Getting into prop trading from a semi target school, 3.3 GPA?
Hi, this is my first post so any help is appreciated. I am a Junior at UW Madison and currently have a 3.3 GPA and am majoring in industrial engineering and Econ.
I have been studying trading for two years now, and this summer (did not have a sophomore summer internship), I finally became profitable, earning 7% over a 30 day period. I consider myself pretty smart, I got a 34 on my ACT.
I am extremely interested in becoming a professional prop trader. I know my GPA is a bit low (personal problems freshman year) and my school is not a target. I was wondering will being able to trade profitable give me an edge and a chance at getting into prop trading? I am sure if I studied I could pass their tests, my main concern is landing the interview in the first place. Is this something I should put on the top of my resume?
Any help is appreciated
For reference, I was trading Crypto Currencies (I know its kind of taboo), but in my time I beat that market by 14% overall. This month I will start trading Equities and possibly commodities (maybe that will be more useful?
Thank you
Sunny, look into firms like Optiver, Akuna, Flow Traders, and google junior trader roles. They normally have numerical, probability, and brain teaser tests. They use these test to pull from a wider scope than just target schools. Google is helpful for the studying required. The alternative route is to become an excellent programmer and join the technology side.
The last point, your personal trading only shows an interest in trading. Your approach probably isn't of institutional quality, and you run the risk of appearing arrogant or naive if you discuss it too much.
Actual last point, it's not the worst idea to explore switching to a target/semi-target school if possible.
1) start getting a 4.0 for grades..improvement is better than not. Right now, your primary job is to get a 4.0 you should prioritize that....study as much as you have to to get 100% in every class. If you can't do that, then most finance people won't have much mercy for you...you might have read about finance people working 80 hours a week....they won't have sympathy with you having trouble managing to study 20 hours a week...capice?
start trading macro assets...futures and/or options.
Learn everything about them before you start trading them). ES, ZN, ZB, GC, CL perhaps some major FX pairs (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY)
Learn how to trade expiring weekly options in volatile single name stocks (thursday&friday)....you get the most bang for the buck (also, find a discount broker like the SmallExchange...otherwise trading commissions will eat a significant part of your portfolio).
To trade futures, i suggest AMP Global (they offer free trading platforms, and minimal margin for futures).
Thank you I appreciate the suggestions. I got a 3.7 first semester sophomore year so I can definitely get a 4.0 this semester. I have a charles Schwab account, so maybe I can use that to trade futures and options. What do you think of trading equities?
lots of equity prop trading opportunities...if you have an edge that makes money...go for it.
Be able to explain what your edge is. Everyone and their mom can have a good 30 days trading due to luck.
Yeah I hope I can get to the stage where I can explain that. Ive become really good at trading horizontals and have been practicing disciplined trade management.
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