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If you want a top MBA, avoid trading
 

Derivatives's picture
ST
(Orangutan, 292
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 3:00am
mba avoid trading.jpg

From seeing my trader friends get absolutely crushed with top b-school admissions the past few years, I'm convinced that if you have any intention of going to a top school, avoid trading. The skillsets you develop there are not what schools want. Fair or unfair, they just don't like traders. Even working at a second-tier consulting firm like deloitte will be better than working at getco/jane street.

Tags:
ERGOHOC's picture

I can see why. Besides,

AM
(Orangutan, 271
 
Points)
 on 8/9/12 at 2:52am

I can see why. Besides, trader-turned-MBA-applicant = Loser

GS's picture

Of the three traders I know

ST
 
Points)
 on 8/9/12 at 3:07am

Of the three traders I know who applied to B school , one went to GSB , one to Wharton and one to Columbia.
I think that your friends might not be marketing themselves correctly

OMS's picture

y the hell would you want to

PE
(King Kong, 1,886
 
Points)
 on 8/9/12 at 7:43am

y the hell would you want to go to bschool after a trading gig?

GS's picture

OMS: y the hell would you

ST
 
Points)
 on 8/9/12 at 8:29am
OMS:

y the hell would you want to go to bschool after a trading gig?

Depends. If you traded say , CMBS or Credit Exotics or Interest Rate Swaps , your options are very narrow unless you want to continue in that specific instrument.
You might want to broaden the range of jobs that you can take. You might want a broader exposure to finance and business. Even if it teaches you nothing , a good MBA opens up doors for you - that's undeniable

Bobb's picture

Didn't ShortTheWorld get into

AM
 
Points)
 on 8/9/12 at 10:39am

Didn't ShortTheWorld get into Duke from Trillium?

Couldn't a trader apply to B-School be viewed as someone who failed and couldn't cut it in S&T?

txjustin's picture

Yes, Short is at Duke now.

O
(Neanderthal, 2,447
 
Points)
 on 8/9/12 at 12:29pm

Yes, Short is at Duke now.

Don't lump trader to MMA = loser. Some go for specific reasons.

GS's picture

Bobb: Didn't ShortTheWorld

ST
 
Points)
 on 8/9/12 at 12:41pm
Bobb:

Didn't ShortTheWorld get into Duke from Trillium?

Couldn't a trader apply to B-School be viewed as someone who failed and couldn't cut it in S&T?

One could say the same thing about a consultant/corp-dev/IBD/Hedge Fund analyst as well. Don't many firms promote internally to associate and beyond?

Brady4MVP's picture

I think this is very much

HF
(Neanderthal, 3,161
 
Points)
 on 8/9/12 at 2:46pm

I think this is very much true for prop trading firms, much less so for top sell-side and definitely buyside trading desks. Part of it is self-selection. The good traders at shops like getco/jane street/drw/sig/jump are much less willing to give up their earning potential for a full-time mba, so many of them actually do the part-time mba at booth to pick up additional knowledge. Another thing is that prop traders don't really have the type of work experience that adcom wants to see (bunch of liberal arts politically correct women for the most part), and it's very difficult to show those attributes in the application.

obscenity's picture

txjustin: Yes, Short is at

 
Points)
 on 8/9/12 at 6:06pm
txjustin:

Yes, Short is at Duke now.

Don't lump trader to MMA = loser. Some go for specific reasons.

Trader to MMA would be pretty badass.

monty09's picture

I was a trader and met a few

EN
 
Points)
 on 8/9/12 at 6:32pm

I was a trader and met a few while I was thinking about business school. I think you guys forget one major thing about trading that causes a lot of people to leave. It gets boring after a while and if you do semi decent you can afford to do other things in several different fields. Not one trader I met during the business school process was a loser and most went back into trading a either a new product or sales after MBA. Several went to management consulting in the product their traded MBA

WSO Conf - June 29, 2013

GS's picture

Brady4MVP: I think this is

ST
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 2:33am
Brady4MVP:

I think this is very much true for prop trading firms, much less so for top sell-side and definitely buyside trading desks. Part of it is self-selection. The good traders at shops like getco/jane street/drw/sig/jump are much less willing to give up their earning potential for a full-time mba, so many of them actually do the part-time mba at booth to pick up additional knowledge. Another thing is that prop traders don't really have the type of work experience that adcom wants to see (bunch of liberal arts politically correct women for the most part), and it's very difficult to show those attributes in the application.

The funny thing is - HFT might actually be better for this as you co-ordinate among network engineers , developers and researchers.

GS's picture

GS: Brady4MVP: I think this

ST
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 2:36am
GS:
Brady4MVP:

I think this is very much true for prop trading firms, much less so for top sell-side and definitely buyside trading desks. Part of it is self-selection. The good traders at shops like getco/jane street/drw/sig/jump are much less willing to give up their earning potential for a full-time mba, so many of them actually do the part-time mba at booth to pick up additional knowledge. Another thing is that prop traders don't really have the type of work experience that adcom wants to see (bunch of liberal arts politically correct women for the most part), and it's very difficult to show those attributes in the application.

