Choose Offer! Oxford mcf or Cambridge Part III
I already got an offer from Oxford mathematical and computational finance, and due to my previous GPA (top 10 in Cambridge math), I think I can secure a place in Cambridge part III.
My career plan is to go to hedge fund or investment bank as a quant or trader. Which choice is better for me?
Concerns: the Oxford program looks less smart but the courses is more closely related to the job, while the Cambridge one is the opposite. So I feel like if I went to Oxford, I increase the probability of getting a job while lower the expectation of salary. If I choose Cambridge, it is the contrary situation. Is my comment correct?
Internship: I got an summer intern offer from Capula, but no previous experience related to quant/trader role. (I was preparing for IBD for quite a while until I realized it will be difficult for me to get in)
Expectation of salary is the same for both since the offers are standardised for grads.
I heard that top hedge funds rarely recruit people from mcf program, they'd rather recruit from math/physics department. Is this true? By the way, how does the quant division in top investment banks see candidates from pure math background? Will they view an internship in Capula as a relevant experience? A person from GS (quant) told me that they rarely hire people (for Full time) without internship experience/computational projects/summer research. I don't know if a single summer intern will looks good or looks lack of experience. (I would like a return offer in Capula, but I heard that their return rate is low, so let's not hope to much at this stage)
Go Cambridge part III, focus on applied maths and go work at one of the quant trading firms (Optiver, Jane Street etc), should be much guaranteed to get an offer. Do not work at a bank. If you want to go down hedge fund route then every single fund should give an interview to Cambridge part III maths grad with an internship at capula, its then up to you to perform in interview at the funds because they will test more than just maths. Would also reach out to the major London headhunter firms if you're interested in more niche firms that don't have a grad programme but still willing to take people.
On a side note, I'm worried that you were even considering IBD because anyone that does IBD -> PE -> L/S HF when they have the opportunity to do quant is silly... You also would have had literally zero issues with recruiting for it.... unless and I mean this in the nicest way possible you have issues with the soft skill part of interviews from being just socially awkward.
PE -> L/S is pretty uncommon in the UK compared to the US tbh, not really any decent L/S places here
Okay.... anyone that does IBD -> L/S HF when they can do quant is silly.
Do I need to watch Cambridge Part I & II before the final part?
Eum qui impedit reiciendis quos. Quidem sint ut quo sed. Officia ut aut perferendis. Consequatur voluptas facilis aut et nihil eum.
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