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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. 

 

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.

 

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. 

 

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

 

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.

 
[Comment removed by mod team]
 
Humongo_Banana_Man

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.  

 

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