The funny thing is - HFT might actually be better for this as you co-ordinate among network engineers , developers and researchers.

I also did quite a lot of volunteer work when I was waiting out my 9 month non-compete. I taught Math and Science to poor kids. You must have done other things along some lines

Brady4MVP's picture

GS: Brady4MVP: I think this

HF
(Neanderthal, 3,161
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 3:14am
GS:
Brady4MVP:

I think this is very much true for prop trading firms, much less so for top sell-side and definitely buyside trading desks. Part of it is self-selection. The good traders at shops like getco/jane street/drw/sig/jump are much less willing to give up their earning potential for a full-time mba, so many of them actually do the part-time mba at booth to pick up additional knowledge. Another thing is that prop traders don't really have the type of work experience that adcom wants to see (bunch of liberal arts politically correct women for the most part), and it's very difficult to show those attributes in the application.

The funny thing is - HFT might actually be better for this as you co-ordinate among network engineers , developers and researchers.

Hmm. This is actually a good point. I know one guy from getco/jump starting at stanford gsb this fall, and he told me that in his application he emphasized the fact that he coordinated projects between programmers, IT guys, traders, etc. He made sure to hit home the point that his job involved leadership and teamwork. Plus, he had insane stats, which always helps.

I think the sample size of people from top prop shops applying to MBA is too small to draw a definitive conclusion, although my impression is that adcom in general does not think that the skillsets deployed in trading add much value to a b-school classroom.

Brady4MVP's picture

GS: GS: Brady4MVP: I

HF
(Neanderthal, 3,161
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 3:15am
GS:
GS:
Brady4MVP:

I think this is very much true for prop trading firms, much less so for top sell-side and definitely buyside trading desks. Part of it is self-selection. The good traders at shops like getco/jane street/drw/sig/jump are much less willing to give up their earning potential for a full-time mba, so many of them actually do the part-time mba at booth to pick up additional knowledge. Another thing is that prop traders don't really have the type of work experience that adcom wants to see (bunch of liberal arts politically correct women for the most part), and it's very difficult to show those attributes in the application.

The funny thing is - HFT might actually be better for this as you co-ordinate among network engineers , developers and researchers.

I also did quite a lot of volunteer work when I was waiting out my 9 month non-compete. I taught Math and Science to poor kids. You must have done other things along some lines

Yup. I'm pretty involved in a non-profit group that mentors inner-city high school kids. I might be invited to join the associate board in a fundraising capacity, which would be really cool. Also involved with my alumni club and some political volunteer work as well.

melvvvar's picture

HFT trading exciting? are you

(King Kong, 1,693
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 3:40am

HFT trading exciting?

are you fucking kidding me? any actual HFT traders on here?

GS's picture

melvvvar: HFT trading

ST
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 4:16am
GS's picture

Brady4MVP: GS: Brady4MVP:

ST
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 4:21am
melvvvar's picture

GS: melvvvar: HFT trading

(King Kong, 1,693
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 4:22am
GS's picture

melvvvar: GS: melvvvar: H

ST
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 4:25am
melvvvar's picture

GS: melvvvar: GS: melvv

(King Kong, 1,693
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 4:26am
GS's picture

melvvvar: GS: melvvvar:

ST
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 4:41am
melvvvar's picture

GS: melvvvar: GS: melvv

(King Kong, 1,693
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 4:48am
Brady4MVP's picture

GS: Brady4MVP: GS: Brad

HF
(Neanderthal, 3,161
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 5:14am
IlliniProgrammer's picture

A number of folks I worked

ST
(Almost Human, 9,244
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 8:38am

Work hard, play hard.

blastoise's picture

IlliniProgrammer: A number of

O
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 10:41am
adapt or die's picture

ERGOHOC: I can see why.

(King Kong, 1,233
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 10:56am
Tolland15's picture

This thread is retarded.

O
(Baboon, 150
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 11:34am

I was taught that the human brain was the crowning glory of evolution so far, but I think it's a very poor scheme for survival.

RonBurgandy's picture

I opened this thread thinking

HF
(Baboon, 125
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 11:44am
Panic's picture

Can't imagine why any trader

ST
(Monkey, 49
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 1:09pm
txjustin's picture

obscenity: txjustin: Yes,

O
(Neanderthal, 2,447
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 1:18pm
monty09's picture

Panic: Can't imagine why any

EN
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 1:59pm

WSO Conf - June 29, 2013

Brady4MVP's picture

Panic: Can't imagine why any

HF
(Neanderthal, 3,161
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 2:42pm
Panic's picture

Of course if you've had it

ST
(Monkey, 49
 
Points)
 on 8/11/12 at 6:26am
monty09's picture

I know a few people where a

EN
 
Points)
 on 8/12/12 at 12:32am

WSO Conf - June 29, 2013

RonBurgandy's picture

I think that a lot of people

HF
(Baboon, 125
 
Points)
 on 8/12/12 at 1:28pm
GS's picture

melvvvar: GS: melvvvar:

ST
 
Points)
 on 8/18/12 at 8:30pm
stefan_statoil's picture

And then you are a trader

(Monkey, 33
 
Points)
 on 8/20/12 at 5:12am

Stefan van Woenzel

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