HFT Masters

Chicago had an amazing FinMath program two years ago. Then they fired their director and the program has been in a bit of a tizzy ever since.

Booth and the school's individual math, econ, and finance graduate programs are all very solid and when it comes to the CBOT/CBOE electronic prop shops, Chicago has the same or better reputation than any school in the Northeast. But their FinMath program stinks and LaSalle street also knows that.

Try to get an MS in strictly Finance or Mathematics. Or do the PhD program and maybe exit with an MPhil when you land a job.

Pretty much anything at UC will give you the opportunity to get an algo trading job. Two years ago UC had pretty much every prop firm on campus and I'd be shocked if it has changed. I'm not sure if there are some majors / masters that are given precedence over others when it comes to interviewing but I have seen UC Math, Econ, History majors all go to places like Jump, DRW, Jane Street, Getco, Spot, etc... I'm not sure which of these are screen trading vs. algo but needless to say UC will give you the proper exposure if you don't have it already.

^^^ Those are undergrads.

Check out quantnet.com. Chicago Stevanovich has gotten some weak ratings recently. Inflexible program. 50% admission rate. Weak instruction. 40% of the class can't speak English. There are obviously a number of brilliant and well-qualified people graduating from the program every year, but Stevanovich isn't exactly as well run as the rest of the school.

It pains me very deeply to say that. I don't want to steer you away from UChicago. It is a world-class academic institution, and it has the healthiest culture out of all of the top four finance/econ schools. But Stevanovich is not the same program it used to be nor as well run as the rest of the school. I would encourage you to pick Chicago, but aim for an MS or MPhil in applied math, finance, or economics.

IP you obviously are more in-the-know than I am so I will defer to you. However, given that all those companies come on campus and recruit wouldn't all masters students have access to them and be looked at more favorably than the undergrads given their more advanced knowledge?

I'm not saying this as a reason to chose a masters in financial math. But more that doing any masters program at UC would be extremely beneficial for recruiting purposes. It does seem like OP would be better off do to one of the programs you've recommended vs. financial math though.

Do you think prop shops would look highly on MBAs concentrating in Econometrics and Statistics or Analytic Finance? It looks like you could get rather quantitative at Booth in those disciplines based on the available courses.

I have a Masters degree in Computer Science from UChicago, took a few Booth classes and 1 of the FinMath classes while I was there. I'll also be going to Booth full time this fall. I can tell you definitively that Booth students aren't qualified to be algo traders, and that the FinMath program is weak - particularly on the programming side. There is zero coordination with the computer science department.

IlliniProgrammer is accurate. Unless you're a PhD, you won't get looked at. If you can hack it at that level, you'll be working with world class mathematicians though, so roll the dice! Or, get the PhD in Computer Science and do some awesome research work at Argonne, then jump to HFT.

Thank you all for your input. I got one more question. I am an undergrad right now with a major in math and a major in finance at a non-target school with a 3.6. Do you think there is any chance of me breaking into a hft firm at all? Or do you suggest that I complete a major in math or cs?

Complete a master in math or CS***

A few questions:

Does one need have an undergraduate degree in CS or statistics to have a realistic shot at a masters program in one of these? Could you complete relevant night or online classes while working to increase your competitiveness to a relevant level? Does work experience matter for STEM masters programs?

Yes, work experience helps, but it doesn't overcome a poor quant GRE score or sub 3.2 GPA.

Does Booth place well into the non-algorithmic prop shops?

Do non-algo prop shops still exist?

Almost all shops will use algos to make their decisions, but I get the sense that the actual traders aren't developing these algos(at some shops). They are more point and click in nature which is why I ask about booth placing into trading and not the algo development/high freq roles.

We definitely get Boothies coming through our associate institutional S&T programs in banking. I am not so sure what goes on at the Chicago prop shops or why a Booth MBA is required when most traders at Chicago prop shops hold undergraduate degrees from the other local schools (apparently, UIUC is considered a top tier school at the CBOT.)

Don't get me wrong- LaSalle street creates a lot of millionaires. But if you want to go into a Chicago prop shop- even one of the better ones (CTC, Gelber Group, Rosenthal), they're just looking for a college degree from any reasonable state school or private school (NIU, ISU, SIU, UW Madison, UWM, UIC, IIT, DePaul, Marquette, Lawrence, Beloit, Lake Forest College, etc. etc.) That's it. Save yourself the $150K on an MBA.

Sounds good to me. Thanks, IP.

I'll second Illini's suggestion, and take it one further - focus on IIT. They are very well connected at prop shops in Chicago.

Ok. I will be starting at a prop shop full-time this summer. Should I even be considering going back to school (part-time)? I don't have a STEM degree, so that's why i was thinking about trying for a masters in statistics or math finance.

If it's one of the big name shops, they probably have great internal training that is going to be far more beneficial to you than anything you'll get at the local universities. I would get in, get a feel for the training environment, ask a few people if they see any value in that additional outside education, and proceed accordingly.