Hedge Fund after STEM Masters and SWE Experience or PhD required?

Hi All, 

Im a 1st year engineering (and tech innovation) masters student at Carnegie Mellon. Im also a software engineer at one of the big credit rating agencies. I feel as if my background and education isn't quite there for trading at a hedge fund in NY. Some people from my masters go on for PhD's after. Does it make sense to get a CS or ML PhD from a school in Manhattan ( I desperately want to leave pgh) after graduating and play the long game for getting into a hedge fund? Im saying this because IB, PE, and BB in general seems a no go for people out of CMU. 

1 Comments
 

Officiis pariatur et suscipit dolor et. Voluptatem deserunt rerum ut aperiam officiis autem. Et suscipit qui praesentium voluptatem quo.

Id eaque voluptatibus non. Et nobis quaerat occaecati aperiam cupiditate. Dolores fugit voluptatibus quia. Quasi sint quia quibusdam nisi. Molestiae voluptatem quo amet praesentium voluptatem fuga non. Perspiciatis repellat vel nisi sed.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 97.1%
  • AQR Capital Management 96.1%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Blackstone Group 97.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.0%
  • Millennium Partners 95.0%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.2%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (86) $288
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (76) $192
  • Analysts (242) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (28) $146
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (282) $96
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”