finance, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft hire a ton of programmers from Tech every year. It will be very competitive either way.
Tech does have an Econ school but its very small.
If you really want to attend Tech, a computer science or computer engineering degree with an econ minor/certificate would be a nice combination.
BTW, Tech only has around 30% girls and it seems like most of those girls are in the Management program.
Feel free to PM me if you have more GT related questions.
I want to mention one more
I want to mention one more thing. I talk about economics and investments with the two economics teachers at my high school. Well one of them knows a person at an asset management firm. He was able to set up a date for me to go meet him at his office and to have lunch with him. I guess hes going to talk about his job and what we are discussing in this thread. I feel like this could be a huge opportunity to network. Any advice on how I should act or what I should ask? Thanks guys.
Had no idea you would be
Had no idea you would be going to GT. It's a great engineering school; it just suffers because of its lack of Wall St. prestige and location away from major financial centers.
Like anybody at a non/semi-target (and even targets), networking is your best bet to get into finance. And if you are at GT, management will not have any exclusive recruiting opportunities (I didn't even know they had a mgt major).
Major in your favorite type of engineering, do well, and that will be enough to check the "is he smart?" box on any recruiter's mental checklist.
As for your networking opportunity, never turn down lunch. Ask him how he got into finance, but avoid sounding awkward/like a finance nerd. Be yourself. At best, you find a mentor. At worst, you learn a bit more about AM. There is no downside.