How good is my University List (UG)?
Hello friends,
I'm a sophomore at a Canadian highschool. Please look and rate my university list. I'm specifically looking into Quant, Hedge Fund, and IB (backup) roles. I have no experience in coding therefore computer science/programming is not applicable, but I have strong quantitative skills.
US:
Schools: Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, NYU, UChicago, UC Berkeley
Degrees in these schools (what combination?):
Economics (BA/BSc) + Finance
Pure / Applied Math
Financial Engineering + Statistics
Engineering Science + Statistics
Engineering (Industrial,Civil, Science) + Economics
CA:
Schools:
McGill, UofT, Queen's, Western (only Ivey is acceptable), UBC
Degrees in these schools (what combination?):
Commerce (General)
Commerce (Finance + Economics Spec.)
Commerce (Finance + Applied Math Spec.)
Pure Math + Statistics
Applied Math + Statistics
Engineering
Architecture
Do you have any advice on which school is best for which degree? I'm mostly indifferent between any of these top schools, as long as they're very prestigious and over semi-target for finance.
Also, which schools to ED for US? (My top choices would be Princeton, Brown, Duke, UChicago)
And yes, I want to know these early on, so that I have a set goal to be working towards.
Thanks 😊
Based on the most helpful WSO content, your university list is solid, but there are some key points to consider for your goals in Quant, Hedge Fund, and IB roles:
US Schools:
Canadian Schools:
Degree Combinations:
ED Recommendations:
Additional Advice:
Your list is well-rounded, but prioritizing Princeton, UChicago, and NYU for ED would align best with your goals.
Sources: MIT vs. Princeton vs. Yale undergrad for quant hedge fund, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/school/dilemma-quantitative-finance-vs-finance?customgpt=1, Majoring in Wall Street?, Top target schools for quant hedge fund or quant/algo prop shop?, Here are the Target Undergraduate Schools in Canada
.
For Canada Western Math / CS + Ivey is a solid double major and takes 5 years giving you 4 summer internship opportunities.
You can check out the STEM programs at Waterloo as well.
If you will get a single major then,
Ivey > Smith > Desautels
(with difference between Ivey and Smith being much smaller than Smith and Desautels)
McGill offers interesting double major options as well.
Don’t go to UBC or UofT for finance.
Not sure about CS, simply because I have no programming background. I will be competing against C++ wizards, who started when they were 7. I was seriously considering financial engineering (only in US, maybe UofT) or Industrial Engineering. I really like graphs, and models. Finance or Commerce at schools such as Ivey or Smith seems a bit too project based, on not intellectually stimulating.
Would a top engineering program close doors for IB? I really want to do a very good finance career, possibly on the more quantitative side, but not want to close any doors for IB or HF.
In engineering you will not be around people who also want to go in finance hence learn less from your peers / upper year students about it.
There is no culture of “breaking into finance” in engineering schools.
It won’t necessarily close doors especially if it is a target school and you can always get an MBA, however a commerce degree from a target is a tested pathway to finance in Canada.
In US they are more flexible about majors.
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