I am a sophomore at a semi-target school in CA (3.7+ GPA, Math major). Hopefully, recruiting for sophomores is going to start soon (after the virus shitshow comes to a halt). I currently have a banking experience on my resume and will be actively recruiting for SA 2021 roles. I am conflicted between recruiting for banking and going to grad school - I am mostly doing it because I do not want to miss out on a top job after graduation. I am super interested in derivates trading as a career and was thinking of applying to MFE programs in my senior year. However, at that point of time I might already have a banking offer and am not sure which way to take this ahead. Thoughts on this? How helpful is MFE for placing into hedge funds/derivates branch of investment banks? Would it be worthwhile applying to MFE programs right after undergrad?
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I recommend recruiting for jobs and applying into top MFEs. You should wait until senior year to decide what to do based on the available options.
If you end up in a situation where you have an acceptance into a top MFE and a full-time offer for a good role, I would recommend going for the job. Getting experience and money is invaluable, especially if it's in a front office role, and will give you career flexibility. You can always work before going for an MFE, and I think the experience from a front office role will make you a stronger applicant for a top MFE program. I think MFEs would also be flexible about enrollment, and would understand if you wanted to postpone your start date a few years later if you were to be accepted into one.
You should check the career pages of the MFE programs. They're usually extremely transparent about job prospects and what types of jobs people have gotten. Additionally, I recommend that you look at the backgrounds of the enrolled students of the top programs, and you'll see how competitive it is. I recall hearing that the main issue with MFE students is that they have the quant skills but lack a good command of the English language. If you can do both you should be able to easily land the jobs you're talking about.
Good luck!