MSc Machine Leaning vs Applied Maths

Hi guys,

I would really appreciate a piece of advice on my situation from some more experienced people who work in S&T (my goal is London S&T, specifically structuring / pricing / systematic strategies / (algo) trading, with my second choice being MBB consulting in my home country in continental Europe).

I am about to graduate from a BSc in Engineering from a university in continental europe (respected in my country, but far from a target for the UK). I hold a deferred offer for a math msc in a top UK uni (think Oxbridge ) to start in autumn 2020. I deferred it because I wanted to get some work experience before my master but I still haven't found anything valuable so I was thinking of accepting one of the other offers I had for next year (2019) since I believe that having two strong MSc is better than doing nothing / an unrelated job for a year, and I don't mind at all an extra year of study.

The other offers I have are Applied Maths at LSE and Stats+Machine Learning at UCL. Which would you pick between the two (the courses in both MScs are completely different from the MSc I deferred)? Personally I see the stat+ML msc more useful and future-proof (for areas like algo trading, and btw it has 2 electives in finance / stochastics) but I don't want to end up as a software engineer if I fail to get into finance, in fact my plan B would be Management consulting in my home country, where the LSE has a much stronger brand than UCL, (the LSE msc has courses in stochastic calc, derivatives, etc but also has some elctives in Op. Research so maybe they would be useful for consulting too). But the MSc I deferred is from a top school anyway, so that brand I guess/hope will still have pull in my country. What would you do in my shoes? I feel that for London S&T the ML msc would be more useful, also because UCL is a top player in CS, while LSE isn't super strong in maths, but the LSE's brand is huge, especially in my country.

On a final note: do you think I might be able to find some decent internship in London if I write on my cv that I hold a deferred entry for a top msc (but now having just an unknown bsc)?

 

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Fingers crossed that one of those helps you.

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Congratulations dude! I'm an applied maths student but I just pick all my non-obligatory courses towards data science and machine learning.

To be honest, if I were you I would just do 2 masters and enjoy student life instead of working a year - if your parents have the money. As for your second choice, you're basically making a decision between a stronger brand or a more practical degree. For management consulting you really really don't need any specific classes. Personally, I would go for the stats+ML one at UCL since you already have the top uni in 2020. But ultimately it will come down to details for you to make your decision, I guess. Specific classes, quality of life, etc.. (Musk decided which uni to go to based on how many hot girls there were)

Do you mind if I PM you? I'm from a more or less similar background as you and looking for the same career. I could also help you with giving more info on some classes maybe.

 

Hi, thanks for the input. Yes, I will most likely do the 2 masters. First because I would prefer to build my foundations now that I am fresh from ugrad and still happy to study, instead of coming back to school later (MBA being an exception if I get fed up with staring at a screen all day long), and second because I don't think that with a degree from my country I would find any good internship in London. Also they are not as expensive as finance masters.

Regarding the MSc I really don't care about the quality of life for that year: it's just a year and I would rather do some sacrifices now if it can help my career.

Sure PM me

 

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