How is UChicago for Quant?
I'm an incoming second-year undergrad at UChicago, majoring in math. It seems to be a pretty good school for quant recruitment, but I was wondering just how easy/difficult it is to land a top quant firm from here. If I join a few trading clubs, try to do well on the Putnam math competition (T200), and nail interview prep, am I pretty much guaranteed? What should I do during college to maximize my odds of landing quant?
You say these things like they are easy to do. I was a math major at UChicago (+ econ), and thought if I just worked hard that I could work at Jane Street - but it's not really about work ethic at that level, it's about natural intelligence and a true love for math (I would say I do like numbers and data but not necessarily math). I maybe could have tried for a lower tier trading job (Transmarket, Bank Quant, etc) but decided to go traditional finance route instead. If you have been at the school for a year already and gone through 160s or taken 200s and feel like you are ahead of the curve amongst those people, then yes you can do quant. If you want to maximize chances, just do relevant projects, the Putnam is probably overkill unless you want to do it independently
I understand quant is a grind, and I am willing to try my hand at it. But if it doesn't work out, I might choose to pivot like you mentioned. Would you recommend "hedging" by joining a few IB clubs and internships while primarily aiming for quant? When and how did you pivot?
I just went through interview processes - if you have a reasonable GPA and send out networking emails to alums you should not have much trouble getting interviews. From there it is accounting, corporate finance concepts and a demonstrated ability to work hard and be likable. As far as "when" I pivoted, I decided to recruit for banking super late. Had a few interviews that I was not prepared for, and then ended up luckily landing one right at the end of the cycle.
I would caution you more broadly to not be so willing to "hedge" all willy nilly just based on what has the highest comp (ie. going from Jane Street to Evercore IB is not just a change in salary but also a complete 180 in lifestyle as well - there is 0 chance the best Jane Street trader would also be the best Evercore banker and vice versa). While (if I was 10x smarter than I actually am) I could have made 600k or whatever working at HRT / Jane Street, I think I would not really connect with a lot of people there because I did not love chess / puzzles / whatever. I am just giving these words of caution because at the beginning of college I did not adequately consider these things, I just gravitated towards the most money but in reality almost anyone who is not founding their own business likely will not reach their own maximum earnings potential until mid 30s (at the very earliest) - so endurance is key
It will give you a fair shot (especially in the prop trading world) but you will need to stand out with interview performance and demonstrated interest (internships, projects, clubs, etc.)
Magnetar in Evanston hires a lot from the Chicago schools (particularly Northwestern) and has a sizeable quantitative team. Do well in your classes and try to intern there during the year / summer.
are you doing just math or math + econ?
Probably just math
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